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Report: Mental Health Drugs Vital for Medicare Patients
WASHINGTON -- Medicare consumers with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia are hospitalized less often if they maintain access to their medications when they hit the coverage gap for prescription drugs, according to a study released today.
This has led to scientists calling for the so-called "doughnut hole" to be closed sooner than 2020, as called for in the 2010 health care law, also known as the Affordable Care Act. They would also like to see patients using more generic medications so that they can avoid hitting the gap in the first place, while saving taxpayers money. "We'd save money and have better outcomes," said Kenneth Smith, lead author of the report published in The American Journal of Managed Care. The health care law last year gave a 50% discount on name-brand drugs and a 14% discount on generics, and Smith said policymakers should consider increasing the discount on generics.
Read the full story: http://usat.ly/WMJ91Q
Source: USA Today
Prices for care at hospital trauma centers vary across hospitals; drug shortages reached a record high during the first quarter of 2024; although 3 of the biggest makers of asthma inhalers pledged to cap out-of-pocket costs for some US patients at $35, these do not apply to daily inhalers used by the youngest kids with asthma.
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Navigating Health Policy in an Election Year: Insights From Dr Dennis Scanlon
April 2nd 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with Dennis Scanlon, PhD, the editor in chief of The American Journal of Accountable Care®, about prior authorization, price transparency, the impact of health policy on the upcoming election, and more.
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The Biden administration recently launched the Global Health Security Strategy, a new effort to combat the spread of infectious diseases; lawmakers zeroed in on the risks of massive consolidation in health care during the first congressional hearing on the Change Healthcare hack; the FDA recently announced the recall of a pair of heart devices linked to numerous deaths and injuries.
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Exploring Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Variations
March 26th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the March 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on variations in prior authorization use across Medicare Advantage plans.
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