As Congress meets in its “lame duck” session, we’re delighted to host Cavalcade of Risk #221, bringing you a flock of posts from around the insurance and risk-related blogosphere.
In our opener, Rubber, Road and Lyft: Insurance Crisis? Hank Stern of InsureBlog takes another look at the important topic of ride-sharing. Now that Lyft’s had its first fatality, he considers the insurance issues the service (and its drivers and customers) will face.
CVS Caremark is slapping an extra co-pay on members who fill their prescriptions at stores where tobacco is sold (i.e., CVS’ competitors). In CVS: Drugs, tobacco… and guns? David Williams of Health Business Blog makes the point that CVS is unlikely to extend that policy to stores that sell guns, even though it would be logically consistent.
Talking of taxing issues, in Who will pay the Cadillac Tax? Jason Shafrin of Healthcare Economist investigates a coming tax on high-cost health insurance plans. Beginning in 2018, many individuals will face the “Cadillac” tax. Will you pay it?
Meanwhile, the growing waistline of America is not only having an impact on our health, but on workers’ compensation programs. In Impact of Obesity on Workers Compensation, Michael Stack of reduceyourworkerscomp.com notes that this impact can increase the costs of common work injuries.
How risky is your job? At Workers’ Comp Insider, Julie Ferguson posts a video showing how high voltage cable inspectors work — as she says: “not a job for a hot duck.” Trigger warning for acrophobes!
Another hot topic comes from Nancy Germond of insurancewriter.com in her post Tips to avoid a dryer fire. According to the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), about 2,900 dryer fires occur each year in the United States, causing five deaths, about 100 injuries and over $35 million in property losses annually.
Finally, there’s no ducking the importance of the TRIA issue with our own post on the future of terrorism risk insurance. The imminent expiry of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) December 31 means the clock is ticking for lawmakers to find a solution before year-end.
That’s it for now. Van Mayhall at http://www.insreglaw.com hosts the next Cav.
