Insurance

As obesity rates increase, health systems will have to take charge of finding places to discharge the largest patients to avoid penalties from Medicare, authors of a new study find.

While little seems certain about the current healthcare reform debate in Congress, the transition to value-based care is well underway. We are beginning to see that when providers are paid to deliver better care at lower costs, they can have a real impact on both.

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

This week, the top managed care stories included a new direction for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation; a bipartisan group of governors spoke out against the latest effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act; and the World Health Organization warned that antibiotics currently being developed were not enough to fight antibiotic-resistant infections.

While the ongoing healthcare debate in Congress creating a lot of uncertainty among the healthcare industry, there are areas of certainty and optimism, said Dan Todd, JD, principal at Todd Strategy.

The chief medical officer of Omada Health discusses a transition from one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies to a digital health provider, and from treating chronic disease to preventing it.

CMS has issued an informal request for information seeking input on a new direction promoting patient-centered care and market-driven reforms for the CMS Innovation Center.

Truck drivers were identified in a Gallup survey as the profession most at risk for type 2 diabetes.

This study examined the early impacts of closing the donut hole in Medicare Part D.

Amanda Forys, MSPH, director of Xcenda’s Reimbursement Policy Insights consulting team, discusses how Medicare will address and possibly change its biosimilar policies as the FDA offers more guidance and as biosimilars become more prevalent in the market.

Just hours apart, 2 groups of senators unveiled health reform proposals that each take a drastically different approach to redefining the government’s role in healthcare.

A group that represents both community-based and virtual providers finds many issues with CMS' proposal for Medicare's Diabetes Prevention Program.

Geographic variation in healthcare spending and utilization within the Military Health System is higher and significantly correlated with Medicare across hospital referral regions.

Placing formulary restrictions on brand name drugs shifts use toward generics, lowers the cost per prescription fill, and has minimal impact on overall adherence for antidiabetes, antihyperlipidemia, and antihypertension medications among low-income subsidy recipients in Medicare Part D plans.

A Dexcom spokeswoman said there are already 20,000 Medicare patients in the pipeline with almost no advertisement of the policy change.

A new study indicates that palliative care can significantly reduce end-of-life hospitalizations and aggressive procedures among Medicare beneficiaries with advanced cancer.

To avoid bias, the study did use aggressive titration protocols that might be found in a real-world setting. Still, patients using CGM saw greater reductions in A1C and more time in range.

Study finds there is little evidence to suggest that an oxycodone HCI extended-release tablets nonformulary restriction has a direct effect on patient enrollment behavior.

This week, the top managed care articles included a report from the Congressional Budget Office on the impact of eliminating the cost-sharing reduction payments; a decision from CMS to eliminate 2 mandatory bundled payment programs; and a new value-based alliance that called for ending use of a test for diagnosing heart attacks.

Patrick Conway, MD, MSc, will leave his position as the deputy administrator for Innovation and Quality at CMS and the director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to lead Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC).

Coverage from the 2017 meeting of the American Association of Diabetes Educators.