A proposal to shore up Iowa’s individual insurance market has been pulled from consideration. According to The Des Moines Register, state leaders decided they couldn’t wait any longer for a decision with open enrollment close at hand. The waiver would have allowed the state to waive certain Affordable Care Act provisions and reconfigured how federal subsidies are used. The proposal was created in response to the high premium increases the state was expected to see.
World leaders are preparing for the next possible world pandemic through the use of a simulation. The World Bank first started running exercises on responding to global pandemics in the aftermath of the 2014 Ebola epidemic, which had been marred by an inefficient early response, reported The Washington Post. While there is growing awareness of the coordination challenges health ministries face and the role of social media and the news, the simulation proved the world is not prepared for the pandemic.
A new app that lets patients obtain birth control and the morning-after pill is running up against opposition from anti-abortion activists. STAT reported that these opponents take issue with providing increased access to the morning-after pill, which they consider equivalent to abortion. The app allows women to answer some health questions, provide basic information, and choose their preferred drug. A doctor then reviews the submission and writes a prescription for the patient. The app is available in 15 states, plus Washington, DC, and as it rolls out into more conservative states, the app’s founders face more and stronger opposition.
Dr Kathy Zackowski Discusses the Importance of Rehabilitation Research and Trials in MS
April 26th 2024Kathy Zackowski, PhD, National MS Society, expresses the inherent value of quality rehabilitation trials for broadening clinical understandings of multiple sclerosis (MS) and bettering patient outcomes.
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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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Kaiser Permanente was hit by a data breach in mid-April, impacting 13.4 million health plan members; GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) sued Pfizer and BioNTech for allegedly infringing on its messenger RNA technology patents in the companies’ COVID-19 vaccines; the CDC announced the first-known HIV cases transmitted via cosmetic injections.
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