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With the Affordable Care Act's open enrollment period now closed, perhaps there is an opportunity for constructive, bipartisan policy discussion on health care reform.

As hundreds of thousands of diabetics get health coverage under the federal law, insurance companies are aggressively targeting this glut of new patients, who are expensive to treat and often lax in taking medications and following their diet.

Some of the biggest health insurance companies in the country are poised to benefit from the debate over expanding Medicaid in Virginia, regardless of its outcome.

The American Journal of Managed Care brought together than 125 diabetes advocates, providers, and educators, along with health plan leaders and pharmaceutical executives, to Princeton, N.J. Attendees gained insights into giving persons with diabetes with the right level of support to manage their disease.

Ophthalmologists are among Medicare's highest paid specialists-a finding already drawing scrutiny from policymakers and watchdogs worried about waste and overuse.

The number of low-income people enrolled in Medicaid rose by 3 million to 62.3 million from October through February as more Americans joined the state-federal insurance program through state and federal online insurance marketplaces.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has resigned her post barely a week after the close of the tumultuous initial open-enrollment period for the healthcare reform law's insurance exchanges.

As the healthcare landscape evolves, so will the way that providers help patients manage their diabetes.

Sylvia Mathews Burwell is about to become the biggest name in health care after news broke Thursday night that she will be the nominee to replace the resigning Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Fighting the nation's related epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus will take a nationwide strategy that increasingly tailors treatment to individual patient needs, and new approaches are need to get patients to take medications and make lifestyle changes to be healthier. That was the consensus of an expert panel convened Thursday by The American Journal of Managed Care to open its two-day conference, Patient-Centered Diabetes Care: Putting Theory into Practice, which is taking place at the Princeton Marriott at Forrestal. The conference continues today, opening with a keynote address by Robert A. Gabbay, MD, chief medical officer at the Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School.

EHRs - and the data they hold - are critical to succeed in population health, but they're not enough.

Karen DeSalvo, MD, the national coordinator for health information technology has proposed that ONC become more forward-thinking.

Specialty medications present a challenge for payers as costs for these expensive drugs consume an increasing portion of overall health care spending. In fact, specialty pharmacy spend is expected to rise from $92 billion in 2012 to $235 billion by 2018.

Offering a first glimpse of the health care needs of Americans who bought coverage through federal and state marketplaces, an analysis of the first two months of claims data shows the new enrollees are more likely to use expensive specialty drugs to treat conditions like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C than those with job-based insurance.

Exchange enrollment numbers recently topped 7 million people this past week, which means insurance companies across the United States are already predicting a hefty increase to consumers' 2015 health plan premiums.

Routine office visits accounted for the single largest share of Medicare physician billings in 2012 even though they amounted to just one one-seventh of the $77 billion paid by the government for physician services through the nation's senior citizens healthcare program.

The American Medical Association (AMA) said it would not block the release of 880,000 physician billing records from the Medicare claims database. The government's decision to release the information is a response to the pressure they received from employers, insurers, and consumer groups for increased transparency and access to physician payment information.

The nation's largest doctors' group said Monday it won't try to block Medicare's release of billing records for 880,000 physicians, although it continues to oppose the government's recent decision to open up the massive data trove.

Supporters point to advances such as greater takeup of EHRs by doctors, though critics say federal policymakers pushed technology long before it was ready.

The duals demonstration project launched last week in five counties, according to officials from the Department of Health Care Services, which is overseeing the project.

Highlights from recent AJMC conference coverage.

Just over half of the 114 organizations to join one of two Medicare accountable care organization efforts in 2012 report no decrease in health spending below targets during their first 12 months.

Health insurers often try to influence Washington through quiet persuasion in plush offices. To fight potential government cuts for private Medicare plans, however, they've hit the streets.

Patient access to some of the nation's best-known cancer-care centers could become a flashpoint in the simmering controversy surrounding the narrow networks being constructed by some insurers and healthcare providers.

Walgreens Pharmacists Instrumental in Helping Reduce Hospital Readmissions by Nearly 50 Percent Through WellTransitions Program

Researchers at Rockefeller University have discovered that targeting the liver-X receptor to increase the expression of ApoE can prevent melanoma cells from metastasizing to the lung and the brain.

Early detection of precancerous adenomas by colonoscopy can prevent the development of cancer.

With 2015 Medicare Advantage payment rates and policy changes pending, some lawmakers and associations are urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to stick to the cut it proposed while others are calling for rates not to drop.

The Kansas Foundation for Medical Care and six Kansas health practices are trying to chart the path to create a new kind of doctor's office, with the goal of improving care.

Heartland Regional Medical Center had more to lose than most when it gambled and joined Medicare's experiment with accountable care in 2012. For the first year at least, that risky bet paid off.