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America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and 16 other organizations sent recommendations to Congress this week that they said will protect Americans from surprise medical bills.

In the United States, nearly 50 million Americans suffer from migraine, the majority of whom are between 25 to 55 years of age. The costs of treating this large population have been estimated to be $22 billion annually. A new report, published by the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute, found that direct healthcare costs for patients with migraine were estimated at $2571 higher than those for similar patients who don’t experience migraine.

Symptoms of dyspnea in a patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which were caused by pulmonary hyperinflation, were improved by endobronchial valve treatment.

Ohio has received approval from CMS for its Medicaid work requirements; healthcare data breaches in February compromised data from more than 2 million people; a CDC report found 3 ways that patients try to lower their drug costs.

According to findings from a preliminary study, researchers now believe that multiple sclerosis (MS) may not flare following pregnancy as had long been assumed. The study results will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 71st Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 4-10, 2019.

While Alzheimer disease and other brain diseases are similar and cannot be stopped, it's important that families get the right diagnosis in order to get the best care and plan for the future; daily consumption of eggs has been found to slightly increase the risk of heart disease and early mortality; Maine Governor Janet Mills submitted a bill to allow abortions to be performed by medical professionals besides physicians.

Among the survey’s crucial finding are that value-based contracts are not yet seeing marked success. According to the survey results, 39.8% of respondents said that the majority of value-based relationships within the healthcare market will not contain both upside and downside shared risk for another 3 to 5 years.

Pain catastrophizing does not seem to be associated with chronic migraine in children, according to a recent study.

In a recent survey-based study, researchers analyzed the relationship between symptom burden and incidence of medical disability leave (MDL) among patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms, including myelofibrosis, polycythemia vera, and essential thrombocythemia.

Gay or bisexual men who participated in community groups were found have a higher awareness of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) than those who did not. PrEP has proven to be a successful preventive measure to decrease the spread of HIV.

A compressed vaccine schedule for older adults could help increase uptake and decrease the impact of the influenza vaccine’s waning effectiveness as months go by, but such a schedule would not be beneficial if flu season peaks early or if a compressed schedule results in a decrease in vaccine uptake.

https://www.pharmacytimes.org/on-demand/reviewing-treatment-data-and-the-role-of-serotonin-in-chronic-idiopathic-constipation

The March issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) featured research on immuno-oncology costs and Medicare Annual Wellness Visits in addition to studies on the issue’s theme of Medicaid. Here are 5 findings from research published in the issue.

This week, the top managed care news included the 2020 budget plan proposing a mix of healthcare spending cuts and increases; the FDA approving the first immunotherapy regimen for breast cancer; and researchers uncovering how sodium glucose co-transporter-2 inhibitors work.

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the healthcare and mainstream press.

Based on dehydroepiandrosterone and growth hormone levels, researchers have determined that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with increased biological age.

Between 2000 and 2007, mortality due to dementia more than doubled; the FDA has granted fast-track designation for an opioid antidote from Purdue Pharma, the pharmaceutical company accused of aggressively marketing OxyContin; physicians say prior authorization is interfering with continuity of care.

The industry is speedily moving and advancing, and the only way for hospitals see continued success is if they stay nimble and capable of adapting to new developments. Looking to the future, healthcare systems should concern themselves less with size and instead shift focus to adopting business and payment models that bring value.

The European Headache Federation (EHF) recently sought to create an expert- and evidence-based guideline for the treatment of migraine with monoclonal antibodies that target the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP). However, in reviewing available research, the EHF found that there was not enough evidence to provide a guideline based on the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach.

Finding a less invasive way of determing if pancreatic cysts are likely to become cancerous would be good for patients and less taxing on the healthcare system.

Exposure to dust from the collapse of the World Trade Center has been associated with a multitude of respiratory outcomes. For the first time, researchers looked at how dwellings in Lower Manhattan were damaged, how they were repaired, how people cleaned up afterwards, and how these differences affected the likelihood of respiratory symptoms and diseases.

There is concern among stakeholder groups that references to “hospital” could mean that community practices would be unable to be reimbursed by Medicare under a proposed National Coverage Determination.

An international group of scientists has called for a global moratorium on gene-edited babies; proposed guidance would limit the sale of flavored e-cigarettes; and the Senate has invited executives from 5 pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to testify at a hearing on drug prices.

Eight states are participating in a project from the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) that aims to break down the silos and the barriers that exist among different agencies and better connect Medicaid to early childhood programs.

Between July 2012 and December 2017, a significant proportion of providers stopped prescribing opioids; but while overall incidence dropped, a subgroup of providers continued to prescribe high-risk doses of opioids, and for long durations.

The fungal drug amphotericin, which was discovered in 1953, could possibly help patients with cystic fibrosis fight chronic bacterial lung infections if results from an early study are validated in humans, researchers said Wednesday.

In an effort to increase patient accrual, broaden patients’ access to cancer clinical trials, and lead to trial results that better represent treatment effects in the real world, the FDA published 4 draft guidances and 1 final guidance to promote the inclusion of pediatric patients and patients with comorbidities that can occur alongside cancer.