Centene Enters Nevada ACA Market
The number of counties with no insurers offering Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans is dwindling. Centene will now offer insurance in the 14 Nevada counties that were at risk of having no options in 2018, reported The New York Times. That brings the tally down to just 2 counties without insurers, and only 400 ACA customers live in those counties in Wisconsin and Ohio. Centene is betting big on the ACA, which makes sense since a former Obama administration official who ran the federal marketplaces is now an executive at the insurer.
Popularity of Antidepressants
The number of people using antidepressants is rising. TIME reported that in 2011-2014, 13% of people 12 years and older took an antidepressant in the last month compared with 11% in 2005-2008. The majority of people using antidepressants tend to be taking them over a long period of time: 2 years or more. In addition, women were twice as likely as men to take the medications, which are used to treat depression and anxiety.
States Expanding, Restricting Coverage for Abortion
In Oregon, the governor recently signed a bill to expand coverage on abortions, while in Texas, the governor signed a bill to limit coverage for them. According to AP, the legislation in Oregon was introduced in response to attempts to repeal the ACA, which includes reproductive services as part of the essential health benefits. Nearly half a million dollars will be allocated from Oregon’s general fund over 2 years to expand the coverage. The new law in Texas will require women to buy supplemental insurance if they want coverage for an abortion, reported Reuters. The supplemental coverage will cost $12 to $80 a year and the bill did not offer exceptions for cases of rape or incest.
Navigating Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in National Health Plans
February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
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Drs Raymond Thertulien, Joseph Mikhael on Racial Disparities in Multiple Myeloma Care Access
December 28th 2023In the wake of the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Raymond Thertulien, MD, PhD, of Novant Health, and Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, discussed health equity research highlights from the meeting and drivers of racial disparities in multiple myeloma outcomes.
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The Supreme Court seems likely to reject a challenge to the abortion pill mifepristone; the FDA is inspecting far fewer pharmaceutical companies conducting clinical research; AstraZeneca has sued to block an Arkansas law that it said would unlawfully expand the 340B program to include for profit-pharmacy chains.
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Poor Well-Being Scores Linked to Early Treatment Stoppage in Multiple Myeloma
March 27th 2024Investigators used the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General General Physical Wellbeing Scale to collect data on patient-reported treatment-related adverse effects, to provide clinicians guidance on predicting risk of early treatment discontinuation among ECOG-ACRIN E1A11 trial participants.
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