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What we're reading, July 27, 2016: UnitedHealth and Aetna are looking to join California's Medicaid program; the World Health Organization is considering removing transgender identity from list of mental disorders; and medical schools rethink how to treat addiction.

A new review of Medicare prescription drug plans suggests that these plans need incentives that will push them to consider long-term outcomes and costs because they tend to consider only short-term clinical outcomes and costs related only to the pharmacy benefit.

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.

What we're reading, July 26, 2016: revenues from Gilead's hepatitis C drugs continue to fall; Arizona's plan to unfreeze enrollment in CHIP has been approved; and Colombia declares an end to the Zika virus epidemic.

The monoclonal antibody daratumumab (Darzalex) has been granted breakthrough designation, the second for this drug, for use in combination with either lenalidomide and dexamethasone or bortezomib and dexamethasone, for patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least 1 prior therapy.

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.

The study confirmed a suspicion that not all beta cells are equal in regulating insulin secretion.

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.

Michael Kolodziej, MD, has joined Flatiron Health as national medical director, Managed Care Strategy.

Depression affects nearly 350 million people worldwide, but long waiting lines and limited access to services have impeded depression treatment. Only about a quarter of patients in the United States have received any type of psychological therapy in the last year and 1 in 10 UK citizens have been waiting over a year to receive treatment.

A collaborative pilot that includes the California Department of Public Health, is studying whether near—real-time reporting of cancer diagnoses by pathologists will permit providers to make more informed and timely treatment decisions.

What We’re Reading, July 25, 2016: Keeping dementia at bay in the elderly; PhRMA spends more and insurers spend less on lobbying, so far in 2016; and a record-breaking fraud case in Florida.

This week in managed care, the Department of Justice filed suit to block 2 health insurance megamergers, a poll found that healthcare is not a top issue with voters, and a study reported that patients with cancer and dementia get better end-of-life care.

The findings highlight what the authors say is ongoing discrimination in payer coverage for substance abuse care, in contrast with other mental health conditions.

Like the influential Model List of Essential Medicines maintained by the World Health Organization, there should be a list of key tests every country should have available, with high quality standards, write a group of experts.

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.

According to a news report in Nature, scientists at Sichuan University’s West China Hospital are on track to initiate a clinical trial that will administer CRISPR-Cas9—edited immune cells in patients diagnosed with lung cancer.

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

A letter published in The New England Journal of Medicine provides narrative of a clinical interference that has been documented with the much hailed multiple myeloma drug daratumumab.

Pence's record on Medicaid expansion and an HIV outbreak are getting national attention now that he is nominated for vice president.

Highlights of coverage of our peer-reviewed research in the healthcare and mainstream press.

As the healthcare industry moves from volume to value, new healthcare delivery models are being tested and promoted, and CMS has put a lot of faith into the accountable care organization. So has Aledade.

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

In other news, prostate cancer incidence appears to be on the rise, and data on health trackers may not be secure.

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.

A proof-of-concept study in ovarian cancer shows advantage of using liquid biopsy for the earlier detection of disease relapse.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed an antitrust lawsuit to prevent planned megamergers in the health insurance industry.

The update of the Urban Institute’s 2015 analysis suggests that the nation continues to be on track to spend much less on healthcare over the next several years than was projected by CMS in late 2010.

Experts say Covered California is making up for coverage that was underpriced the last 2 years, and Maryland Medicaid officials create an uproar by changing the preferred opioid addiction treatment.