- Center on Health Equity and Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
What We're Reading: Most Expensive Medicare Drugs
What we're reading, December 23, 2015: CMS releases data on the most expensive Medicare drugs, while HHS reports strong enrollment numbers on HealthCare.gov, and Hillary Clinton outlines a plan to spend $20 billion on Alzheimer's disease research.
CMS has released a new interactive tool with information on Medicare spending on prescription drugs for both Part B and Part D in a bid for greater transparency. The online dashboard allows consumers, policy makers, academics, and other stakeholders see the top 15 drugs by total annual cost, the top 15 drugs by highest spending per Medicare user, and the top 10 drugs with the highest annual increase in total cost in 2014 for both Part B and Part D for a total of 6 lists. There are a total of 80 drugs represented.
As the end of the year draws closer, HHS has announced that enrollment for health coverage through HealthCare.gov is up about one-third over the previous year. A total of 8.2 million consumers have signed up or had their coverage automatically renewed, reported USA Today. In addition, the government is seeing more young people sign up compared to last year, which improves the risk pool and creates a more stable insurance market. There were nearly twice as many consumers younger than 35 years who signed up before the deadline to receive coverage starting January 1, 2016.
Finally, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has called for increased investment in Alzheimer’s disease research. Her plan calls for $2 billion a year for the next 10 years to find a cure for Alzheimer’s. However, The Washington Post noted that Clinton did not offer specifics about where the money would come from.
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
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
Drs Raymond Thertulien, Joseph Mikhael on Racial Disparities in Multiple Myeloma Care Access
December 28th 2023In the wake of the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Raymond Thertulien, MD, PhD, of Novant Health, and Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, discussed health equity research highlights from the meeting and drivers of racial disparities in multiple myeloma outcomes.
Listen
Downward Morbidity, Mortality Trends Discovered Among Patients With Ovarian Cancer, Liver Metastases
April 24th 2024This study indicates a declining trend in morbidity and mortality rates among patients with ovarian cancer and liver metastases, highlighting the efficacy of surgery and chemotherapy in improving survival outcomes.
Read More
Polatuzumab Vedotin and R-CHP Appropriate for Untreated DLBCL
April 24th 2024Population pharmacokinetic and exposure-response analyses revealed a favorable benefit-risk profilane for the treatment combination of polatuzumab vedotin and rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (R-CHP).
Read More
