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At its third annual conference, Patient-Centered Oncology Care 2014, The American Journal of Managed Care addressed new challenges in cancer care: more patients have coverage, but they may be "underinsured" or barred from academic centers. Amid rising drug costs and regulations that threaten community practices, the head of the largest oncology organization outlined a path toward value-based reimbursement.

In a press release based off-of results presented at the Society for Melanoma Research 2014 International Congress in Zurich, Switzerland, BMS announced results from phase 3 of the CheckMate-066 trial.

Following encouraging results from a second phase of a phase 1 trial, the researchers have planned a second phase, to be initiated in January 2015. The vaccine will be administered to glioblastoma patients just before they begin chemotherapy.

Yesterday, speakers opened Patient-Centered Oncology Care, sponsored by The American Journal of Managed Care, with a discussion of how to bring palliative care into the mainstream in cancer care. While progress has been made, a cultural bias against discussion end-of-life issue remains an obstacle.

Genentech announced that Avastin has been approved to treated platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, inc combination with chemotherapy, which now expands Avastin's use to 6 tumor types.

Peter Yu, MD, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, (ASCO) discussed the organization's efforts throughout 2014 to reform reimbursement and take on issues of value and quality in cancer care during Patient-Centered Oncology Care, the annual gathering sponsored by The American Journal of Managed Care.

The study, published in NEJM, found that in addition to supply chain and manufacturing problems, lack of competition may be adding to their costs.

A Kaiser Permanante study surveyed bladder cancer patients and found that current and former smokers were aware of a connection between smoking and their disease.

The cost-value discussion in oncology continues in Europe as NICE lists 40 drugs that it plans to reassess in terms of cost versus patient benefit.

A Republican legislative leader who was a top negotiator in creating Arkansas' private option will be the new governor's chief of staff. The pick is viewed by some as a sign that the private option may have a defender in the incoming administration. Meanwhile, Arkansas' hospitals are highlighting the difference the private option has made in reducing the ranks of uninsured seeking treatment.

A national survey published in JAMA Surgery identified too many repeat surgeries in women with breast cancer.

Following the Supreme Court's decision to hear an appeal for the ACA subsidy lawsuit King v Burwell, a DC appeals court has halted work on a similar case it was reviewing.

As cost containment becomes increasingly important in healthcare, the findings of a recent study in the Annals of Family Medicine on the impacts of continuity of care could have an impact on how healthcare systems deliver care.

Although open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act's insurance Marketplaces is almost here, a 10-question survey from Kaiser Family Foundation found that the health law's target audience still struggles with understanding insurance coverage.

At an ongoing AACR meeting on Health Disparities in cancer, researchers from the Gillings School of Global Public Health presented data showing HPV vaccine uptake among girls is lowest in states with the highest rates of cervical cancer.

Diabetes advocates are pressing for a bill that would compel Medicare to cover CGM technology. They cite a study in The American Journal of Managed Care, which found it costs $17,564 every time a person with diabetes goes to the emergency department with hypoglycemia.

The recommendations by the International Society of Geriatric Oncology, emphasize personalized treatment and assigning a multidisciplinary care team for optimal treatment.

The Affordable Care Act's impact on hospital finances is of decreasing concern, although providers expect trends related to the health law to be a major challenge.

A research group at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute employed 2 different approaches on data generated by The Cancer Genome Atlas, to identify prognostic genes in ovarian cancer.

Hospice care for Medicare patients resulted in lower hospitalization rates and lower healthcare expenditures during the last year of life, according to a study published the November 12 issue of JAMA.

A collaboration between CHOP oncologists and researchers at UPenn aims to provide targeted therapy to children with neuroblastoma, based on their ALK mutation status.

At the annual meeting of the Heart Failure Society of America, cardiologists called for a more broader definition of cancer treatment—related cardiotoxicity.

The managed care wars of the 1990s, when patients complained that health plans would not pay for them to see the doctor of their choice, seem almost quaint in light of today's battles. With the rise of narrow networks, there are new fights about access to doctors, of course. But the more troublesome battles, which are sometimes literally life-threatening, involve access to drugs.

Next month, state health officials will launch a transition of rural Medi-Cal beneficiaries into Medi-Cal managed care health plans. The transition involves about 20,000 of the most frail and elderly segment of the rural Medi-Cal population.

A Phase 3 trial for the drug, TH-302, is currently ongoing.

Traditional pay-for-performance programs tend to result in significant waste for payers, but the industry could benefit from a slightly modified model, which focus efforts on patients who are at higher risk for poor outcomes.

CMS announced today that low-dose computed tomography screening will now be reimbursed once a year by Medicare as a preventive service benefit, despite an advisory panel recommending against the screening back in April 2014.

Open enrollment doesn't begin until Saturday, but the Obama administration is already predicting lower enrollment numbers for the second year of the health insurance exchanges, according to a memo from HHS.

As the healthcare industry transitions to new initiatives such as accountable care organizations and pay-for-performance, clinical documentation improvement is necessary, according to a report from the American Health Information Management Association.

Provenge, approved by the FDA in 2010, faced numerous road-blocks with high cost, limited benefit, and issues with reimbursement rates.