Humana to Pull Out of 2018 Exchanges
Shortly after calling off its proposed merger with Aetna, Humana announced it would not participate in the Affordable Care Act exchanges in 2018. After analyzing membership data from the 2017 open enrollment period, “Humana is seeing further signs of an unbalanced risk pool,” the insurer stated in a press release explaining the decision. In a tweet, President Donald Trump seized the news as an example of how “Obamacare continues to fail.”
Polypharmacy On the Rise in Elderly Patients
A study recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine points to a concerning trend of physicians prescribing 3 or more central nervous system (CNS) drugs at once for elderly patients. CNS polypharmacy among those aged 65 or older has more than doubled between 2004 and 2013, partially driven by an increase in prescribing among patients with a pain diagnosis. The largest increase in CNS polypharmacy was among rural visits, “where access to specialty mental health or pain care is particularly limited,” the authors wrote.
Pharma Executives Keep Wary Eye on FDA's Future
President Trump’s calls to slash government regulations and speed up the FDA’s drug approval processes have put some pharmaceutical industry leaders on edge, according to a Reuters article. Over a dozen drug and biotechnology firms have implored the new administration not to implement a too-hasty approval process, worrying that insurers will refuse to pay for a new drug if its safety is not thoroughly proven. "It is one thing to get a drug approved, but you have got to get reimbursed," said Paul Perreault, chief executive of biotech company CSL Ltd, in the article.
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.
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Dr Dalia Rotstein: Physicians Must Be Aware MS Affects People of All Backgrounds
April 24th 2024Dalia Rotstein, MD, MPH, emphazises the importance of awareness that multiple sclerosis (MS) impacts patients from various backgrounds as clinicians think through ways to improve access to care and research efforts in MS.
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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.
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What We’re Reading: Abortion Privacy Rules; Alzheimer Drug Hurdles; Nursing Home Staffing Overhaul
April 23rd 2024New health privacy rules aim to protect patients and providers in an evolving abortion landscape; some physicians express concerns about efficacy, risks, and entrenched beliefs in treating Alzheimer disease; CMS addresses longstanding staffing deficits in nursing homes.
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Award-Winning Poster Presentations From AMCP 2024
April 23rd 2024At the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) 2024 annual meeting, multiple poster presentations concerned with health equity, data collection, glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, and more were acknowledged for their originality, relevance, clarity, bias, and quality.
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