Allison Inserro

Using data from 8 states, the Kaiser Family Foundation is tracking preliminary 2019 insurance premiums in the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces as rate information is filed with state regulators. The 8 states are Maine, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, plus the District of Columbia.

CMS released guidance to states Monday about how to use Medicaid to manage infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome, as well as using health information technology (IT) such as telemedicine to combat opioid use disorder.

A study comparing denosumab (Prolia) with risedronate (Actone) found that denosumab could be a useful treatment option for patients newly initiating or continuing glucocorticoids who are at risk of fractures. It is the first study to show that denosumab can increase bone mineral density at both the spine and the hip in patients with glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis.

If a federal judge in Texas agrees with the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) move to not defend the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), millions of Americans could lose their healthcare coverage or face higher premiums for having preexisting conditions, a legal professor wrote Friday in a blog post for The Commonwealth Fund. And America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), an association for the nation’s health insurers, issued a statement saying that the end of the individual mandate should not mean a loss of consumer protections for patients.

Researchers say they’ve found an association between autism spectrum disorder and allergic conditions in children—especially food allergies—in the largest study looking at the issue to date, but noted more research is needed before fully understanding any possible link between the 2 conditions. A leading pediatric allergist also cautioned against drawing any conclusions from the study.

Although anemia is associated with adverse outcomes in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), its contribution to outcomes in individuals with other comorbid chronic diseases is not well understood. A recent study examined the association of anemia with outcomes in a large group of patients with COPD in an effort to understand the contribution of anemia to outcomes and phenotypes in individuals with other comorbidities.

The CDC reported Thursday suicide rates have been rising in nearly every state between 1999 and 2016, finding that suicide rates increased more than 30% in half of states.

More female than male adults visited office-based doctors in 2015, a CDC report noted Tuesday, and chronic conditions made up the largest category of visits. The data brief from the National Center for Health Statistics gave insight into who went to office-based providers that year and why, and which services were offered and who paid for them.

Trustees for Medicare said that Medicare Part A, which covers hospital bills, will become insolvent in 2026, 3 years earlier than the projection last year. In its annual report, the trustees cited lower payroll taxes attributable to lowered wages in 2017, lower levels of projected gross domestic product, and lower income from the taxation of Social Security benefits as a result of the tax-reform package President Trump signed into law in December 2017.

Repealing or phasing out Medicaid expansion could reverse improvements in quality and service use and could be particularly harmful to low-income rural populations, said the authors of a study looking at the effect of Medicaid on community health centers.

National efforts to reduce hospital-acquired conditions (HACs), such as infections, adverse drug events, and injuries from falls, helped prevent an estimated 8000 inpatient deaths and save $2.9 billion between 2014 and 2016, according to a report released Tuesday from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

CMS Monday released a scorecard that reports quality metrics voluntarily reported by states for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), as well as federally reported measures, but the association that represents state Medicaid directors expressed some concerns with the scorecard’s data and what sorts of conclusions may be drawn from them, given the huge variability of state programs, essentially giving it a score of “needs improvement.”

Deaths from treatable conditions may cost the world $6 trillion a year in lost economic welfare, according to a study led by Harvard Medical School researchers and published in the June issue of Health Affairs. Eight million deaths could have been avoided in 2015 with proper access to high-quality medical care.

A new study published in Health Affairs hopes to provide an explanation of the evidence for the pros and cons of Medicaid expansion as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with a systematic literature review, finding that expansion was associated with increases in coverage, service use, quality of care, and Medicaid spending.

A high assessment test score for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may predict anxiety in patients, a recent study reported.

CMS reported that 91% of all clinicians eligible for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) participated in the first year of the Quality Payment Program (QPP), surpassing the agency’s goal of 90%.

Which data, policy, and information gaps exist throughout the healthcare system and need filling in order to combat opioid use disorder (OUD) through better prevention and treatment strategies? Two recent reports discuss how these gaps are worsening efforts to fight OUD.

Inconsistencies and lack of evidence in opioid prescribing guidelines are confusing clinicians who care for long-term patients with cancer and survivors and have the potential to jeopardize patients’ pain management, according to an opinion column in JAMA Oncology.

Rates of colon cancer are increasing in younger people, and as a result the American Cancer Society (ACS) is recommending that screening should start 5 years earlier, at 45 years of age rather than 50.

Regular use of electronic cigarettes is associated with increased odds of having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a study presented at a recent medical conference.

Senator Bill Cassidy, MD, R-Louisiana, released a set of proposals Tuesday aimed at lowering costs in healthcare, focusing on price transparency for drugs and elective medical procedures, as well as a raft of other ideas.

There’s no increased risk of autoimmune disorders in girls who received quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV4) vaccination, according to a study published in CMAJ.

UnitedHealthcare and Quest Diagnostics agreed to a value-based care arrangement, saying they have created a “long-term strategic partnership” designed to reduce costs and provide better care. In addition, Quest will be a national in-network lab provider for all UnitedHealthcare plan participants beginning January 1, 2019.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) released a set of policy recommendations designed to spotlight the increasing difficulties patients with diabetes have affording insulin or gaining access to the life-saving medication. The recommendations follow the findings of a working group about the issue, the findings of which were presented to the Special Senate Committee on Aging earlier this month.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) released a set of policy recommendations designed to spotlight the increasing difficulties patients with diabetes have affording insulin or gaining access to the life-saving medication. The recommendations follow the findings of a working group about the issue, the findings of which were presented to the Special Senate Committee on Aging earlier this month.

Urologists, oncologists, or other specialty physicians should not be judged solely by the same quality measures used by internists when it comes to reporting quality data to CMS, most would agree. Qualified Clinical Data Registries can help with the data submission process and even with the creation of measures that CMS may use when looking at quality measurements specific to specialty areas.

Urologists, oncologists, or other specialty physicians should not be judged solely by the same quality measures used by internists when it comes to reporting quality data to CMS, most would agree. Qualified Clinical Data Registries can help with the data submission process and even with the creation of measures that CMS may use when looking at quality measurements specific to specialty areas.

Pairing oxygen with noninvasive ventilation at home for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with persistent high carbon dioxide levels in the blood, who had recently had a life-threatening exacerbation requiring hospitalization, was cost effective, according to results of an abstract presented at a recent medical conference.

A new report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation outlined health insurance coverage losses between 2018 and 2028 for people under age 65 as a result of changes to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by the Trump administration, as the percentage of those who are uninsured will rise from 11% in 2018 to 13% by 2028.

As the nationwide uninsured rate dropped 35%, from 14.5% in 2013 to 9.4% in 2015, there was a corresponding decline of uncompensated care costs as a share of hospital operating expenses—30%—in all but 2 states, found a report.