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What We're Reading: Filling ACA Gaps; Antidepressant Usage; Abortion Access and Restriction
Centene Enters Nevada ACA Market
The number of counties with no insurers offering Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans is dwindling. Centene will now offer insurance in the 14 Nevada counties that were at risk of having no options in 2018, reported The New York Times. That brings the tally down to just 2 counties without insurers, and only 400 ACA customers live in those counties in Wisconsin and Ohio. Centene is betting big on the ACA, which makes sense since a former Obama administration official who ran the federal marketplaces is now an executive at the insurer.
Popularity of Antidepressants
The number of people using antidepressants is rising. TIME reported that in 2011-2014, 13% of people 12 years and older took an antidepressant in the last month compared with 11% in 2005-2008. The majority of people using antidepressants tend to be taking them over a long period of time: 2 years or more. In addition, women were twice as likely as men to take the medications, which are used to treat depression and anxiety.
States Expanding, Restricting Coverage for Abortion
In Oregon, the governor recently signed a bill to expand coverage on abortions, while in Texas, the governor signed a bill to limit coverage for them. According to AP, the legislation in Oregon was introduced in response to attempts to repeal the ACA, which includes reproductive services as part of the essential health benefits. Nearly half a million dollars will be allocated from Oregon’s general fund over 2 years to expand the coverage. The new law in Texas will require women to buy supplemental insurance if they want coverage for an abortion, reported Reuters. The supplemental coverage will cost $12 to $80 a year and the bill did not offer exceptions for cases of rape or incest.
Standard Criteria for Loss of Ambulation Needed in DMD
April 19th 2024A recent study suggests the differences between ambulation definitions for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) can impact the identification of ambulant vs nonambulant individuals, and standard criteria across settings are needed.
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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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Early Involvement Critical in Treating Immunotherapy-Induced Overlap Syndrome
April 19th 2024A series of case studies reveals the importance of early diagnosis and involvement of special teams of clinicians when dealing with potential cases of overlap syndrome, which encompasses myocarditis, myasthenia gravis, and immune checkpoint inhibitor–related myositis.
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Drs Raymond Thertulien, Joseph Mikhael on Racial Disparities in Multiple Myeloma Care Access
December 28th 2023In the wake of the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Raymond Thertulien, MD, PhD, of Novant Health, and Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, discussed health equity research highlights from the meeting and drivers of racial disparities in multiple myeloma outcomes.
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Government agencies have created an online portal for the public to report potential anticompetitive practices in health care; there are changes coming to the “boxed warning” section for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies (CAR T) to highlight T-cell blood cancer risk; questions about the safety of obesity medications during pregnancy have arisen in women on them who previously struggled with fertility issues.
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