Laura is the vice president of content for The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) and all its brands, including Population Health, Equity & Outcomes; Evidence-Based Oncology™; and The Center for Biosimilars®. She has been working on AJMC since 2014 and has been with AJMC’s parent company, MJH Life Sciences®, since 2011.
She has an MA in business and economic reporting from New York University. You can connect with Laura on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Patients With Alzheimer's Disease Will Consume a Quarter of Medicare's Spending
By 2050 more than 28 million additional baby boomers will develop Alzheimer's disease and the cost of caring for them will account for nearly one-fourth of Medicare spending by 2040, according to research presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference.
Researchers Use Precision Medicine in Common Type of Lymphoma
In the first clinical study to demonstrate the importance of precision medicine in lymphomas, researchers determined that patients with a specific molecular subtype of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma responded better to ibrutinib than patients with a different molecular subtype.
The Challenge of Providing Care to Complex Medicare Patients
Approximately 9 million Medicare beneficiaries are considered "complex care" and they often incur high out-of-pocket costs. As lifespans lengthen, it becomes important for Medicare to adapt to serve these complex care beneficiaries.
Study Highlights Need for Improved Diagnostic Tests to Identify Pneumonia
Viruses, not bacteria, are the most commonly detected pathogen in US adults hospitalized with pneumonia; however, neither viruses nor bacteria were detected in the majority of these patients despite current diagnostic tests.
RWJ Health System, Barnabas Health Merger Will Create NJ's Largest Health System
In a move that will create the largest healthcare system in New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Health System and Barnabas Health have signed a merger agreement that will create RWJ Barnabas Health. The merger is expected to be complete in 2016, but the agreement is subject to review by the New Jersey Attorney General.
CMS Proposes Paying for End-of-Life Care Discussions
As CMS continues to transform the Medicare program to a quality- and outcomes-based system, the agency is proposing to support patient- and family-centered care for Medicare beneficiaries by enabling them to discuss advance care planning with their providers.
Healthcare Price Transparency Report Card Finds States Have Much Work to Do
Despite efforts by states to introduce legislation to make healthcare pricing information more accessible for consumers, most states still receive an F grade, according to the third annual Report Card on State Price Transparency Laws.
Researchers Identify 3 US Hot Spots With High Colorectal Cancer Death Rates
While a better understanding has led to a drop in the colorectal cancer death rate by half, the progress made in the last few decades has not been equal across the United States, according to a study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
8 States Failed to Submit Medicaid Managed Care Encounter Data to CMS
Approximately 70% of all Medicaid beneficiaries receive their healthcare services through managed care, and state Medicaid programs are required to report encounter data to a national database, but 8 states did not during fiscal year 2011, according to a new government report.
CMS, AMA Work Together to Ease ICD-10 Transition, Provide Additional Flexibility
CMS has released additional guidance allowing for flexibility in claims auditing and quality reporting during the transition to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision and is working with the American Medical Association to educate providers.
Identifying High-Cost Patients for Care Management
The fact that a small percentage of the population accounts for roughly half of healthcare spending in the United States is not new information. Now a new white paper from the Health Care Transformation Task Force has taken a look at what healthcare systems can do to identify these individuals in order to better manage their care and lower spending.
Medicare Advantage Enrollment Climbs, but So Do Financial Burdens
Despite concerns that Medicare Advantage payment reductions included in the Affordable Care Act would lead to a decline in enrollment, the number and share of beneficiaries enrolling in Medicare Advantage has only continue to climb since the health reform law was enacted.
AAP Releases New Recommendations for Preventing Childhood Obesity
A week after JAMA released a report that found more than two-thirds of Americans age 25 years and older are overweight or obese, the American Academy of Pediatrics presented updated guidelines on preventing childhood obesity and recommendations for parents to help their children maintain a healthy weight.
GOP Presidential Hopefuls Still Eye 2016 Election as Chance to Repeal Obamacare
Shortly after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government in King v. Burwell, President Barack Obama triumphantly claimed that "Affordable Care Act is here to stay." However, the truth is that GOP presidential hopefuls have no intention of letting the law stand.
The Country's Sharply Divided Reactions to King v. Burwell Ruling on Subsidies
With the Supreme Court ruling in King v. Burwell keeping subsidies available to consumers on the federally facilitated marketplace, healthcare associations, insurers, health plans, and other stakeholders have been voicing their support and relief at the 6-3 ruling.
Despite Subsidies Upheld in Marketplaces, Some Americans Continue to Prefer Staying Uninsured
The Supreme Court may have kept subsidies available to all Americans regardless of whether their state has set up its own exchange, but some people still refuse to purchase coverage, and they're perfectly happy remaining uninsured.
SCOTUS Upholds ACA Subsidies on HealthCare.gov in King v. Burwell
In a triumphant win for President Obama's Affordable Care Act and millions of Americans, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled against the plaintiffs in the case King v. Burwell and upheld the availability of subsidies for individuals on the federally facilitated marketplace.
40% of Physician Networks Could Be Considered Narrow
A new study summarizing network size by physician, not just hospital participation, determined that 41% of networks on the marketplaces can be considered small or x-small and contain just 25% or less of office-based physicians in the area.