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The March issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) featured research on immuno-oncology costs and Medicare Annual Wellness Visits in addition to studies on the issue’s theme of Medicaid. Here are 5 findings from research published in the issue.

This week, the top managed care news included the 2020 budget plan proposing a mix of healthcare spending cuts and increases; the FDA approving the first immunotherapy regimen for breast cancer; and researchers uncovering how sodium glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors work.

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the healthcare and mainstream press.

Based on dehydroepiandrosterone and growth hormone levels, researchers have determined that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with increased biological age.

Between 2000 and 2007, mortality due to dementia more than doubled; the FDA has granted fast-track designation for an opioid antidote from Purdue Pharma, the pharmaceutical company accused of aggressively marketing OxyContin; physicians say prior authorization is interfering with continuity of care.

The industry is speedily moving and advancing, and the only way for hospitals see continued success is if they stay nimble and capable of adapting to new developments. Looking to the future, healthcare systems should concern themselves less with size and instead shift focus to adopting business and payment models that bring value.

The European Headache Federation (EHF) recently sought to create an expert- and evidence-based guideline for the treatment of migraine with monoclonal antibodies that target the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). However, in reviewing available research, the EHF found that there was not enough evidence to provide a guideline based on the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach.

Finding a less invasive way of determing if pancreatic cysts are likely to become cancerous would be good for patients and less taxing on the healthcare system.

Exposure to dust from the collapse of the World Trade Center has been associated with a multitude of respiratory outcomes. For the first time, researchers looked at how dwellings in Lower Manhattan were damaged, how they were repaired, how people cleaned up afterwards, and how these differences affected the likelihood of respiratory symptoms and diseases.

An international group of scientists has called for a global moratorium on gene-edited babies; proposed guidance would limit the sale of flavored e-cigarettes; and the Senate has invited executives from 5 pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to testify at a hearing on drug prices.

Eight states are participating in a project from the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) that aims to break down the silos and the barriers that exist among different agencies and better connect Medicaid to early childhood programs.

Between July 2012 and December 2017, a significant proportion of providers stopped prescribing opioids; but while overall incidence dropped, a subgroup of providers continued to prescribe high-risk doses of opioids, and for long durations.

The fungal drug amphotericin, which was discovered in 1953, could possibly help patients with cystic fibrosis fight chronic bacterial lung infections if results from an early study are validated in humans, researchers said Wednesday.

In an effort to increase patient accrual, broaden patients’ access to cancer clinical trials, and lead to trial results that better represent treatment effects in the real world, the FDA published 4 draft guidances and 1 final guidance to promote the inclusion of pediatric patients and patients with comorbidities that can occur alongside cancer.

With discussion and debate happening for months in Washington, DC, over drug pricing and the role of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) published a white paper this week that analyzes 3 possible alternatives to the pharmaceutical rebate system fostered by PBMs.

National Cancer Institute Director Ned Sharpless, MD, will replace Scott Gottlieb, MD, as acting FDA commissioner; the FDA has approved a generic valsartan amidst more recalls; and UnitedHealthcare will require employer clients to pass rebates directly to patients.

Pooled data from 2 studies revealed that once-weekly administration of 70 mg/m2 of carfilzomib is as safe and effective in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) as twice-weekly administration of 36 mg/m2 of the treatment while also providing a more convenient treatment schedule.

A report from the Health Care Cost Institute examined 4 years' worth of data covering 1.8 billion claims in 112 markets.

A recent study sought to determine the impact of flavonoids on fatigue in relapsing and remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).

Minimal residual disease (MRD) testing is the future of diagnostics and monitoring for cancer, according to some experts. Not only can MRD determine the depth of response to a treatment, but it can also be used to determine treatment strategies.

Trump administration proposes fees on e-cigarette industry to fund FDA regulatory oversight; Scientists create bioprinter that allows creation of new skin to treat wounds; Medieval era diseases reappear in unsanitary locations among homeless populations and others.

The president has released his budget for fiscal year (FY) 2020, which calls for converting Medicaid to a system of block grants and requiring all able-bodied Medicaid recipients to hold a job or perform community service. The $87.1 billion allocated to HHS, a 12% cut, would include increases to federal HIV funding, but drops in global funding, as well as cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Robotic surgery remains a widespread practice for cancer treatment while the FDA warns no evidence has been found linking these procedures to safer patient outcomes; more than 2000 migrants in US detention centers quarantined as reported cases of mumps arise; Iowa Supreme Court rules that Medicaid can not deny coverage for sex reassignment surgery.

The approval is based off of progression-free survival data from the IMpassion130 study and represents the first approved immunotherapy regimen for breast cancer.

Pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) represents a small minority of MS diagnoses. WIth symptoms that differ from adults, children with MS often experience delays before they are diagnosed.

Interventions to prevent job loss for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) should focus on increasing self-efficacy, especially for patients older than 50 years.