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As the conversation surrounding healthcare spending in the United States persists, topics such as drug prices, increased annual spending, and government funding stay at the forefront. Here are 5 things about healthcare spending that are being currently discussed and addressed.

A new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper identified potential hospital cost shifting and that hospitals penalized by the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program and the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program actually had an increase in average payments of 1.5%.

This week, the top managed care stories included a report from CMS that found healthcare spending will rise 5.5% over the next 8 years; the budget deal passed by Congress included a number of provisions with long-term health impact; a study found eating a low-carb could help reverse type 2 diabetes.

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

Value-based care and interoperability continue to progress in the United States, but barriers that limit sharing of clinical information among hospitals, physicians, and health plans remain, according to a study by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and sponsored by Humana.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar is open to the CDC conducting research into the causes of gun violence; advocates for those with mental illness spoke out against making assumptions about links between mental health issues and gun violence; a doctor's settlement of $5000 for a $17,850 urine test with a Texas lab on behalf of his daughter has given rise to a complaint with the state attorney general.

Get your flu shot, administration officials warned Wednesday–this year’s flu season is on track to reach or exceed the number of deaths, hospitalizations and infections seen in other bad influenza years. And new data shows more precisely the effectiveness of the vaccine, especially for children, a high-risk group.

Flatiron Health expects to maintain its current business model in the transaction.

Colorado, Washington, and Connecticut have joined California in investigating Aetna, CNN reported Wednesday, after a former medical director for the insurer admitted in a deposition that he never looked at patients' complete medical records when deciding whether to approve or deny care.

New research published in The Lancet Oncology found that denosumab was noninferior to zoledronic acid for time to skeletal-related events in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma.

A 9-week, telephone-administered interpersonal psychotherapy intervention reduced depression in patients living with HIV in rural areas, accrding to a study published in Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

The results of a new survey, published in a recent white paper by HealthCare Executive Group and Change Healthcare, showed that a majority of executives are increasingly adopting social determinants of health into their programs.

A combined federal challenge of the role that drug manufacturers and distributors played in the opioid epidemic now has more than 320 lawsuits; Ohio prepares a request to add Medicaid work requirements, while a California lawmaker introduces a bill to block the state from doing so; a trial of an Alzheimer drug is being expanded to add more patients in order to clarify the results.

The FDA on Wednesday cleared the sale of the first blood test to evaluate concussion in adults. The agency said a blood test could help avoid unnecessary computed tomography scans of the head, because most patients evaluated for concussion do not have detectable intracranial lesions.

The study used a claims database to examine records from patients who switched between long-acting insulins.

Driven by an aging US population and other economic and demographic factors, national health spending is projected to climb to 19.7% of the economy over the next 8 years, up from 17.9% in 2016, according to new estimates released Wednesday from CMS and published online in Health Affairs.

First-degree family history was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer among women aged 65 and older, and risk associated with family history was not significantly modified by breast density, according to a study in JAMA Oncology.

FDA has approved apalutamide, the first treatment for nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, based on results from a phase 3 study that showed the drug reduced the risk of metastasis or death by 72% and improved median metastasis-free survival by more than 2 years.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) have developed new guidelines on managing immune checkpoint inhibitor-related toxicities.

A new study found that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease with higher symptom burden are worse at self-management, which is an important part of managing the disease.

Language in the new government budget ensures effective changes to CMS' Competitive Bidding Program for diabetes testing supplies that will benefit patients with diabetes.

Sickle cell disease (SCD), the most common inherited blood disorder in the United States, is marked by episodes of acute pain, but there is increasing recognition that it can transition to chronic persistent SCD pain. A recent study found that the presence of pain on 3 or more days a week is independently associated with worse patient-reported pain interference and anxiety.

The Department of Justice is moving forward with a $1 billion lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group over Medicare claims; Oregon's legislature is considering adding healthcare as a right to the state's constitution; another trial for an Alzheimer disease drug is stopped.

As value-based insurance design (VBID) continues to gain and maintain bipartisan support, the last week alone saw the introduction of the Chronic Disease Management Act of 2018 and the passing of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, which includes VBID components.

The addition of daratumumab to standard-of-care regimens used to treat multiple myeloma, such as bortezomib, melphalan, and prednisone, decreased the risk of disease progression or death in newly diagnosed patients who were ineligible for autologous stem-cell transplantation.

In the United States, health varies among communities and regions. People living in urban areas have different health issues than those living in rural areas based on cultures that either promote healthy lifestyles or limit access to healthcare.

A new report from the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement finds that the considerable differences among the total cost of healthcare in 5 states were mostly caused by local patterns of healthcare usage and pricing. The report, Healthcare Affordability: Untangling Cost Drivers, looks at the average cost of healthcare for comparable populations as its benchmark and compares each state with that average.

Last week, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) published its review of the leading oncology pathway vendors in the United States in the Journal of Oncology Practice. The report found that overall, the prominent commercial pathway programs in the United States are aligned with ASCO’s evaluation criteria.

The proposed budget released Monday would have winners and losers in Medicare; President Donald Trump's budget, a messaging statement, contains healthcare cuts; veterans in California risk eviction from veterans homes if they intend to use an aid-in-dying law.

Such a large drop in Americans' sense of well-being in their daily lives in a time of economic good fortune is unprecedented, index organizers say.