Center on Health Equity & Access

Despite socioeconomic and biological differences that contribute to disparities between Black men and White men with prostate cancer, improved access has been shown to reduce the gaps, explained Jun Gong, MD, of Cedars Sinai.

This week in health equity and access includes challenges for independent physicians due to Medicare cuts, inequities in access to State Health Insurance Assistance Program counseling, a study on patient experiences in national health plans, strategies for building trust in cancer care, and increasing breast cancer rates in young Black women.

The study was the first of its kind to analyze social deprivation among CLL patients and observe the underlying reasons behind their clinical outcomes.

Medicare beneficiaries are beginning to see the first savings from the Inflation Reduction Act; abortion pills prescribed to patients via telehealth and the mail are safe; nearly half of health care workers have witnessed racism or discrimination in their workplace.

Carrie Kozlowski, OT, MBA, chief operating officer and cofounder of Upfront Healthcare, explains how the company emphasizes personalized engagement to overcome technological, cultural, and social barriers while Medicaid disenrollment rates are increasing.

Researchers have identified a surge in breast cancer rates among young women and racial disparities across age groups.

Combining interventions to encourage screenings for colorectal cancer (CRC) and social determinants of health (SDOH) was found to improve screening rates in CRC without decreasing rates of screenings for SDOH.

Part of the recent Medicare reimbursement cuts could be addressed in a spending package next month; Medicaid/Medicare dual eligibles are expected to generate big profits for health insurers; FDA sent warning letters to online vendors selling unapproved and misbranded versions of semaglutide and tirzepatide.

"I'll say what I don't think the issue is—it's not technology. We can solve this problem with technology," Carrie Kozlowski, OT, MBA, explains in the interview.

On 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.

The federal State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) provides counseling and education on Medicare coverage options. This article highlights potential inequities in in-person SHIP service access.

A single-institution, retrospective cohort study evaluates knowledge gaps in clinical data on Black patients with melanoma.

Over the past 20 years, Medicare physician pay has plummeted by 26% when adjusted for inflation, while hospital reimbursement has surged by 70%, prompting over 100,000 doctors to abandon independent practice for hospital or corporate employment since 2019.

Catch up on this week's news at the Center on Health Equity and Access.

At an Institute for Value-Based Medicine® event held in Phoenix, Arizona, experts from Banner Health and Aetna discussed how health inequities and social determinants of health can affect primary care in patients with any type of insurance.

Chandler Cortina, MD, MS, FSSO, FACS, is assistant professor of surgery and breast surgical oncologist at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin. His current research focuses on breast cancer risk not only in general but also among transgender and gender-diverse populations.

The mobile intervention teams mark a significant step forward in federal efforts to transform mental health services across the nation, as New Mexico becomes the 15th state to adopt this option under the American Rescue Plan.

Emergent colorectal cancer (CRC) resection was found to be more prevalent in patients who identified as non-White.

While White individuals are less likely to suffer from severe psychological distress, findings showed White individuals are more likely to experience “deaths of despair” when compared with Black and Hispanic individuals in the US.

States channel billions into housing for the homeless using Medicaid funds; AstraZeneca invests $300 million to discover and develop cell therapies; the CDC highlights dangers of menthol cigarette addiction.

A total of 16,430,000 Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as of February 1, 2024.

Although 30-day mortality rates did not worsen for Medicare beneficiaries at hospitals with high proportions of Black patients compared with other hospitals, gaps in outcomes widened for Black adults with pneumonia under the Medicare Value-Based Purchasing Program.

This study provides insight on the experiences of patients of a national health plan with 2 structural determinants of health—health care discrimination and health literacy—and how those interact with social determinants of health and patient demographics.

The Center on Health Equity and Access provides real-time updates, shares cutting-edge research, and supports continuous efforts dedicated to tackling health care disparities and enhancing widespread access to high-quality health services.