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What We’re Reading, July 15, 2016: What can the 7 remaining co-ops do to survive; CMS projects increased Medicare spending per enrollee by 2025; and experts call for policy changes to support the health of prisoners at high risk for HIV.

Making medical decisions is not as easy as following the evidence. When dealing with people, there are a number of anomalies that influence the decisions someone might make.

Loss-of-function mutations in Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) or Janus kinase 2 (JAK2), deletion of the wild-type allele of JAK1 or JAK2, and truncation in the antigen-presenting protein beta-2-microglobulin gene were found responsible for lack of response to interferon gamma.

Researchers found health benefits even for those who started cycling close to retirement.

Acting CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt told the Senate Finance Committee there are concerns that some primary care practices will not be ready for the targeted January 1, 2017, start date.

What We’re Reading, July 14, 2016: Inaccurate provider directories in California health plans; atehnahealth survey identifies low physician engagement; and opioid addiction bill will soon be law.

A study has found that an 8-gene signature score, combined with nodal status and tumor size, obtained from the EndoPredict breast cancer test might be more accurate at predicting the recurrence of breast cancer, compared with the recurrence score of Oncotype DX.

The analysis pinpointed which countries faced an elevated risk of spreading Zika just based on anticipated travel by athletes and delegates to the Games in Rio de Janiero.

The study of 3.9 million adults culled data from 189 studies; participants were non-smokers who had no known chronic disease and lived at least 5 years to be included in the analysis.

The ROCKET trial was halted last week following news of 3 patient deaths due to cerebral edema.

Of the original 7 hospital groups, only 3 are still challenging New Jersey's largest insurer over its creation of a tiered network plan.

What We’re Reading, July 13, 2016: Humira faces competition from a biosimilar; Washington, DC, campaigns to raise awareness on anti-HIV PrEP pills; and veterans may have been incorrectly diagnosed for traumatic brain injury...or not.

Researchers assessed balugrastim’s efficacy, safety, and tolerability in 4 different clinical trials and found it to be a suitable alternative to pegfilgrastim in regard to reducing the mean duration of severe neutropenia.

Promotional advertising by cancer centers has seen a dramatic spike in recent years, with 890 cancer centers spending $173 million for advertising in 2014.

What We're Reading, July 12, 2016: Oregon's Health CO-OP to close down by the end of July; experts discuss fairer ways to decide on drug pricing; and gender bias in physician salaries at academic institutions.

Researchers examined genetic information from 120,000 people from across the globe. The effort involved more than 300 scientists, including NIH's Francis Collins, MD, PhD.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) estimates that the aging US population will contribute to a substantial increase in the number of older cancer survivors over the next 25 years.

The president predicts that in 20 years, the nation will look back on "Obamacare" as a moment of courage that has improved people's lives.

According to a study conducted in the United Kingdom, statins can reduce the risk of dying from breast, prostate, lung, and bowel cancer.

Evidence that surgery can reverse diabetes is so compelling that new guidelines from the American Diabetes Association call for using procedures to treat diabetes, not just obesity. But the mechanism has remained a mystery.

The analysis found that if motor vehicle crashes in the United States had declined at the average rate of other countries in the survey, 18,000 lives would have been saved over the study period.

Reports of missing or incorrect payments sound similar to those that occurred in Ohio, Kentucky, and other states that made a rapid transition to Medicaid managed care.

What We're Reading, July 11, 2016: US lawmakers who signed letters opposing the Medicare Part B demonstration received bigger monetary support from Big Pharma; e-cigarettes could push adolescents toward smoking cigarettes; and Hillary Clinton says she supports lowering Medicare enrollment age.

In an unusual case, a patient was diagnosed with febrile neutropenia after starting benazepril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor. The treatment is rarely associated with agranulocytosis, which is defined as severe neutropenia.

Hepatitis C is an enormously common disease that is often initially asymptomatic. New drugs are very effective, but expensive, and there has been reluctance to cover these treatments. Authors that published research in the hepatitis C special issue present their findings.

The number of individuals experiencing difficulty paying for healthcare or medicines has hit a record low since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

One in 5 US hospitals have failed to adopt a “never events” policy and have not met benchmarks set by the Leapfrog Group for managing never events.

The cost of maternity care varies greatly across the top 30 major US cities and a recent study found that the west coast may actually be the most expensive.

This week in managed care, the top stories included a report on how much Americans spend on complementary health approaches, more trouble with the Affordable Care Act's risk adjustment program, and researchers linked the BRCA1 gene to deadly uterine cancer.

Patient navigation programs using a population-based information technology-enabled system can help improve screening rates for cancer among patients at high risk for not adhering to screening recommendations.