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What we're reading, August 23, 2016: Republicans in Congress indicate they may be willing to fix the Affordable Care Act instead of repeal it once President Obama is out of office; an Alzheimer's drug receives fast-track designation from the FDA; and Pfizer to acquire Medivation.

A new report by the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute recommends a bundled payment model for breast cancer screening, with the objective of improved patient care and a more efficient use of healthcare resources.

A $245 million priority review voucher is essentially wasted, not over the therapy, but the delivery device.

Researchers from Tufts Medical Center analyzed findings from 26 studies to determine how drug exclusion policies affect patients and healthcare costs.

Diabetes advocate Kelly Close of diaTribe and Close Concerns wrote in a blog post that those with diabetes can make a video to share with the FDA.

Factors such as insurance status and being married are significant determinants of survival compared with race/ethnicity, in patients with multiple myeloma who are less than 65 years of age.

What we're reading, August 22, 2016: freestanding emergency clinics come under increased scrutiny; hospitals are being more open about medical mistakes; and regulations to blame for rising generic drug prices.

Prescription drugs are a major source of US healthcare expenditures, and a new study in Health Affairs has determined just how much.

Once smokers develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, quitting may not improve smokers’ lung function; thus, smokers should quit as early as possible to have the greatest chance of reversing lung damage.

There is a role for employers in improving employees’ health and wellbeing, and employees have a high level of satisfaction with existing health and wellbeing programs.

A new report by the American College of Physicians sheds light on the harsh truth that being underinsured is as big a challenge as being uninsured. Cost sharing, in particular deductibles, has caused patients to forgo or delay care, including medically necessary services.

This week, the top stories in managed care included Aetna's announcement that it was pulling back its participation on the Affordable Care Act exchanges, the annual meeting of the American Association of Diabetes Educators outlined how existing sites can help roll out the Diabetes Prevention Program nationwide, and hospital leaders gave their opinions on CMS' hospital readmission program.

Medicare accountable care organizations have either not yet focused on mental illness or have been, for the most part, unsuccessful in early efforts to improve their management of it.

Highlights from the recent gathering of the American Association of Diabetes Educators, which met August 12-15, 2016, in San Diego, California.

Questions about hospitals or their foundations paying for premiums of sick patients to keep them out of Medicaid are as old as the exchanges themselves.

What we're reading, August 19, 2016: CMS is investigating if patients are being steered away from Medicaid and Medicare to private plans; Medicare Part D paid 17% more for drugs in 2014 than in 2013; and 5 things to know about HIPAA today.

A review of coverage of our peer-reviewed research, in the mainstream and healthcare press.

Survival in patients with early-stage lung cancer, particularly those with adenocarcinomas, may be shortened by air pollution, according to a study published in the journal Thorax.

The use of orphan drugs for non-orphan diseases is driving up the cost of these already expensive medications. A new report from America’s Health Insurance Plans found that almost half of the utilization for 46 orphan drugs were used for non-orphan indications.

A nonprofit that provides free sports physicals was able to gather data that revealed important population health findings.

The findings suggest that the improved glycemic control that often comes with bariatric surgery may have a role in affecting the brain's response to food.

What we're reading, August 18, 2016: California drug price transparency bill gets pulled; researchers work on a new opioid painkiller without the addiction; and the need for more diversity in genetic sequencing.

A new health services study in JAMA Oncology evaluated the impact of clinical evidence on routine surveillance in ovarian cancer, and found none.

Increase in school breakfast participation neither raised the prevalence of obesity in children nor did it appear to improve students’ attendance or academic achievement, researchers found.

The researcher, Kyle Fluegge, PhD, found that just comparing fluoride levels by parts per million showed little, but comparisons based on how much water people drank were revealing.

Researchers found that drug prices would need to be less than one-third of their current retail value to be cost-effective.

What we're reading, August 17, 2016: Walgreens looks to gamify medication adherence; Aetna warned the Department of Justice that if its merger wasn't approved, it would pull back from exchange participation; and the controversy behind numbers of medication error deaths.

One in 12 people who survive a common cancer will develop a second, unrelated malignancy, the most common of which was lung cancer.

Many accountable care organizations are beginning to adopt various programs or strategies into their framework to increase patient access to behavioral health care, but several challenges remain.

The USPSTF recently sought to update it's screening recommendations for skin cancer and evaluate the harms this type of test poses to the patient, and whether this tool leads to earlier detection of skin cancer than other care means.