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It is with an incredibly heavy heart that we must announce the death of our good friend and AJMC associate editor, Seema Sonnad. Seema suffered a fatal cardiac arrhythmia while running an ultramarathon in Seattle.

A study published in the New England Journals of Medicine evaluated the ability of financial incentives in promoting smoking cessation.

The medical loss ratio recommendation sought by CMS mirrors requirements for qualified health plans under the ACA. Insurers say a blanket requirement will not align with successful measures at work in several states.

Two organizations representing patients have demanded a common system of price-fixing for new drugs in Europe.

Introduced with good intent, some of the provisions of the Orphan Drug Act may compel the FDA to rethink its strategy.

A review of the benefit design choices made by states that expanded Medicaid (as of the end of 2014), revealed that states are offering more generous coverage that what is required under federal law, according to researchers with The Commonwealth Fund.

Packaging by itself is an adherence technology and will revolutionize data collection on adherence, but the future will find this technology part of the greater plecosystem using a virtual health assistant as the "air traffic controller.

Steve Miller, MD, chief medical officer of Express Scripts, explained indication-specific pricing as an alternate pricing model for high cost specialty medications like oncology drugs.

Consumer protections and rules to promote the march to value-based care are highlights of the massive proposal.

On January 1, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) introduced 4 Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System modifiers, known collectively as the - X(EPSU) modifiers, as a subset of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) modifier 59 (distinct procedural service).

Innovative care delivery programs intended to improve quality and reduce costs need sustainable business models in order to last beyond the end of grants or other methods of time-limited funding. RAND researchers take a look at methods Massachusetts health plans and accountable care organizations are using.

Taking the time to educate patients before their medical device implantation has positive implications for patients, healthcare providers, and medical device manufacturers, according to a new poll.

An account in The New York Times comes closest to identfying the drafting error that set in motion King v. Burwell, the case that could unravel a key feature of the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, experts predict that a ruling for the plaintiffs will create political fallout for more Republicans than Democrats.

Published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, the study found that the scale can help predict readmission or death within 30 days after hospital discharge among geriatric patients.

The results of an ongoing study, presented at the annual meeting of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology in Seville, Spain, identified a 5-fold increased risk of death in heart failure patients who were depressed.

As more patients become insured under the Affordable Care Act, driving demand for primary care and urgent care services, there is an increased need for alternative service sites, according to an analysis from Alvarez & Marsal.

The Obama Administration says that Florida can receive $1 billion this year and $600 million next year to pay for uncompensated care in safety net hospitals. However, the administration made it clear that more funding awaits the state if Medicaid expansion reaches those up to 138% of the federal poverty line.

German health authorities are debating whether the price of Europe's first approved gene therapy is worth the $1 million price tag.

Consumers with chronic diseases face challenging trade-offs when choosing health coverage, especially when it comes to out-of-pocket drug costs.

The implementation of the Affordable Care Act and its resulting market turbulence has not created the operation challenges for payers that was expected, according to a report from athenahealth, Inc.

Although millions of Americans have gained health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, the Commonwealth Fund recently found that 31 million individuals were underinsured in 2014.

A bipartisan effort reintroduced legislation that would establish a demonstration in Medicare Advantage to evaluate the use of value-based insurance design's ability to reduce copayments and coinsurance for some Medicare Advantage beneficiaries, reported the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design.

This week one top healthcare executive said consumers can expect to pay more for healthcare in 2016, the American Urological Association's annual meeting reports on fallout from the US Preventive Services Task Force's controversial prostate cancer screening recommendation, and more.

Encouraging results with a shorter course of hepatitis C treatment were presented at the Digestive Disease Week meeting. Patients receiving an 8-week course of sofosbuvir and daclatasvir, previously naïve to direct-acting antiviral treatment, achieved a sustained response at 12 weeks.

Authors led by Harvard's Frank Hu, MD, write that combating diabetes worldwide requires policy solutions that recognize the societal and environmental forces that work against those who might try to pursue healthier lifestyles. Hu recently spoke at Patient-Centered Diabetes Care 2015, presented by The American Journal of Managed Care and Joslin Diabetes Center.

The 21st Century Cures bill is a bipartisan initiative that is aimed to streamline and hasten the drug and device approval process and promote medical innovation.

While there's been controversy around the drug discount program for some time, the Health Resources and Services Administration plans to release a "mega-guidance" that will address several aspects of the 340B program.

To improve accountability in healthcare, physicians are continually tasked with checklists to ensure quality. But where is that leading to?

The authors discuss the success of the Pioneer ACO model and the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative, among others. They outline an agenda that includes engaging managed care stakeholders, so that both public and private payers are moving toward value-based payment.

A study published in Nature Medicine highlights how genetic data can be translated in disease prevention and evidence-based clinical management.