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State: Ntl. Paduda: What's Up With Optum Workers' Comp?: [2024-06-06] |
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Tuesday's non-announcement that ExamWorks bought Optum’s Settlement (MSA) business should not have been a surprise. ![]() Joe Paduda Word on the street is that Optum’s been trying to offload its pharmacy benefit management and ancillary services businesses for some months now. That and, for those of us who’ve been in this business for a while, UnitedHealthcare’s history in workers' comp make this almost inevitable. Here’s what I wrote on this a few years ago. [A]t various times, the company [UHC] owned:
So, this marks the sixth time (at least) UHC has gotten into and out of workers’ comp and WC services. Briefly, my educated view is:
One data point: Total national work comp medical spend is a bit over $30 billion. That is 1/12th of UHG’s total revenue. What does this mean for you? History predicts the future. Joseph Paduda is the principal of Health Strategy Associates, a consulting firm focused on improving medical management programs in workers’ compensation. This column is republished with his permission from his Managed Care Matters blog. |