Podcast: This Week in Managed Care—Step Therapy in Medicare Advantage and Other Health News

The FDA has granted full approval to pembrolizumab for the treatment of some patients with unresectable or metastatic microsatellite instability–high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair–deficient (dMMR) solid tumors that have progressed following previous treatment.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Virginia Wang, PhD, and Matthew L. Maciejewski, PhD, who talk about their recent study on racial disparities in home dialysis, and what more needs to be done to increase uptake and reduce disparities in home dialysis for non-White patients.

The FDA wants to discourage the use of single-arm trials for accelerated approvals of oncology drugs; Cigna’s review system allows doctors to reject claims without reading them, an investigation shows; US bishops want to restrict gender transition care in Catholic hospitals.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we feature several leaders in diversity, equity, and inclusion advancing health equity in their respective organization’s policy and practice initiatives.

An analysis of more than 500,000 pregnancies over a 15-year period suggests much of the increase in gestational diabetes rates observed during the study period can be attributed to changes in screening practices.

Samyukta Mullangi, MD, MBA, oncology fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and incoming medical director at Thyme Care, discussed how the transition to value-based care can contribute to operational and financial risks among oncology practices, and the effectiveness of care navigation platforms in addressing these concerns.