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Does $50,000 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) hold value in today's age of high-priced specialty drugs? The authors evaluate this yardstick and recommend changes that could aid cost-effectiveness decisions.

If diabetes rates continue to rise out of control, the present downward trajectory in global TB cases could be offset by 8% (ie, 8% less reduction) or more by 2035, warn the authors of a new article.

Yesterday's government report that healthcare spending will start rising faster after a decade of historically slow growth raises questions: Will rising numbers of insured people drive the spending? Or are healthcare costs going up on their own? The answer is likely some of each, based on a look at trends within yesterday's report and a just-released study of spending by commercial health plans, published in The American Journal of Managed Care.

The White House named former Google executive Megan Smith as its new chief technology officer to succeed Athenahealth co-founder and HHS veteran Todd Park, who is credited with helping rescue HealthCare.gov.

Following a breakthrough therapy designation, pembrolizumab was included in FDA's accelerated approval program to allow early patient access.

While Sovaldi is still fresh on the mind, Ono Pharmaceutical's Opdivo (nivolumab), marketed jointly with BMS in Japan, has analysts projecting what the treatment might cost in the US.

The Appeals Court for the District of Columbia announced Thursday that it would re-hear Halbig v. Burwell en banc, meaning the entire panel of 11 judges will weigh in on the case. There will also be two senior judges who hear the case, but do not vote.

Maine is one of twenty-three states nationally to stay away from Medicaid Expansion.

Survival at 10 years was no better when women had double mastectomies.

The guidelines suggest various treatment options available, following consideration of the patient's status and preference.

The economy's lackluster recovery eroded wages and left millions chronically unemployed. It also offered significant relief from the fiscal distress of U.S. health spending. Now, spending fueled by the improving economy and the healthcare reform law's insurance and Medicaid expansions are likely to turn that around.

Despite what some media reports have to say, health insurance premiums won't "skyrocket" next year, according to an article by ConsumerReports.

States who refused to expand Medicaid will pay for other states that did; an investment without returns unless they participate in the expansion program.

The program is being developed to treat metastatic prostate cancer.

Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana is facing fresh criticism for refusing to expand Medicaid, after his administration scrambled to keep the doors open at an emergency room in the state capital. Yesterday, Democratic state legislators gathered across the street from Baton Rouge General Mid City hospital, which nearly closed its emergency room last week before the Jindal Administration came through with a state-federal cash infusion that totaled $18 million to cover uncompensated care.

CVS accelerated its timeline from October to September to stop selling tobacco and related products in its retail stores.

The company developing the drug, Excelis, now plans to focus it's attention on the ongoing kidney and liver cancer trials for the drug.

Concerns about addiction and abuse may prevent patients from informing their oncologist about their level of pain.

The USPSTF recommendations are already being practiced by some payers like BCBS and Aetna.

Two recent policy announcements, one from Medicare and another from the US Preventive Services Task Force, signal a shift toward understanding that America's battle with obesity and diabetes is not only a medical but also a behavioral health problem, and must be treated as such.

Glitches in the website could prevent individuals from submitting immigration documents, resulting in fines or loss of coverage.

Navigating the complex health care system isn't always easy, especially for newly enrolled consumers who are using their new benefits for the first time. But health plans are there to help these new consumers sort through the system and prepare them to take charge of their health coverage and care.

In response to a law passed two years ago, the FDA was directed to assess the extent to which women and minorities are represented in clinical trials and also devise a plan to bolster their participation.

Consurers may need to find new ways to control costs for specialty drugs, as more states add limits to cost-sharing and utilization continues to grow.

Health plans have a long list of tools they use to deliver better value and access to health care consumers.

The troubled Open Payment Act website is encountering a bit more turbulence. The CMS announced Thursday that it plans upcoming outages for the site and that downtime would be used for "scheduled maintenance upgrades."

Regional health information exchanges with clinical event notification services have the potential to improve care coordination and possibly reduce unnecessary inpatient admissions and duplicate testing, according to a study in Generating Evidence & Methods to improve patient outcomes.

The CMS late Friday finalized a rule allowing hospitals and eligible professionals more flexibility in how they meet meaningful-use requirements for the electronic health-record incentive program. The agency had first proposed the idea in a May draft rule.

Two large health insurers are hoping a new "public utility" patient data sharing service will improve one of the most pernicious problems in American healthcare.

The tool is aimed to provide decision-support to both patients and physicians while considering their reimbursement information.