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What We're Reading: AstraZeneca's High-Profile Hire; Impact of Tax Penalty Ending; Rural Hospitals Get Creative
José Baselga, MD, who resigned his position as the chief medical officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center after failing to disclose millions of dollars in payments from drug companies, is joining AstraZeneca as its head of research and development in oncology; the end of the Affordable Care Act tax penalty on those without health insurance could roll back recent coverage gains for Hispanics, young people, the healthy, and the poor; rural hospitals are forming partnerships with home health agencies in order to survive.
Former Cancer Center Top Doctor Heading to AstraZeneca
José Baselga, MD, who resigned his position as the chief medical officer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center after failing to disclose millions of dollars in payments from drug companies, is joining AstraZeneca as its head of research and development in oncology. The New York Times and ProPublica said that the newly created unit reflects the company’s shift toward cancer treatments. Baselga stepped down in September from his role after the publications revealed he had failed to accurately disclose his conflicts of interest in dozens of articles in medical journals. Baselga is an expert in breast cancer research.
End of ACA Tax Penalty May End Coverage Gains for Some
The end of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax penalty on those without health insurance could roll back recent coverage gains for Hispanics, young people, the healthy, and the poor, California Healthline reported. It cited a Health Affairs study in which researchers asked more than 3000 Californians who had bought individual healthcare plans: “Would you have purchased health insurance coverage this year if there was no penalty?” Nineteen percent said they would not have, and a disproportionately large number of those were in population groups that were most likely to be uninsured before the ACA took effect. The study concluded that other states could be harder hit than California by the elimination of the penalty.
Rural Hospitals Forming Creative Partnerships With Home Health Agencies to Prevent Readmissions
Rural hospitals are forming partnerships with home health agencies in order to survive, Kaiser Health News reported. Rather than seeing them as a competitor, hospitals are getting creative in order to keep from being penalized for having too many readmissions within 30 days of discharge, which can cost a hospital millions of dollars in penalties and hurt an already-thin bottom line.
HOPE-CAT Can Identify Maternal Cardiovascular Risk 2 Months Earlier Than Doctors, Study Says
April 25th 2024In a retrospective study, the machine learning tool was able to screen for potential risks of cardiovascular disease nearly 60 days before the patient's medical record showed any signs of a related condition or before they were officially diagnosed or treated for it.
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Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Empowering Community Health Through Wellness and Faith
April 23rd 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. In the third episode, Camille Clarke-Smith, EdD, MS, CHES, CPT, discusses approaching community health holistically through spiritual and community engagement.
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Data Back Neoadjuvant Combo vs Chemo Alone for Early-Stage NSCLC
April 24th 2024For patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), combining neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors and platinum-based chemotherapy improves 2-year outcomes over chemotherapy alone, suggest findings of an extensive literature review and meta-analysis.
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