Health Care Delivery

Cost sharing for marketplace plans remained essentially unchanged from 2014 to 2015, but stable premiums during the period do not reflect the greater costs borne by enrollees, according to a report from The Commonwealth Fund.

People who are purchasing health insurance under the Affordable Care Act may be leaving money on the table because they choose plans with less expensive premiums and miss out on government subsidies, said Sara R. Collins, PhD, vice president of Health Care Coverage Access at The Commonwealth Fund.

This week in managed care the top stories included the announcement of a initiative to cure cancer, pharmaceutical company executives brushed off public outrage over drug prices, and the president's nominee for FDA commissioner has passed his first hurdle.

A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics stressed the importance of providing a variety of health coverage options for children under the Affordable Care Act.

The largest US hospitals are hardly using hospital-based mobile apps, and are thus missing opportunities to engage patients.

What we're reading, January 15, 2016: new report finds flaws in how the FDA tracks drugs after they reach the market; rate of uninsured Hispanic children hits historic low; and CVS and New York State make medication that reverses opioid overdose available without prescription.

What we're reading, January 14, 2016: President Obama proposes extending financial assistance for new states expanding Medicaid eligibility; Hillary Clinton goes hard after Bernie Sanders on single-payer healthcare; and health information exchanges reduce repeated imaging procedures.

Millions of unpaid family members care for elderly parents or relatives. But as baby boomers age, the government faces a quandary because there will be fewer adults age 45 to 64 available to fill that role.

Access to testing for early diagnosis of chronic conditions, and use of data to find care gaps, will reduce health disparities.

An infographic that looks at 3 factors impacting diabetes care, based on the keynote speech from Patient-Centered Diabetes Care 2015 from Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, of Joslin Diabetes Center.

Both patients and hospitals in states that expanded Medicaid benefited from the wider eligibility.

A recent study analyzed screening procedures of community health centers and was able to quantify the screening gap for hepatitis C according to gender and race/ethnicity.

Tele-ICU has been part of a model of care that has tremendous potential to positively affect patients and their families; however, the concept of tele-ICU still faces a few challenges.

Rates of uninsured dropped faster than almost anywhere in the nation, but Kynect is part of "Obamacare," and the new Republican Governor Matt Bevin has vowed that it must go. Advocates have a lot of questions about how hard-to-target populations will be reached and whether grant funds will have to be repaid.

At the J P Morgan Healthcare Conference, Express Scripts' president Tim Wentworth shared the solutions being developed by the pharmacy benefit manager to improve patient access while reducing cost to payers.

What we're reading, January 12, 2016: 43,000 people will lose their Affordable Care Act tax credits for failing to file a 2014 tax return; Kentucky's new governor will dismantle the state's health insurance exchange; and deciding whether to get that medical test.

Affordable Care Act marketplace assisters played a vital role in helping millions of people gain access to healthcare coverage during the first 2 open enrollment periods, a study in Health Affairs finds.

What we're reading, January 11, 2016: drug shortages in the emergency departments have quadrupled since 2008; the government has done little to verify people enrolling after Obamacare deadline under special enrollment categories; and Pfizer increased the prices of 100 drugs.

The latest developments across the healthcare landscape and key upcoming conferences to attend.

Top managed care stories include Sanofi ending its deal to market Afrezza, Aetna cut ties with America's Health Insurance Plans, and a new study found bankruptcy looms large for cancer survivors.

Before the House of Representatives had even passed the bill that guts the Affordable Care Act, President Obama had already announced he would veto it. And now he has made good on that promise.

What we're reading, January 8, 2016: HHS releases report with full Obamacare enrollment information for all 50 states and the District of Columbia; the expansion of the biosimilars in 2016; and promising Ebola treatment found not effective.

The 3 core measures of acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, and pneumonia are the leading causes of hospital admissions and expenditures. Our study sets the benchmark foundation for outcome evaluations of CMS’s value-based purchasing program and the Affordable Care Act.

Lydia Mitts, senior policy analyst at Families USA, explains the concept of a smarter deductible and the short-term impact of lower- and middle-income consumers switching plans and their understanding of their benefits.

What we're reading, January 7, 2016: the uninsured rate at the end of 2015 was essentially unchanged from the beginning of the year; CMS may start paying for some rehab for drug or alcohol addiction; and follow-up care plans after hospital discharge are often too difficult for patients to understand.