Policy

Transformational changes in cancer care can bring forth important innovations, but all those come at a cost, said Ray Page, DO, PhD, president and director of research at The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.

In a webinar moderated by Thomas Parry, PhD, president of the Integrated Benefits Institute, an employer panel discussed value, application, and barriers to strategies involving the integration of employee needs and interests into benefit programs.

A. Mark Fendrick, MD, director of the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design (V-BID) at the University of Michigan and co-editor-in-chief of The American Journal of Managed Care®, and Suzanne F. Delbanco, PhD, executive director of Catalyst for Payment Reform, discuss V-BID X for employers, a plan constructed through benefit-design and payment reform that works to promote high-value services and deter low-value care.

Implementing a claims-based algorithm and disease management program may be an effective strategy to reduce relapse and cost among patients with schizophrenia.

Cost-related barriers to access are a major problem for US patients with MS that will hopefully be addressed through innovations in medication affordability, said Aliza Ben-Zacharia, DNP, ANP, associate director at the Center for Nursing Research and Innovation at Mount Sinai.

Mercer’s 2019 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans highlighted 3 key areas of focus for employers in 2019, which were balancing affordability and choice, empowering employees to improve their health through tech-enabled solutions, and addressing high-cost claims.

Encouraging patient adherence to medication is very important to managing the cost of multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies, said Patty Taddei-Allen, PharmD, MBA, BCACP, BCGP, director, outcomes research, WelldyneRx.

The revolution in cancer care cannot happen just in the laboratory—it must also take place among stakeholders who must agree on new models for financing very expensive life-saving therapies. The new issue of Evidence-Based Oncology™ looks at the people trying to change the way we pay for cures and their work.

A business case is made for medical centers to offer high-quality clinical training experiences to recruit graduating health professionals.

A House of Representatives subcommittee heard from stakeholders about the impact of the rising cost of insulin.

Administration of immuno-oncology therapy for cancer diagnoses in the community clinic setting is associated with lower costs compared with administration in a hospital-based clinic setting.

Between 2012 and 2016, insulin costs for patients nearly doubled while utilization remained flat; the pharmaceutical industry's lead lobbying group spent a record amount in 2018; and alcohol-associated liver disease has surpassed hepatitis C as the top cause of liver transplants.

With a number of difference payment programs being tested, it’s important to have a sophisticated evaluation of these programs to really understand their impact on quality and cost, said Allison Brennan, MPP, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Association of ACOs.