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What we're reading, February 26, 2016: drug makers are facing pressure to calculate the cost of extending a patient's life; a look at how addiction is viewed and treated in the US; and staving off the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

While the cost of the widely used stroke clot-busting drug alteplase has more than doubled over the past decade, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement has remained far behind.

A new proposal from researchers at MIT and Dana-Farber offers a remedy for patients to cover high healthcare costs: securitized consumer healthcare loans.

A new white paper from the Health Care Transformation Task Force evaluated essential criteria for care management services to incorporate in order to improve the type of care they provide patients.

Jason Pierre-Paul of the New York Giants injured his hand in a fireworks accident July 4, 2015, and ESPN's Adam Schefter tweeted a photo of his injured hand on July 8.

In the years since the passage of the ACA, the partisan divide over "Obamacare" remains as sharp as ever. The Kaiser poll also found that reaction to universal health coverage shifts depending on what it is called.

A new study questions the maximum-tolerated-dose approach in cancer.

What we're reading, February 25, 2016: the government will require proof of eligibility for enrollment in special sign-up periods under the Affordable Care Act (ACA); this year's flu vaccine is more effective; and 6 states are suing the Obama administration over an ACA fee.

The presence of interstitial lung abnormalities is linked to an increased risk of death, according to a new research published in JAMA.

Detecting acute HIV infections is important because this infection contributes disproportionately to the transmission of HIV and highly contagious.

Emergency room overutilization is a significant issue in oncology care and may increase healthcare expenditures while lowering the quality of patient care.

A collaborative study conducted across cancer treatment centers in the United States has identified malignant brain tumors as the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 39 years.

Unlike former Mayor Michael Bloomberg's attempt to limit soda portions, this rule gives consumers information and lets them make their own decisions. Such measures have had more support from the public and the courts.

With a vote of 89-4, the Senate confirmed Robert Califf, MD, for the position of FDA commissioner.

How has heroin addiction evolved into the current crisis we're facing today? What are the implications for public health?

A report from The Food Trust offers ideas and case studies on how to get fruits and vegetables to the customers who historically have had less access to them.

What we're reading: drug makers are not reporting complete information about side effects; Johnson & Johnson will pay $72 million to the family of a woman who blamed her ovarian cancer on talcum powder; and Maine and Utah make new attempts at expanding Medicaid.

Experts and biological researchers aren’t completely convinced with the president's cancer moonshot initiative and the released budget.

Survival in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia could be significantly influenced by their family’s socioeconomic status, a new study published in Pediatric Blood and Cancer has found.

A national survey of physicians found strong support for key policies that could help prevent opioid misuse, but report encountering barriers.

A healthcare delivery model that utilizes home visits and that is interdisciplinary and team-based has been shown to improve care while controlling costs for patients with complex needs

A survey of 54 hospitals from 6 major metropolitan areas found that consumers are still encountering difficulties when trying to obtain price estimates for routine hospital procedures.

The full slides from the 2015 Patient-Centered Diabetes Care keynote speech, where Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, discussed new care models being implemented to improve patient health in the long term.

BMJ's study found no link bewteen incretin-based drugs and pancreatic cancer but said because of the latency of the cancer, adverse effects would have to be watched.

While smart cards would stop about 20% of fraudulent act, it wouldn't catch acts in which providers or beneficiaries are complicit, such as billing for unnecessary services.

A new report by the American Cancer Society points to disparities in cancer survival between whites and blacks for certain cancers, although the reasons for these differences remain unconfirmed.

What we're reading, February 23, 2016: drug spending for CVS health plans slowed from 11.8% to 5%; CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, talks Zika virus; and an investigation into the HealthCare.gov launch found widespread mismanagement.

To improve access for beneficiaries, CMS has proposed a plan to increase the availability of preferred cost-sharing pharmacies in Medicare.

The online tool includes worksheets for the most commonly used cancer treatment protocols that care providers can directly access through the electronic health record.

The supplemental new drug application submitted by Pfizer, the drug's manufacturer, included phase 3 results from the PALOMA-3 trial.