Baltimore Low on Opioid Overdose Drug
Demand for naloxone, which reverses an opioid overdose, has jumped significantly as the opioid epidemic continues to ravage the United States. According to The Washington Post, Baltimore’s health department is running low on the drug and has started rationing it for those at the highest risk of an overdose. Fatal overdoses in Maryland were up 66% in 2016 over 2015 and there are an estimated 21,000 heroin users in Baltimore alone. The city only has 4000 doses left that need to last until May 2018.
Two Insurers Reverse Decisions to Exit ACA Markets
Premera Blue Cross has decided that it will offer Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans in 2 Washington state counties that were at risk of having no insurers in 2018. In addition, Medica has indicated it will offer marketplace plans in Iowa next year, reported The Wall Street Journal. Without Medica, Iowa is at risk of having no ACA insurers in possibly the entire state. Premera’s decision to offer ACA plans in Grays Harbor and Klickitat counties in Washington state is a reversal from its earlier decision to exit those markets.
Speeding Recovery in Hospitals
A new study has found that hospital patients who have a healthier roommate are discharged quicker. In a blog post of The New York Times’ The Upshot, Austin Frakt, PhD, explained that patients with the healthiest roommates required less attention, were discharged faster, and cost about $840 less. The study found no negative side effects on the healthier roommate’s health. The study may make hospitals reassess the recent move toward more private rooms, which is more costly but reduces the spread of infections and increases satisfaction.
BRCA-Like Classification May Be a Useful Biomarker for Olaparib Response in Ovarian Cancer
May 1st 2024Adding olaparib to maintenance therapy with bevacizumab was associated with significantly longer survival for patients with ovarian cancer whose tumors have a BRCA-like genomic profile, but not among those with non-BRCA-like tumors, a study found.
Read More
Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued letters to 10 companies to warn them that certain drug patents were improperly listed; the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will begin testing ground beef for bird flu particles; rural Americans are more likely to die early from 1 of the 5 leading causes of death than those who live in urban areas.
Read More
Navigating Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in National Health Plans
February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
Listen