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A look at Seema Verma’s approach to reforming healthcare policy, and what it could mean for Medicare and Medicaid if she is confirmed as CMS administrator.

An e-mail, from Mark Merritt, president and CEO of the trade group Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, to the organization’s board, lays out a plan to develop an aggressive campaign to convince the new administration that the fault rests with pharmaceutical manufacturers.

This week, the top managed care stories included the end of 2 insurance megamergers, a proposed rule to tighten restrictions for the Affordable Care Act, and new legislation in New Jersey provides the nation's strictest mandates for treating addiction.

A news article on using community health records to improve population wellness was included in the Politico Morning eHealth report. RevCycle Intelligence and Patient Engagement HIT both examined the results of a February article on an asthma education program. Health IT Analytics highlighted the findings of a January article that assessed the role of value-based payment in implementing an evidence-based mental health intervention.

Researchers examined how genetic variants linked to type 2 diabetes behave in their environment, and the results pointed to a molecule that affects how pancreatic islet cells "read" the genes.

A new treatment option using stem cell transplants was shown to induce sustained remission of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). More than two-thirds of participants had no signs of progression of disability, relapse of MS symptoms, or new brain lesions after 5 years.

Following similar actions by Cigna and Anthem, Aetna has announced it will do away with requirements that force doctors to get approval from the insurer before prescribing medications to treat opioid addiction.

The study found that the average healthcare cost of an unnecessary shock was $4470, and 42% of the patients captured in the data received an inappropriate shock. The group included 41% in Medicare.

Observational findings from the Women’s Health Initiative study found that an intentional weight loss regimen by postmenopausal obese women can slash their risk of endometrial cancer by 29% to 56%.

A new study published in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network dives deeper into understanding the major roadblocks to coverage of hereditary cancer panels.

As Republicans debate how to move forward with repealing and replacing or reforming the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration released a proposed rule to help stabilize the market in 2018. The rule includes a shorter open enrollment period.

A study of breast cancer survivors’ cognitive performance before and after chemotherapy sheds light on the problem of cancer-related cognitive impairment.

An author in JAMA points out some caveats to a ground-breaking trial.

The Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies held a hearing today to discuss mental health treatments and services, as witnesses discussed the progress they had seen and further steps needed to solve the crisis.

Moments after the bill cleared the General Assembly, NJ Governor Chris Christie signed into law requirements that insurers pay for 6 months of treatment, limit the first opioid script to 5 days, and educate prescribers on the dangers of addiction.

With a Republican president in the White House and Republicans controlling Congress, a longtime favorite strategy among the GOP for funding Medicaid is being considered.

Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act may have helped reduce the rates of an unromantic phenomenon: medical divorce.

A new study to be presented at the 2017 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium has found that some patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma had a durable response after treatment discontinuation.

So far, the adverse events have been reported for the 2 fluid-filled designs, not for an air-filed design later approved.

The legislature is expected to give final passage to the nation's strictest treatment mandates and a 5-day cap on the initial opioid prescription. Governor Chris Christie's plan has met little resistance, even though the cost is unknown.

Aetna's CEO said it made no sense to proceed in the "current environment." Federal judges have blocked both the Aetna-Humana merger and a separate deal involving Anthem and Cigna.

Lawmakers from both parties have expressed their dislike for an entity that could take away their spending authority. But a leading Democrat also raised the fact that the new HHS Secretary, Tom Price, MD, would be harsh on the most vulnerable.

A program linking elderly cancer patients to lay navigators was shown to substantially reduce costs and decrease hospitalizations, making it an appealing tool for providing value-based oncology care.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has named its new president and CEO. Richard Besser, MD, who will succeed Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, who ran the foundation for 14 years before announcing she was stepping down in September 2016.

A new study has identified key mutations that can direct the conditioning regimen prior to an allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (SCT) in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), leading to a better response.

Results show how the hybrid closed loop system reduced glycemic variability, which leads to fewer long-term complications from type 1 disease.