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An analysis of the Medicaid expansion plans of 6 states that have been granted Section 1115 waivers identified both the promise and limits that have emerged through these alternative expansion approaches.

This week the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions was held in Boston with results on 2 cardiovascular outcomes trials for diabetes drugs, and FDA advisory panels voted in favor of 2 PCSK9 inhibitors.

Some hospitals in the United States are marking up costs approximately 10 times the Medicare-allowed costs. This equals a markup of more than 1000% for the same medical services.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee is drafting language that will help create an in vitro center within the FDA to define risk categories for laboratory-developed tests (LDTs), and set timelines to accelerate the approval process for LDTs.

Hospital spending rose 9.2% from the same period a year ago. Experts attribute the rise to patients who had been previously uninsured seeking care, some of it for complex conditions.

An initiative aimed at speeding the drug development process to ensure patients have faster access to innovative treatments, several provisions of the bill have received mixed reviews.

Although there are numerous companies providing natural language processing services, there are only a handful that are focusing their efforts on direct-to-person coaching. Here are 2 companies who chose to submit a review of their agents and their capabilities.

There was a strong connection between the proportion of patients a physician already had enrolled in hospice care and whether or not other patients would enroll in hospice, according to a study published in Health Affairs.

Delegates from the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have voiced a strong support to banning non-medical exceptions to childhood vaccination, citing a danger to public health.

State policies have had little impact on closing the margin between supply and demand for organ donations, according to a study published this month in JAMA Internal Medicine.

A proposed soda tax failed at the ballot last fall but may be revisited. Warnings would apply to outdoor advertising in the city limits.

The drug, baricitinib, is a JAK-STAT inhibitor being developed for rheumatoid arthritis. Research by scientists at the Unviersity of Michigan found a key role for the pathway in diabetic patients suffering from kidney disease.

The study found that early palliative care consultations in hospitalized cancer patients significantly reduced the cost of hospital stays.

FDA's advisory panel voted 11-4 to give the green light to Amgen's entrant in the PCSK9 inhibitor race, but not after a lengthy discussion on who should get the drug.

Several primary care and obstetrician-gynecology practices that participated in Cigna's Collaborative Care initiative presented promising results.

Editorials that appeared during the run-up to the FDA advisory committee meetings noted the lack of long-term cardiovascular data and the need to be cautious about lowering cholesterol at any cost.

Developed jointly by Sanofi and Regeneron, alirocumab (Praluent) was approved 13-3 by an FDA advisory committee.

A preliminary review of Amgen's evolocumab antibody (Repatha) by the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee, raises a few safety concerns and a call for ongoing monitoring, especially in patients with a high-risk of cardiovascular disease.

Denise L. Faustman, MD, PhD, announced the phase 2 trial during the 75th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association. The 150 patients will be studied for 5 years.

The Center for Health Policy at Brookings and the USC Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics came together for a half-day forum that concentrated on examining and studying the future of the Medicare program. In a 5-part working paper series, healthcare stakeholders examined trends, asked questions, and formulated proposals that would prepare the Medicare program for this incoming class of seniors.

A recently published study evaluated patients admitted in hospitals in Canada and in the United States for their risk of death within a year of hospitalization.

However, not everyone supports the bill's provisions that promote the development of pediatric rare disease drugs through the "voucher" incentive.

The study found that certified diabetes educators were able to act quickly on intensifying therapy, resulting in improved A1C and cholesterol.

The Government Accountability Office has reported fraudulent Medicaid claims by providers and Medicaid beneficiaries.

The study published in The Lancet found a 45% rise in global diabetes during a study period that spanned more than a decade, between 1999 and 2013.

A recent deal with CMS would bring $1 billion to safety-net hospitals for fiscal year 2016, but Medicaid expansion to 800,000 Floridians is worth an estimated $2.1 billion.

This week CMS released their third round of annual data, the value-based topics of the American Society of Clinical Oncology gained new ground, and The American Journal of Managed Care will travel to their 75th session of the American Diabetes Association in Boston.

Researchers traced a patient's nonadherence to cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related medications to the number of medications an individual is prescribed as well as at what times these medications need to be taken. While prescribed CVD medications control associated risk factors such as hypertension and hyperlipidemia, more than half of the patients on a prescribed medication plan fail to take their prescriptions as needed.

Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, FACP, chief medical officer at Joslin Diabetes Center, believes that payment reform is the tool that will drive innovation and value in the healthcare industry.

John Kitchens, MD, discusses the impact of diabetic eye disease and macular diabetic edema for patients on both a societal standpoint and an individual standpoint.