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On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, on the core takeaways of his keynote session at AHIP 2022 on public health policy and other solutions to promote equitable health and well-being.

In response to the Supreme Court last week overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade decision, after previously upholding the constitutional right to an abortion in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v Casey, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra outlined the next steps for the Biden administration.

The Supreme Court dismissed convictions of 2 doctors accused of overprescribing opioids, moving the cases to lower courts; Cabinet secretaries met with 14 insurers and payer groups to push for contraceptive coverage without co-pays; the FDA may upgrade COVID-19 boosters to target newer subvariants.

A noninterventional study found that chart-based assessments of visual function had adequate repeatability but were limited in discriminating between no age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and intermediate AMD.

A possible connection between integrase strand-transfer inhibitor (INSTI) use for HIV and cardiovascular disease (CVD) was investigated in this new study from an international team wanting more knowledge on the drug class’s treatment effects.

Patients with respiratory syncytial virus infection (RSV) were also more likely to have underlying chronic respiratory conditions and other comorbidities, according to a recent study looking at people hospitalized in ICUs.

Neighborhood characteristics, race, and ethnicity were found to be risk factors for developing asthma in childhood, suggesting inequities in children’s respiratory health.

Today, CMS unveiled its plan for a successor to the Oncology Care Model (OCM), its ambitious foray into value-based care delivery that has been credited with changing the landscape for patients with cancer, even if it received mixed reviews on achieving savings in its early years.

Two stakeholders involved in investment and development of behavioral care services discuss the potential of digital therapeutics as a cost-effective alternative to address unmet mental health needs during an AHIP 2022 session.

Research found fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) to be an optimal cost-effective treatment strategy for first and subsequent recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), challenging current guidelines.

Patients with substance abuse disorder (SUD) saw a significant reduction in hospital encounters and per-patient costs after the initiation of a prescription digital therapeutic.

Americans with disease and disabilities are disproportionately affected by public policy, with their health outcomes at the complete mercy of lawmakers.

A discrete choice experiment found that patients with moderate-to-severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) valued improvement in their daily symptoms more than improvement of exacerbations.

Exceptions for rape and incest in states with trigger laws outlawing abortion may be impossible to implement effectively; Supreme Court determines Medicare’s payments are lawful in a blow to hospitals that had pay cuts; a court ruled that Juul could continue selling e-cigarettes temporarily.

Christopher Thompson, MD, MSc, FASGE, FACG, AGAF, FJGES, director of endoscopy and codirector of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, discusses a session on gastrointestinal (GI) invention at the recent conference, Digestive Disease Week, held May 21-24 in San Diego, California.

Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, executive vice president of Texas Oncology, discusses the path of telemedicine reimbursement during the pandemic and possible ways it will change after the pandemic.

A recent review explored current palliative care practices for patients with hematologic cancers compared with solid tumor cancers.

Using the Nationwide Inpatient Database for trends studied between 1993 and 2011, investigators from Columbia University Irving Medical Center evaluated hospitalization outcomes among patients with heart failure and comorbid gout.

Robert Sidbury, MD, MPH, Chief, Division of Dermatology, Seattle Children's Hospital, speaks on strategies that clinicians can employ to promote adherence of topical and oral medications in pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis.

Early results of a multicenter phase 2 trial exploring the efficacy of daratumumab, pomalidomide, dexamethasone, and ixazomib treatment suggest the regimen is safe and effective in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (MM).

A cohort study found that influenza and 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines (PPSV23) can reduce the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)- and pneumonia-related hospitalizations.

Combined oral contraceptives (COCs) and, more recently, spironolactone, have been identified as options for adolescent females with acne and hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), although varying levels of data are available supporting their use in these patients.

A qualitative study found that patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) were more likely to avoid thinking about their disease because of the stress from dialysis.

Several environmental and lifestyle factors were associated with significant risk of atopic dermatitis development in preschool children of Shenzhen, China, including the presence of mold in the child’s room, living in a villa/townhouse, and using composite wood floors.

Christopher Thompson, MD, MSc, FASGE, FACG, AGAF, FJGES, director of endoscopy and codirector of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, discusses duodenal jejunal bypass liner treatment and future innovations in gastroenterology.

Individuals with refractory or unexplained chronic cough had characteristics consistent of those with chronic cough in general, including cough duration, severity, and 24-hour frequency.

Patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) exhibited a higher prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and events vs the general population, including atherothrombotic disease.

Just 5% of patients in a cholangiocarcinoma cohort were categorized as microsatellite instability high (MSI-high), but those patients tended to have “excellent” responses to therapy.