Dr David Cutler Discusses Opportunities for Bipartisan ACA Reform
June 20th 2017There are some areas in health policy where Democrats and Republicans can find common ground, like incentivizing greater value, but bipartisan talks won’t happen while there are still active efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, said David M. Cutler, PhD, of Harvard University.
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Dr Scott Ramsey on Challenges of Determining Cost Effectiveness of Novel Cancer Treatments
June 19th 2017Scott Ramsey, MD, PhD, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses determining cost effectiveness of novel treatments, such as immuno-oncology agents, and potential solutions to reducing financial toxicity in cancer care.
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Dr Steve Pearson's Outlook on the Ongoing Updates to ICER's Value Framework
June 18th 2017As the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) prepares to update its final value proposal framework, it has been aided by the constructive comments from different stakeholders, said ICER president Steve Pearson, MD, MSc. He predicts that coming years will see continued interest in how to utilize such frameworks.
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Not Enough Attention Paid to Low Healthcare Spending Growth
June 13th 2017The United States just went through a period of low spending growth, and if no one pays attention to it, the country might not be able to figure out what worked to cause this slow growth, said Gail Wilensky, PhD, of Project HOPE.
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Dr David Cutler: Won't Be Easy for Senate Republicans to Create a Healthcare Bill
May 30th 2017Senate Republicans are faced with a tall task to create a healthcare bill that repeals the Affordable Care Act because they've made conflicting promises. According to David. M. Cutler, PhD, of Harvard University, Senate Republicans have set themselves up for a situation where they can't meet all of their promises.
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Dr Gail Wilensky Remains "Hopeful" for Bipartisan Legislation on Healthcare Reform
May 29th 2017The healthcare legislation from Senators Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) was probably the best chance at a bipartisan bill, but there are some Democrats who still seem interested in drafting bipartisan legislation, explained Gail Wilensky, PhD, of Project HOPE.
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Dr James D. Chambers Talks Future Health Economics Trends He Is Watching
May 24th 2017James D. Chambers, PhD, MPharm, MSc, of Tufts Medical Center was named the 2017 recipient of the Bernie J. O'Brien New Investigator Award at the ISPOR 22nd Annual International Meeting. He highlights the trends he is most looking forward to seeing develop over the next year and the next 5 years.
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Gene Therapies Present Great Potential, but Also Ethical and Practicality Challenges
May 24th 2017Gene therapies have tremendous potential. They are a short treatment that could have lifelong effects. However, the very expensive therapies have a lot of unknowns and raise a number of ethical and practicality questions.
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Dr Patricia Danzon: Cost-Effectiveness Thresholds Create Incentive to Develop Better Drugs
May 24th 2017Cost-effectiveness thresholds can do more than just guide determinations on whether drugs have value, explained Patricia Danzon, PhD, professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Using these thresholds as a requirement for reimbursement provides an incentive for research and development focused on producing new drugs that will be considered effective enough to pay for.
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The Realities and Challenges of Medicare Negotiating Drug Prices
May 24th 2017The notion of letting Medicare negotiate drug prices has been around for years, but has recently gained new traction under President Donald Trump. Panelists at the ISPOR 22nd Annual International Meeting, held May 20-24 in Boston, Massachusetts, discussed the complexities of allowing Medicare to negotiate prices and whether or not it would produce meaningful savings.
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Dr Steve Pearson Outlines the Importance of Thresholds on Determining Value
May 23rd 2017Thresholds can be useful to focus the conversation around the value of treatments in healthcare even if stakeholders have different views on what thresholds should be, explained Steve Pearson, MD, MSc, president of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review.
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Influencing Untreated Individuals Through Their Social Networks
May 23rd 2017Is it possible to leverage social networks to influence response to treatment among an untreated population? During the second plenary at the ISPOR 22nd Annual International Meeting, held May 20-24 in Boston, Massachusetts, Nicholas Christakis, MD, PhD, of Yale University, described his research into social network interventions.
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Dr David M. Cutler Highlights the Importance of Reauthorizing the CHIP Program
May 22nd 2017Every 5 years, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has to be reauthorized. This year the program has to be reauthorized by September, and that normally would have happened by now, except the issue has flown under the radar with the other big healthcare issues dominating Congress' attention, explained David. M. Cutler, PhD, of Harvard University.
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Dr Gail Wilensky: Senate Health Bill Will Be to the Left of the House
May 22nd 2017While there is a lot of uncertainty about what the final Senate healthcare reform bill will look like, Gail Wilensky, PhD, of Project HOPE, expects the bill will ultimately be to the left of the House bill in order to get the moderates on board.
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Continuing Forward With Innovation and Progress in US Healthcare
May 22nd 2017Healthcare is a complicated issue with few, if any, easy fixes. The important thing is that the country continues to move forward, according to panelists during the first plenary at the ISPOR 22nd Annual International Meeting, held May 20-24 in Boston, Massachusetts.
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