Hospitals Prepare for Hurricane Irma
In the Florida Keys, hospitals are evacuating patients in anticipation of Hurricane Irma. The Category 5 hurricane is projected to make landfall in the Florida Keys early Sunday, and 3 hospitals have been discharging patients, according to STAT. There are still approximately 20 inpatients in the hospitals that will need air and ambulance transports to move. After witnessing the destruction of Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas, the hospitals of the Keys are not taking any chances.
Republicans and Democrats Discuss ACA Fixes
During a Senate hearing on Wednesday, senators and state insurance commissioners discussed proposals to curb premium increases and stabilize the individual insurance markets. AP reported that while disagreements clearly remain, the 2 parties had a cordial discussion and showed a willingness to work together to bolster the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Both sides seem to be in favor of continuing cost-sharing reduction payments to insurers, as well as providing money to states to help insurers cover expensive patients. Panel Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee, wants to have a bipartisan bill by the end of next week.
More Insurers Scale Back ACA Participation
While the discussions in Washington, DC, were positive, 2 insurers said they were scaling back their participation in the ACA exchanges. Anthem has been slowly reducing its involvement, and it has now announced it will offer ACA plans in just half of Kentucky’s counties in 2018 after covering the whole state in 2017. Reuters reported that the state’s 120 counties will still have ACA insurance options despite the pull back. The same cannot be said in Virginia, which is now at risk of having regions lacking ACA options next year. According to The Wall Street Journal, Optima Health is scaling back its planned expansion, a move that will leave 48 counties and parts of 6 more at risk of having no exchange plan options in 2018.
Dr Dalia Rotstein: Physicians Must Be Aware MS Affects People of All Backgrounds
April 24th 2024Dalia Rotstein, MD, MPH, emphazises the importance of awareness that multiple sclerosis (MS) impacts patients from various backgrounds as clinicians think through ways to improve access to care and research efforts in MS.
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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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Polatuzumab Vedotin and R-CHP Appropriate for Untreated DLBCL
April 24th 2024Population pharmacokinetic and exposure-response analyses revealed a favorable benefit-risk profilane for the treatment combination of polatuzumab vedotin and rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (R-CHP).
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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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Award-Winning Poster Presentations From AMCP 2024
April 23rd 2024At the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) 2024 annual meeting, multiple poster presentations concerned with health equity, data collection, glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, and more were acknowledged for their originality, relevance, clarity, bias, and quality.
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