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Smokers May Face Insurance Premium Hikes
Some smokers may pay higher premiums for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. In an interview on Kaiser Health News, Michelle Andrews discusses how the health law will affect insurance for smokers, and programs that may help them quit:
The provisions that allow insurers to charge smokers higher premiums take effect in January and apply to health plans sold on the individual and small group markets that aren't grandfathered under the law. The insurer may well rely on people to self-report their tobacco use, asking them, for example, if they've used tobacco regularly in the past six months. You're apparently concerned that people won't disclose that they're smokers, and some may not. But it's important to remember that research shows that most smokers want to quit, and under the health law people won't be penalized as long as they're trying to do so, even if they don't succeed. If a company has a wellness program that offers a tobacco cessation program and if smokers participate in it, they're not going to have to pay the higher rate. Participation is enough, workers don't have to actually succeed at quitting, which often takes several tries. So that may encourage people to 'fess up to their smoking habit.
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California Aims for Equity by Redefining Cancer Care
December 8th 2023Authors highlight key aspects of the California Cancer Care Equity Act, including its focus on Medi-Cal beneficiaries, the requirement for managed care plans to contract with specialized cancer centers, and the definition of complex cancers.
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Oncology Onward: A Conversation With Thyme Care CEO and Cofounder Robin Shah
October 2nd 2023Robin Shah, CEO of Thyme Care, which he founded in 2020 with Bobby Green, MD, president and chief medical officer, joins hosts Emeline Aviki, MD, MBA, and Stephen Schleicher, MD, MBA, to discuss his evolution as an entrepreneur in oncology care innovation and his goal of positively changing how patients experience the cancer system.
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Patients With RA in Remission Withdrawing From TNF Inhibition Show Flare Increases
December 8th 2023New data presented at ACR 2023 highlighted the differences in rates of flares and Boolean 2.0 remission rates compared to patients with rheumatoid arthritis who continued a tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi).
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Insufficient Data, Disparities Plague Lung Cancer Risk Factor Documentation
September 24th 2023On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with the senior author of a study published in the September 2023 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® on the importance of adequate and effective lung cancer risk factor documentation to determine a patient's eligibility for screening.
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Research Reveals the Role of Structural Racism in Lung Cancer Risk
December 7th 2023Spanning 22 studies, the analysis illuminated housing disparities, occupational hazards, unequal health care access, economic inequality, and discriminatory industry practices and how they collectively contribute to heightened lung cancer risks.
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Refining Precision Prevention for Benign Breast Disease
December 7th 2023Many questions remain surrounding accurately classifying the risk of developing invasive breast cancer associated with the benign breast disease diagnoses of nonproliferative lesions and proliferative changes without atypia.
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