Allison Inserro

Earlier this week, CMS tweaked an opioid policy aimed at Medicare Part D patients that had drawn criticism when it was first released in draft form. Critics said it would have sharply reduced access to opioids for those with chronic pain, people with cancer or other types of pain. Two palliative care doctors said they are waiting to see if the changes are implemented in a meaningful way for their patients.

Sanofi, 1 of 3 drug manufacturers embroiled in a lawsuit involving insulin prices, said Thursday it is offering a discount program for some patient with diabetes who are uninsured or who have high-deductible insurance plans.

Children in poverty from one Ohio county spend more time hospitalized than those from more well-off Census tracts within the same county, according to a recent study published in Health Affairs. These health disparities could be reduced by building a “culture of health” within a hospital or healthcare system using goals aligned with the surrounding community, instead of approaching disparities condition by condition, the researchers wrote.

Medicaid work requirements will ultimately harm children’s health if their parents lose health benefits, a new policy report says. The report summarizes how health insurance gains for parents translates into improved healthcare access for children.

A study of 2 chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) inhalers from the same company was published recently in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. The DYNAGITO trial showed tiotropium bromide and olodaterol, a dual bronchodilator sold under the name Stiolto Respimat, prevented exacerbations better than tiotropium bromide alone (sold as Spiriva Respimat), although not quite as much as expected.

Health policy experts laid out a series of proposals to bring down prescription drug costs, lower US healthcare spending, and protect patients in a series of 3 papers published recently in Health Affairs. The papers, supported by the Commonwealth Fund, advocate for increasing competition, applying value-based purchasing, and protecting patients from high out-of-pocket costs.

CMS finalized its 2019 Medicare Advantage rates, raising payments it pays to insurers, and also made changes to a final rule aimed at curbing opioid misuse and abuse by Medicare beneficiaries. Payments to Medicare Advantage plans will rise an average of 3.4%, and with another 3.1% adjustment coming from a change in risk scores (which are a measure of the sickness or health of the population served) the payment increase could be as high as 6.5%.

Black–white disparities in hospital readmission rates in the United States narrowed after the introduction of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), but hospitals that serve a large number of minority patients continue to disproportionately receive penalties for their readmission rates, a study published in Health Affairs said Monday.

Two separate studies published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine suggest that marijuana has a role to play in helping patients cut back on prescription opioids. One study looked at prescribing patterns for opioids in Medicare Part D and the implementation of state medical marijuana laws. The other looked at Medicaid prescription data from 2011 to 2016.

What makes for a healthy physician and what can be done to prevent accompanying burnout? To address that issue, major medical organizations and centers are coming together behind a “Charter on Physician Well-Being” published this week in JAMA.

A new report from the Commonwealth Fund says the Trump administration’s proposed regulations encouraging the sale of various health insurance plans that are noncompliant with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is likely to leave the marketplaces with a smaller group of enrollees who are sicker, unless states step in to consider “regulatory options” to protect the individual insurance market.

A natural dietary supplement called nicotinomide riboside mimics caloric restriction and improves blood pressure and arterial health, particularly in those with mild hypertension, according to a small pilot study published Thursday.

Healthcare professionals showed a lack of knowledge about how to assess and teach proper inhaler technique to their patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, or other respiratory diseases, according to a review of 55 studies spanning 39 years examining their understanding of this issue.

In a 2-pronged move, the FDA approved the sale of the Dexcom G6 integrated continuous glucose monitoring system for determining blood glucose levels and also classified the unit as a class II medical device, enabling a speedier review for similar future systems.

Condition-specific readmissions measures for heart failure, pneumonia, and heart attack may not accurately or fairly reflect hospital quality, according to a study published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study found significant differences in hospitals' performance when readmissions were assessed for non-Medicare patients and for conditions other than those currently reported, showing that when these additional factors are taken into account, half of the hospitals would be subject to a change in their financial penalty status.

The usability and interoperability of electronic health records (EHRs) has long been a source of frustration for healthcare providers, but until now, specific usability issues and EHR processes that may contribute to possible patient harm have not been identified. A new analysis has discovered that patient safety reports that mentioned a specific EHR by name found some mentions of language suggesting the EHR may have contributed to possible patient harm.

A CDC study published in JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday found that primary care providers are prescribing antibiotics for sinus infections longer than recommended by clinical practice guidelines. A key antibiotic stewardship principle is to use the shortest effective length of antibiotics recommended by guidelines in order to fight the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.

Speaking at a healthcare symposium recently, Vivek Murthy, MD, the former Surgeon General of the United States, discussed the need to focus on both clinical and community-level prevention and the impact that community building has on health outcomes, as well as issues like moral leadership and the healthcare workplace.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) turns 8 years old today—here's a roundup of 5 things to know about this landmark healthcare law.

In the early hours of Friday morning, the Senate passed a $1.3 trillion federal spending bill funding the government until September. It includes new opioid funding and a path for research into the public health aspects of gun violence.

Getting patients, especially in the Medicare population, to adhere to taking prescribed medications is key to preventing future complications. One health plan used personalized outreach to call Medicare beneficiaries to educate them about adherence and find out more about what barriers might exist to taking medications as prescribed by a healthcare provider.

The House of Representatives Wednesday night passed the right-to-try bill by a vote of 267-149, sending it to the Senate. HR 5247, "Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try Act of 2018," was passed largely along party lines.

Two years ago, CMS announced a new model for accountable care organizations (ACOs) that had participants take on greater performance risk but also potentially greater rewards. After the Next Generation ACO Model grew to a list that included 58 organizations across the nation, 7 have now dropped out after CMS made changes to risk adjustment.

Patients suffering from back pain worldwide are being treated with an overuse of inappropriate tests and treatments such as imaging, opioids and other medications, and surgery, instead of being educated about their condition and to stay active, a new series of papers in The Lancet reported.

A nonpartisan research institute said that 2 analyses released this week from the Congressional Budget Office show that legislation to reinstate cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers and provide federal funding for state reinsurance programs would have a number of harmful effects on Americans.

Alabama’s proposed plan to institute work requirements in order to obtain Medicaid benefits would fall heavily on mothers, African Americans, and families living in rural communities, according to an analysis by an independent, nonpartisan policy and research center. And because the state has not expanded Medicaid as allowed under the Affordable Care Act, the work requirement would apply only to extremely poor parents.

Earlier this month, a team from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Health Foundation traveled to Puerto Rico as well as the US Virgin Islands to assess the recovery of the healthcare system 6 months following Hurricane Maria. What they found is a very mixed situation, with some areas faring better than others, but with much more work remaining before the islands can restore to a state of normalcy. Compounding the problem, the next hurricane season is approaching while the area has not yet recovered from the first one.

The right-to-try bill, which suffered a surprise 259-140 defeat in the House of Representatives last week, is scheduled for another vote this week. The House Committee on Rules was scheduled to meet late in the day Monday to change the procedure so that it could be passed with just a simple majority, rather than a two-thirds majority, and this time approval seems likely.

With much of the nation talking about alternatives to opioids and other medicines for pain relief, including the possibility of using cognitive and mind-body therapies, The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) recently released a report about 5 interventions for chronic low back and neck pain, as well as the value of those interventions in chronic low back pain.

If a health system could identify which patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were at risk for exacerbations of disease, interventions aimed at improving health outcomes could be developed. A study to develop and evaluate predictive models that could be used to identify such high-risk patients was unable to do so, however.