The Publishers Of Lost Ark Shared Their Plans F...
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More than 4,800 workers are killed on the job every year. An estimated 50,000 to 60,000 more die of occupational diseases each year, and the estimated number of work-related injuries and illnesses exceeds 7 million.38 Unions have always championed worker safety by investing in programs to educate workers about on-the-job hazards and working with employers to reduce worker injuries and the time lost due to injury.39 In unionized workplaces, workers generally have a right to involve a union representative in injury and fatality investigations, which gives workers a voice in their own safety. And researchers have suggested that unions create safer workplaces; because union workers are protected by their union from repercussions for reporting safety issues, they are more likely to report not only injuries but near misses. This increased reporting can lead to a reduction in work hazards.40 The union contribution to safety is particularly important because government health and safety regulations are being weakened.41
Unions are a dynamic and ever-evolving institution of the American economy that exist to give working people a voice and leverage over their working conditions and the economic policy decisions that shape these conditions. Collective bargaining is indispensable if we want to achieve shared prosperity.
lthough contract negotiations between health plans and providers have remainedtense during the past two years, overt impasses have declined, according to findingsfrom the Center for Studying Health System Change’s (HSC) 2002-03 site visits to12 nationally representative communities. The balance of power stabilized duringthe period, with providers, particularly hospitals, solidifying their dominantnegotiating positions and securing concessions from plans in the form of significantpayment rate increases and more favorable contract terms.Many plans haverecognized and accepted their weaker position relative to providers, suggesting therecent lull indicates plans have found it in their interests to accommodate providerdemands for higher payments, rather than resist them and possibly trigger a contractshowdown. Though no immediate change is likely in this environment, there areemerging forces that could swing the power pendulum back toward plans.
In Boston, Partners HealthCare Systemremains the area’s dominant hospital systembecause of its prestigious academic medicalcenters and physician organization. In 2000,Partners engaged in heated public disputeswith each of the top three local plans, comingaway with large payment increases that forcedthe plans to raise premiums significantly.The plans indicated they hope to avoidcontroversy during the next contractinground by moving to more collaborativecontracting strategies and turning theirefforts to approaches that include tierednetworks and incentive-based compensation.Tufts Health Plan, the firmest negotiatorof the three plans in 2000, and Partnersrecently came to a multi-year agreementthat includes quality-based incentives forproviders, though the specific terms of theagreement were not released.
Although a shift toward fewer overt clasheswas generally observed, plan-providercontracting still produced isolated showdownsduring 2002-03. In Lansing andSeattle, plans fought to thwart providers’intransigence by using purchaser supportto pressure providers to retreat from theirhard-line stances.
While providers, particularly hospitals,generally appear to be in the driver’s seatin contract negotiations and many planshave altered their contracting strategy to bemore accommodating of provider demands,a number of recent trends could shift thebalance of power back toward plans.
Having to respond to growing community pressures can constrain providers’ ability to request large payment rate increases. For example, Partners in Boston, which prevailed in negotiations with all major plans in the market and attracted the attention of joint Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice hearings,4 has tried to dispel perceptions that its recent proposed payment increases were excessive. Meanwhile, hospital pricing practices have come under greater scrutiny in the wake of controversies that have befallen Tenet and HCA.5 Some market observers in Orange County, where Tenet owns 11 hospitals, viewed the recent controversies around Tenet’s pricing practices as an indication of how overly aggressive hospitals have become and a signal that public sentiment is turning against hospitals in reaction to their excessive financial demands.
While plans have been limited in theirability to refuse provider payment demands,they have increasingly pursued initiativesto reduce tensions with providers andengage consumers more directly. Forinstance, the growth of preferred providerorganizations (PPOs) has signaled aninterest by employers both to broadenchoices and transfer more responsibility toconsumers while promoting more pricesensitivity. PPO options with coinsurance,where patients pay a percentage of thetotal bill, can offer considerable transparencyto consumers about covered benefits,provider networks and level of coveragebased on the site of service. This processrelieves plans of some decision-makingburden and absolves them of some blamefor high health care costs. Likewise, plans’increasing interest in consumer-directedhealth plans is consistent with the industry’sattempt to engage consumers directlythrough similar cost-sharing mechanismsas PPOs. Consumer-directed plans placeeven greater decision-making responsibilityin the hands of the consumer and, with it,more exposure to price differences amongproviders.
Second, regulatory interventions couldchallenge provider ascendancy. Throughconsolidation and disciplined negotiatingstrategies, more providers are gaining \"musthave\"status in plan networks and using it totheir advantage. Such status confers extraordinarypower to these providers and has triggeredintensified pleas from plans, purchasersand consumers for regulatory intervention.The Federal Trade Commission has indicatedits intent to revisit previously approved hospitalmergers in response to health plans’ complaintsabout the heavy concentration in the hospitalmarket. The threat of regulatory scrutiny couldforce providers to temper their bargainingdemands.
At a time when companies like Microsoft Corp and Google are rushing to show off their latest AI creations, Tencent has said its plans for ChatGPT-style tools are underway. ChatGPT, now a global phenomenon, triggered a race among Chinese tech firms to catch up, and Baidu Inc has already scored positive reviews among selected users.
However, there are potential bugaboos in the transaction. The reality is the two companies have not been friendly. In January, Verizon filed a false advertising lawsuit against Alltel. The lawsuit claimed that Alltel falsely represented its position as the only carrier to allow customers to alter their service plans without lengthening the terms of their contract. Verizon had changed its policy in October 2007 to permit customers to change their plans without penalty. Alltel eventually changed the ad, but Verizon contended that alteration came late. 59ce067264
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