Policy

The intersection of climate change and negative impacts on health were brought into sharp focus this week with executive orders from President Biden, a move by General Motors (GM) to stop making some gasoline-powered cars, and top global cardiology organizations calling for urgent action on air pollution.

The Biden administration will reopen the health exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA); direct HHS and other agencies to reexamine other health policies, including Medicaid work requirements; and reverse the so-called global gag rule while affirming support for reproductive health.

On this episode, we speak with the coauthor of a paper looking at the mental health stressors facing first responders and health care workers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The paper found that a sizable number of these frontline workers are at risk for psychiatric illnesses at severity levels higher than other national disasters, including 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.

States with the most restrictive scope-of-practice laws have an inadequate supply of primary care clinicians to serve a high concentration of dual-eligible beneficiaries.

The FDA approved the first injectable monthly treatment for HIV; Eli Lilly announced positive effects of its monoclonal antibody treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on food insecurity.

President Joe Biden issued executive orders to speed up testing and vaccine distribution, and to require masks on planes, trains, and buses.

Nephrologist Mary Dittrich, MD, the chief medical officer and executive vice president of U.S. Renal Care as well as cofounder and partner of Boise Kidney & Hypertension Institute, discusses how to keep patients safe while providing high-quality kidney care during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

As the nation crossed the threshold of 400,000 deaths from the pandemic, the Biden transition team said that one of his first actions will be an executive order calling on Americans to do “their patriotic duty” and wear a mask.

Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, president emeritus and senior fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and former CMS administrator, discusses challenges in cancer care and health care awaiting the Biden transition team.

The authors of a Clinical research article in the January 2021 Health IT issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® discuss their findings and suggestions for making telehealth access more equitable for all.

As Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, prepares to assume the role of CDC director on January 20, the infectious disease specialist faces a myriad of challenges wrought by the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The incoming Biden administration will be challenged to address flex capacity, the supply chain, and real-time data as we transition from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) response to durable recovery.

The US Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, MD, and other officials urged for greater uptake of FDA-approved treatments for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in an effort to slow the surge of cases requiring hospitalization. However, logistic, monetary, and efficacy concerns may have drastically limited the amount of biologic treatments actually administered to patients.

Starting in 2 weeks, allocation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines will be based on the percentage of doses each state has successfully administered thus far and the number of residents aged 65 or over, according to HHS.

Barbara McAneny, MD, founding partner of New Mexico Oncology Hematology Consultants, discusses why putting risk on oncologists is not the way to fix cost issues in cancer care.

A Democratic majority in the United States Senate could mean changes in health care policy are to come; CDC says benefits of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine outweigh risks of allergic reactions; Los Angeles faces a shortage of oxygen.

Barbara McAneny, MD, CEO of New Mexico Oncology Hematology Consultants, gives her insight on the potential pitfalls of bundled payment plans in oncology and how they could potentially work.

Our 5 most-read oncology stories and most-watched videos this year highlighted cancer care policy, diversity, and the growing practice of remote cancer care.

The top 5 most-read news stories for Evidence-Based Oncology™ (EBO), a publication of The American Journal of Managed Care®, ranged from drug approvals to policy challenges and targeted therapies.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on racial and ethnic minorities in America. MJH Life Sciences™ will host a free webinar to explore potential solutions.

A look at some of our most-read news coverage of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Clarence Moore, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP, assistant professor at Shenandoah University in Ashburn, Virginia, discusses whether treatment methods for beta thalassemia are accessible to patients.

Bringing together genetic work with social determinants of health can improve understanding of factors associated with ESKD disparities, said Adriana Hung, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University, and Bryce Rowan, a statistical genetic analyst.

Stark realities exposed by the pandemic have led some to advocate for redirecting resources to have the most impact on vulnerable populations.

The authors wrote that in states that expanded Medicaid health insurance coverage in 2014, there was an increase of early-stage colon cancer diagnoses compared with states that did not implement expansion.

A funding dispute over how to account for a Veterans Affairs (VA) health care program is stalling deal to fund the government for another year; the Supreme Court rules in a case involving states and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs); the antiepileptic drug ezogabine lowered the pathologic excitability of cortical and spinal motor neuron cells, which have a role in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

What people believe about health and public health, although challenged before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, is even more crucial now as vaccine distribution efforts could soon begin.

During the enactment period of recent Michigan opioid laws, a reduction in opioid prescriptions for oculoplastic and orbital procedures was observed and appeared to be sustained, according to research published in JAMA Ophthalmology.

The United States reports a record 3000 daily coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths; the House of Representatives passes bill in support of marijuana research; data show rises in prescription drug list prices.

This episode of Managed Care Cast is a preview of an interview with Michael E. Chernew, PhD, and A. Mark Fendrick, MD, the co-editors-in-chief of The American Journal of Managed Care®, which appears in the December issue of the journal.