Mary Caffrey

Both Express Scripts and CVS Health said they were taking aim at prescription drug prices that keep going up even when competitors are available.

The report by FAIR Health notes that today's opioid epidemic, unlike past crises, is affecting more white suburban dwellers, who are more likely to have private insurance.

With Medicare preparing to reimburse for the Diabetes Prevention Program in January 2018, companies are forming or expanding to make this evidence-based program scalable to reach 86 million people with prediabetes.

The successor to an earlier value-based effort in primary care could reach 5000 practices and 3.5 million patients. The original model showed transformation but had not yet shown savings after 2 years.

Two consultants who help stakeholders in value-based transitions say CMS is serious about an aggressive pace for payment reform.

Experts say that at too many chain restaurants, individual meals exceed recommended calories for the entire day, to say nothing of excessive amounts of salt and fat.The Affordable Care Act will require most chains to put calorie counts on the menu by next year.

While most the attention for reducing 30-day readmissions is with the Medicare population, the study shows that children's needs also demand attention.

What can a university do when students are getting the mumps, even though they were vaccinated as children? The CDC examines what happened at the University of Illinois.

The approval paves the way for Sanofi's insulin and GLP-1 combination therapy, which is due for final FDA action in August.

The report found that in-person coaching and digital formats with human coaching were both effective and delivered value. ICER's review comes as Medicare is creating reimbursement standards to take effect in January 2018.

CMS will face the question of whether to approve Governor Matt Bevin's requests, which include work requirements, or see if he follows through on a threat to cancel Medicaid expansion for 450,000.

Presented by The Atlantic at the Democratic National Convention, the forum saw members of Congress, a scientist, and a patient all call for more prevention and early intervention in a disease that could swamp the federal budget by 2050.

Critics of the Hospital Compare "Star" ratings ask whether the failure to take patient wealth into account unfairly penalizes hospitals that care for larger numbers of poor patients.

This would be the second group of procedures targeted for bundled payments in Medicare. Rules for hip and knee replacements went into effect in April in 67 markets.

In a conference call the morning after a landmark vote, Dexcom's president and CEO said the company will not wait for final FDA approval to start talks with CMS.

CMS' Innovation Center created Million Hearts to identify Medicare beneficiaries most at risk of heart disease and cardiovascular events.

There are signs that smaller providers, in particular, are not moving toward value-based reimbursement at the same pace as larger healthcare stakeholders.

The move was cheered by a packed room of diabetes patients, parents, advocates, and doctors. Some see the change as a first step toward getting Medicare to cover CGM.

Minority teens were more likely to have undiagnosed diabetes or prediabetes, the researchers report.

AstraZeneca is trying to invoke the Orphan Drug Act to protect its blockbuster, on the grounds it is approved to treat a rare pediatric condition.

The study found that the mortality risk for poor black men, relative to similar white men, persisted even when taking factors like education, employment, and marital status into account.

Teenagers who started with an average BMI of 51.7 were able to reduce that by more than 40% over the first year after surgery. They were able to complete a lap of an outdoor track nearly a half-minute faster on average, and fewer reported being in pain.

The most recent Kaiser Health Tracking Poll was conducted during an exceptionally violent week. Concerns about terrorism and gun policy outranked jobs and the economy and healthcare as voter priorities.

Physician groups like some part of the new fee plan but find other overly burdensome.

Acting CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt told the Senate Finance Committee there are concerns that some primary care practices will not be ready for the targeted January 1, 2017, start date.

Of the original 7 hospital groups, only 3 are still challenging New Jersey's largest insurer over its creation of a tiered network plan.

Researchers examined genetic information from 120,000 people from across the globe. The effort involved more than 300 scientists, including NIH's Francis Collins, MD, PhD.

The president predicts that in 20 years, the nation will look back on "Obamacare" as a moment of courage that has improved people's lives.

Evidence that surgery can reverse diabetes is so compelling that new guidelines from the American Diabetes Association call for using procedures to treat diabetes, not just obesity. But the mechanism has remained a mystery.

Reports of missing or incorrect payments sound similar to those that occurred in Ohio, Kentucky, and other states that made a rapid transition to Medicaid managed care.