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What We're Reading: A Baffling Case of Zika, Rising Premiums in California
Experts say Covered California is making up for coverage that was underpriced the last 2 years, and Maryland Medicaid officials create an uproar by changing the preferred opioid addiction treatment.
Health officials in Utah are baffled by a case of Zika virus that did not appear to have been transmitted by known routes: a mosquito bite or sexual contact. According to The New York Times, the patient was a family member and caregiver for an older man in Salt Lake County who contracted Zika while traveling abroad. The older man had other health problems and later died; the caregiver has recovered. CDC is assisting in the investigation.
Covered California will raise premiums 13.2% for 2017, a steep rise that reflects the fact that policies were underpriced. The largest state-level exchange had been praised for keeping increases to around 4% the past 2 years. But rising medical costs and the lapsing of federal programs to help insurers with pricy claims made the increase inevitable, according to California HealthLine.
Maryland Medicaid officials have sparked a debate over how to best treat opioid addiction. They removed Suboxone film from the state’s formulary after prison officials said too many strips were being smuggled in and resold on the black market. The trouble with Suboxone, prison officials say, is that it is itself an opioid, and the strips were chopped up into small pieces that were easy to hide. Medicaid replaced the film with tablets, but doctors say this formulation isn’t as effective.
Data analysis showed that 40% of patients who filled a prescription for Wegovy in 2021 or 2022 were still taking it a year later; both Democrats and reproductive rights organizations are pressuring the Biden administration to ensure health insurers fully cover contraception; CMS implemented Medicare changes in March that limited access to blood tests that help transplant recipients ensure their organs remain healthy.
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SDOH in Cancer Care Highlight Multifactorial Equity Issues
December 6th 2023A trio of speakers addressed the importance of social determinants of health (SDOH) in cancer care on day 1 of the 46th annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in the session, “Social Determinants of Health: Impact on Cancer Care.”
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