- Center on Health Equity and Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
What We're Reading: California Insurance Commissioner Opposes Anthem-Cigna Merger
What we're reading, June 17, 2016: California's insurance commissioner comes out in opposition of the merger between Anthem and Cigna; local governments push for drug makers to pay for drug take-back programs; and the CDC releases numbers of Zika-related birth defects in the United States.
California’s state insurance department wants the merger of Anthem and Cigna to be blocked. According to Kaiser Health News, the California Insurance Commissioner has declared the deal would be anti-competitive and harmful to consumers. In addition, he said that the merger would likely result in higher costs, fewer choices, and lower quality of care. While the commissioner does not have the authority to thwart the merger, his recommendation could carry weight.
Drug makers and local government continue to do battle over who should pay for drug take-back programs. A total of 8 counties or cities have created such programs requiring drug makers foot the bill, and more are being proposed elsewhere, according to STAT.
The CDC reported that 6 women in the mainland Untied States were pregnant with babies suffering brain damage as a result of the Zika virus. The agency continues to monitor 423 pregnant women with Zika who contracted the virus through travel or an infected partner, reported The Washington Post. This is the first time the agency has provided numbers of Zika-related birth defects.
Lack of Mutations Associated With Favorable Prognosis in MPN-U
April 25th 2024While the Dynamic International Prognostic Scoring System and bone marrow blasts may predict overall survival, the lack of certain mutations is also associated with a better prognosis for myeloproliferative neoplasm, unclassifiable (MPN-U).
Read More
HOPE-CAT Can Identify Maternal Cardiovascular Risk 2 Months Earlier Than Doctors, Study Says
April 25th 2024In a retrospective study, the machine learning tool was able to screen for potential risks of cardiovascular disease nearly 60 days before the patient's medical record showed any signs of a related condition or before they were officially diagnosed or treated for it.
Read More
Data Back Neoadjuvant Combo vs Chemo Alone for Early-Stage NSCLC
April 24th 2024For patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), combining neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitors and platinum-based chemotherapy improves 2-year outcomes over chemotherapy alone, suggest findings of an extensive literature review and meta-analysis.
Read More
