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What We're Reading: UnitedHealth Losses on ACA Plans Steepen
What we're reading, January 20, 2016: UnitedHealth losses on Obamacare health plans steepen; more "skin in the game" doesn't necessarily result in savvier shoppers; and despite recommendations few high school students are tested for HIV.
Last year, UnitedHealth made the surprising announcement that it was considering pulling back from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance exchanges in 2017 due to steep losses. Now, the damage has worsened. The company has projected deeper losses due to growing enrollment, reported The Wall Street Journal. UnitedHealth has made efforts to reduce sign-ups, but regardless, it is expecting losses of more than $500 million on its 2016 ACA plans. The exchange plans represent just a small part of the company’s total business.
Increasing patients’ “skin in the game” does not necessarily lead to savvier consumers. Researchers questioned people about what factors impact their decisions and found even when people have more responsibility for their health costs, they aren’t any more likely to shop around or consider costs, according to Kaiser Health News. Part of the issue, is that it is still difficult for consumers to compare prices when shopping.
Despite recommendations from CDC, the rate of high school students who should have been tested for HIV but haven’t been hasn’t budged over 8 years. Fewer than one-fourth of high school students who have had sex have been tested, because some teens underestimate their risk and their physicians are unaware of the recommendations, reported The Washington Post. CDC recommends yearly HIV testing for high-risk patients, such as those with multiple sex partners—15% of high school students report having at least 4 partners—gay or bisexual boys and men, and injection drug users.
Real-World Study Reveals Key Insights into DLBCL Treatment Patterns, Outcomes
April 18th 2024A recent study offers valuable insights into the characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in patients across different lines of therapy, providing a look into the landscape of DLBCL management.
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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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Gene, Light Therapy Combo Shows Promise Against Prostate Cancer Cells in Proof-of-Concept Study
April 18th 2024In their preclinical model, the researchers found efficacy both in vitro and in vivo by using CRISPR-Cas9 to mimic porphyria and combining the technology with light therapy.
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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.
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Collecting SDOH Data Can Assess Risk of Medical Nonadherence, Improve HEI and Star Ratings
April 18th 2024At the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) 2024 annual meeting, a panel of presenters explored changes coming to Medicare that incorporate social determinants of health (SDOH) data to improve patient and health system outcomes.
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