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In California, a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of thousands of Blue Cross beneficiaries living with hepatitis C who were denied treatment.

Two separate lawsuits have challenged the health insurance plan, which seeks to give some hospitals lower reimbursements in exchange for directing large numbers of patients their way. After business hours, the attorney for a group of hospitals said regulators declined to stay their approval of the tiered network.

Following the approval of daratumumab earlier this month, multiple myeloma patients now have another opportunity to combat the disease: elotuzumab.

Relaxed direct-to-consumer advertising restrictions for drugs by the FDA in 1997 has precipitated an increase in prescription drug utilization, not just among Medicare enrollees, but also among non-elderly users.

What we're reading, November 30, 2015: the Spanish language HealthCare.gov is lagging in sign-ups; the overall federal insurance exchange has fewer preferred provider organizations; and many Americans don't understand why they need the flu vaccine.

The link between low testosterone and decreased insulin sensitivity had been shown in previous research.

A small majority (51%) of US adults now believe that the federal government has a responsibility to ensure all Americans have health insurance coverage.

A new study finds that the use of proton pump inhibitors, used for many patients admitted to the hospital, may actually cause more harm to hospitalized patients than good.

This week in managed care, CMS proposed changes to the health insurance marketplaces for 2017, AJMC highlights 5 takeaways from the HHS Pharmaceutical Forum, CVS chose to cover just 1 PCSK9, and industry reacts to FDA regulating diagnostic tests.

The largest health insurance carriers in each Affordable care Act marketplace had a 75% higher premium increase from 2014 to 2015 compared with other same-state carriers.

The Nationwide Inpatient Sample has been critically underreporting certain health information for its database, according to a recent study by Johns Hopkins researchers.

A new study suggests that financial incentives shared by both doctors and patients work best at improving medication compliance among patients.

Preventing hospital readmissions has long been an important general focus in the healthcare field-and this importance increases tenfold when it comes to children's health.

Diabetes is a growing epidemic in the United States and new research has indicated that half of healthy 45-year-olds will develop pre-diabetes and one-third will develop diabetes at some point.

The American College of Physicians has published a paper in the Annals of Internal Medicine that advices clinicians to prescribe generic drugs whenever possible.

Here are the top 5 papers published by The American Journal of Managed Care and its sister publications about hepatitis C, treatment, and costs of care.

Telehealth has great potential to improve access to healthcare, but the promise of the technology depends on a number of factors, such as modernization of policy frameworks and communications infrastructures.

Waiting until there's a cancer diagnosis or other crisis is not the time to be taking the family's medical history. Testing companies and genetic counselors encourage families to share information when they are all in one place.

The policy change is aimed at curbing the state's obesity rate as well as comorbidities such as diabetes

This Thanksgiving, as families gather around the table, health and wellness should be a topic of discussion.

What we're reading, November 25, 2015: UnitedHealthcare's decision on healthcare exchange participation, Democratic Presidential candidate's health plan, and conflict of interest between soda company and anti-obesity research group.

The study was released Thanksgiving week. The Wednesday before the holiday has become one of the most dangerous nights of the year, with the number of violations for driving under the influence higher than Thanksgiving or Christmas Day.

What we're reading, November 25, 2015: hospitals can save money in the long run by preventing hospital-acquired infections with private rooms; Arizona's co-op plans to close December 31; and study finds testing prison inmates for hepatitis C is extremely cost-effective.

Despite changes to the United States healthcare system, Americans' overall satisfaction with the total cost they pay for healthcare has been stable over the past 14 years, according to a Gallup survey, which also found little changes in satisfaction with healthcare quality and coverage.

What we're reading, November 26, 2015: CMS blog on step-wise transition to value-based care, payer-drug industry alliance on drug pricing, and a new model to override the proposed ACA tax credits.

Physician interest in concierge and other direct patient contracting practices is driven by frustration with reimbursement and billing hassles and a desire to spend more time with patients, but there is limited evidence on these practices' impact on cost, quality, and access to care.

The Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll periodically gauges public opinion on important health issues. It found 56% of Americans had some connection to the painkiller epidemic and 16% knew someone who had died.

What we're reading, November 24, 2015: expensive hepatitis C drugs are more cost effective when used earlier; clinicians aren't prescribing generics enough; and half of health 45-year-olds will develop prediabetes.

The approval follows 5 months after Bristol-Myers Squibb submitted phase 3 results of the Checkmate-066 trial for FDA review.

Terms of the deal with the second-largest pharmacy benefit manager were not disclosed. Pricing for the PCSK9 inhibitor class has been a source of controversy since the cholesterol-fighting drugs were approved this summer.