After the Republican Wave, What Will Election 2014 Mean for ACA, Medicaid, Managed Care?
November 5th 2014A special report on what the historic election of Republicans in races for the Senate, US House of Representatives, and governor means for the future of the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid expansion, and managed care, and reports on important healthcare ballot measures from around the country.
Read More
Renewed Efforts to Target the Ras Protein in Cancer
November 5th 2014Despite decades of efforts to target the Ras protein, mutated in a number of different cancers, the progress has been slow. Now, scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Germany have devised a way to prevent translocation of Ras to the cell surface, a process essential for protein activation.
Read More
Significant Survival Advantage Combining Ipilimumab With an Immune Booster in Metastatic Melanoma
November 5th 2014The study, published in JAMA, found a 50% improvement in survival in patients with metastatic melanoma who were treated with ipilimumab, if they simultaneously received an immune stimulant.
Read More
Obama Admin Goes After Plans that Lack Hospital Coverage
November 4th 2014Large employer health plans will now be required to cover in-patient hospitalization services, according to a notice from the Treasury Department and HHS on Tuesday morning. The final regulation will be issued next year.
Read More
Global Budget Payment Model Lowers Spending, Improves Care Over 4 Years
November 4th 2014Using global budgets for healthcare instead of traditional fee-for-service improves quality of patient care and lowers costs, according to a new study by researchers from Harvard Medical School's Department of Health Care Policy.
Read More
Drawing Attention to Low Pay, Fragile Existence of Home Health Workers
November 4th 2014Their role is essential and growing as the nation's elderly population increases, and many older persons seek to stay in their homes. But with pay and benefits only a rung above fast food workers, home health aides are a little seen and often unheard part of the managed care continuum. That changed one September morning in Ohio, when a rally brought their plight literally into the sunshine.
Read More
Biosimilars a Big Cost Saver, RAND Study Finds
November 4th 2014The study by Andrew Mulcahy, a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, found that the predicted $44 billion saving to the US healthcare system over the next decade, would depend on FDA decisions on newer biosimilar drug candidates.
Read More
The Industry's Dirty Secret: The Data Are Inaccurate
November 3rd 2014Patient satisfaction may be increasingly important in healthcare, but the industry hasn't made the appropriate changes yet, 2 employees from Prime Therapeutics said in back-to-back sessions at the 64th Annual Roy A. Bowers Pharmaceutical Conference.
Read More
In the Literature: microRNA Biomarkers For Early Detection of Childhood Cancers
November 3rd 2014Research to be presented this week at the National Cancer Research Institute Cancer Conference has identified the expression of specific serum microRNAs in pediatric solid tumors, which could prove useful for early diagnosis.
Read More
Supreme Court Passes on ACA Subsidy Case-For Now
November 3rd 2014At this time, the Supreme Court of the United States has declined to hear an appeal of one of the cases challenging the legality of making subsidies under the Affordable Care Act available to consumers on the federally run health insurance exchanges.
Read More
Some Telehealth Visits, Care Coordination Win CMS Reimbursement, Published Reports Say
November 3rd 2014Starting in January, primary care physicians will be paid to coordinate care for Medicare patients and can be reimbursed for telehealth visits for wellness and behavioral health, according to a published report.
Read More
Limited Literacy, Numeracy Hurts Those the ACA Is Meant to Help
November 2nd 2014The Affordable Care Act expanded healthcare coverage to many low-income Americans, but this same demographic has a low health literacy that makes it difficult for them to navigate program eligibility systems, according to a study from The Urban Institute.
Read More
Test Predicts Benefit of Extended Endocrine Therapy in Breast Cancer Patients
November 2nd 2014bioTheranostics, Inc's Breast Cancer Index, a genomic test quantifying the risk of breast cancer recurrence and predicting which patients will likely benefit from extended endocrine therapy, will be covered by Medicare.
Read More
Diagnostic Lung Biopsies a Big Drain on Medicare, Study Finds
October 31st 2014The retrospective study, results of which were presented at the 2014 Chicago Multidisciplinary Symposium in Thoracic Oncology, showed that the total diagnostic workup cost for the study sample of Medicare beneficiaries was $38.3 million.
Read More
Author Finds High Degree of Variation Among States to Accommodate Accountable Care
October 31st 2014From Medicaid providers that are regulated as insurers alongside managed care organizations, as happens in Mississippi, to "enhanced medical homes," which are found in Colorado, the variety that exists in healthcare delivery across the states has adapted to reflect the shift to accountable care, according to an author writing for the American Journal of Public Health.
Read More