Baltimore Low on Opioid Overdose Drug
Demand for naloxone, which reverses an opioid overdose, has jumped significantly as the opioid epidemic continues to ravage the United States. According to The Washington Post, Baltimore’s health department is running low on the drug and has started rationing it for those at the highest risk of an overdose. Fatal overdoses in Maryland were up 66% in 2016 over 2015 and there are an estimated 21,000 heroin users in Baltimore alone. The city only has 4000 doses left that need to last until May 2018.
Two Insurers Reverse Decisions to Exit ACA Markets
Premera Blue Cross has decided that it will offer Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans in 2 Washington state counties that were at risk of having no insurers in 2018. In addition, Medica has indicated it will offer marketplace plans in Iowa next year, reported The Wall Street Journal. Without Medica, Iowa is at risk of having no ACA insurers in possibly the entire state. Premera’s decision to offer ACA plans in Grays Harbor and Klickitat counties in Washington state is a reversal from its earlier decision to exit those markets.
Speeding Recovery in Hospitals
A new study has found that hospital patients who have a healthier roommate are discharged quicker. In a blog post of The New York Times’ The Upshot, Austin Frakt, PhD, explained that patients with the healthiest roommates required less attention, were discharged faster, and cost about $840 less. The study found no negative side effects on the healthier roommate’s health. The study may make hospitals reassess the recent move toward more private rooms, which is more costly but reduces the spread of infections and increases satisfaction.
Dr Kathy Zackowski Discusses the Importance of Rehabilitation Research and Trials in MS
April 26th 2024Kathy Zackowski, PhD, National MS Society, expresses the inherent value of quality rehabilitation trials for broadening clinical understandings of multiple sclerosis (MS) and bettering patient outcomes.
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Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Navigating Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in National Health Plans
February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
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Kaiser Permanente was hit by a data breach in mid-April, impacting 13.4 million health plan members; GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) sued Pfizer and BioNTech for allegedly infringing on its messenger RNA technology patents in the companies’ COVID-19 vaccines; the CDC announced the first-known HIV cases transmitted via cosmetic injections.
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