Center on Health Equity & Access

A retrospective study presented at the 2023 American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnotsic Medicine meeting revealed that social determinants of health (SDOH) are linked to poorer treatment outcomes in patients who have myasthenia gravis, emphasizing the need for identifying and supporting at-risk individuals.

“Our findings further reinforce that place is important and that the social, economic, and health care equity context is key to minimizing health care expenditure disparities for Black adults in the US," investigators explain.

Many sleep experts want to permanently stay in the standard time zone; Medicare will cover mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists beginning in January; a new Minnesota law requires hospitals to check if patients are eligible for financial assistance before referring medical debt for collections.

This retrospective cohort study of rural hospitals found that Medicare Advantage penetration increased substantially from 2008 to 2019 and was associated with greater hospital sustainability.

The American Cancer Society expanded eligibility for lung cancer screening; experts advised patients to do their research before choosing a plan from the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces; Republican-led states partnering with rideshare companies for medical appointment rides.

Afreen Shariff, MD, MBBS, Duke Cancer Institute, discusses the challenges and benefits of electronic consults (e-consults) for patients with cancer currently undergoing treatment who have a comorbidity history or who develop an endocrine system disorder because of treatment.

In a study driven by simulation modeling, researchers elaborated on policies that contribute to widening health disparities affecting Indigenous communities.

Insurance status is known to be associated with health care access and outcomes, and a recent study found that maternal private insurance is associated with a lower infant mortality rate compared with public Medicaid insurance in the United States.

Data from the SPHERE registry revealed racial and ethnic discrepancies in disease severity, comorbidities, and outcomes experienced by patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) receiving selexipag.

Patients being unaware of their hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is preventing the World Health Organization (WHO) from accomplishing its goal of eliminating HCV and hepatitis B virus as public threats by 2030.

Investigators hope that ongoing research and addressing disparities can improve equitable access to asthma treatments for all pediatric patients.

Leaders from Every Cure and Moonshots for Unicorns highlight their work toward finding treatments for rare diseases currently without a cure.

Although all legislation is currently on hold in Congress, there are important actions under consideration for pharmacy, including digital therapeutics, access to care, and health care disparities.

The number of suicides among US military members and their families slightly decreased in 2022; Democratic lawmakers proposed legislation that would require employers to provide paid time off following a pregnancy loss; Pfizer and BioNTech’s flu–COVID-19 vaccine generated a strong immune response against strains of the viruses in an early- to mid-stage trial.

Saira Jan, PharmD, MS, of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, provides an overview of their collaborative pilot program with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and RWJ Barnabas Health, discussing the program's origin, objectives, and beyond.

April Armstrong, MD, MPH, of University of California, Los Angeles, gave an overview of her Fall Clinical Dermatology session on treating atopic dermatitis (AD) in patients with diverse skin tones and weighed in on how to address related treatment barriers.

The Biden administration requested $1.55 billion from Congress to help address the nationwide fentanyl crisis; the US Department of Agriculture reported that millions more Americans were food insecure in 2022; the Biden administration released an updated cybersecurity toolkit to help defend the US health care infrastructure against hackers.

While Black people are consistently underrepresented, White people are consistently overrepresented in inflammatory arthritis trials for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, spondyloarthritis, and juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Interviews highlight the importance of culturally-tailored diabetes education to address health care disparities in the Mexican American community.

Patients living with HIV had an interest in future use of telehealth due to high satisfaction in the care provided.

Senators advocate for TRICARE to stock and cover the OTC birth control pill; double the amount of health care workers experienced workplace harassment in 2022 compared with 2018; a survey found that young adults in the United States experienced depression and anxiety twice as often as teenagers.

Biases in care for young adults with sickle cell disease could lead to lower quality of care for these patients.

Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, MD, and First Steps and Beyond director Takiyah Durham, MBA, explain how the community-centered program ensures pregnant patients are equipped with resources while receiving equitable care.

A poster presented at AMCP Nexus 2023 reported that payers believe implementing the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will impact Medicare Part D plans financially.

April Armstrong, MD, MPH, of University of California, Los Angeles, explained that the main health care gap within the atopic dermatitis (AD) realm is that many clinicians are not comfortable prescribing systemic medications.