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What We're Reading: Watchdog Takes on Medicare Scams; Weight Loss Drug Pulled From Market; Veterans Affairs Faces Challenges
A federal watchdog will take on Medicare scams; Belviq, a weight loss drug, has been pulled from market; issues at Veterans Affairs have resulted in healthcare roadblocks.
Feds to Track How Marketers Get Private Medicare Info
A federal government watchdog is planning to conduct a nationwide probe into telemarketers’ attaining of personal Medicare information, the Associated Press reports. The audit is expected to be announced next week and will aim to crack down on potential fraud and waste. Telemarketing scams targeting Medicare recipients have been on the rise, with impersonators posing as a pharmacy or doctor’s office to elicit information. According to the AP, personal details are gleaned from Medicare files and can then be cross-referenced with databases of phone numbers or other contact information. Healthcare fraud costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars a year, the AP reports.
Belviq Pulled from Market Due to Cancer Risks
Eisai Inc, a Japanese company, has pulled the weight loss drug Belviq from the market after federal regulators said it posed a small increased risk of cancer, The Washington Post reports. The company, however, said it disagreed with the FDA’s interpretation of new safety data released on the drug. In an FDA analysis, researchers found 7.7% of users were diagnosed with cancer compared with slightly more than 7.1% of a control group. The drug was approved in 2012 and was the first drug meant to help people lose weight, without increasing the risk for heart problems.
Veterans Affairs Face Healthcare Roadblocks
Veterans Affairs, the agency that oversees care for over 9 million former service members, has recently run into roadblocks hindering their progress, The New York Times reports. In addition to the recent firing of the deparment's deputy secretary, efforts to overhaul the system have been met with implementation issues. The Mission Act, part of the Trump administration's aim to expand care outside of the department's health facilities, has not received the funding necessary for coverage goals. An overhaul of veterans' medical records, estimated to cost $16 billion, has also been delayed due to technical issues. In his most recent budget proposal, President Trump proposed a 10% increase to the department's budget, raising it to $243 billion.
Prices for care at hospital trauma centers vary across hospitals; drug shortages reached a record high during the first quarter of 2024; although 3 of the biggest makers of asthma inhalers pledged to cap out-of-pocket costs for some US patients at $35, these do not apply to daily inhalers used by the youngest kids with asthma.
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Navigating Health Policy in an Election Year: Insights From Dr Dennis Scanlon
April 2nd 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with Dennis Scanlon, PhD, the editor in chief of The American Journal of Accountable Care®, about prior authorization, price transparency, the impact of health policy on the upcoming election, and more.
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The Biden administration recently launched the Global Health Security Strategy, a new effort to combat the spread of infectious diseases; lawmakers zeroed in on the risks of massive consolidation in health care during the first congressional hearing on the Change Healthcare hack; the FDA recently announced the recall of a pair of heart devices linked to numerous deaths and injuries.
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Exploring Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Variations
March 26th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the March 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on variations in prior authorization use across Medicare Advantage plans.
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