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With a focus on social determinants, the September 2018 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) yields new insights on the health effects of food insecurity, health literacy, language barriers, and more. Here are 5 findings from the research published in the issue.

This week, the top managed care news included medical groups asking CMS to halt or slow down its plans to cut physician reimbursement for evaluation and management services; the Senate weighs a package of bills to combat the opioid epidemic; new research shows the Affordable Care Act pushed the uninsured rate down to 10%.

José Baselga, MD, the chief medical officer of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, resigned after it was reported that he failed to disclose any industry ties in 60% of the nearly 180 papers he had published since 2013; an idea to give a push to the president’s plan to disclose drug prices on television was sunk this week by House Republicans; transgender adolescents attempt suicide at a much higher rate than young people whose gender identity matches the sex on their birth certificates.

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the healthcare and mainstream press.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) released this week new treatment guidelines for patients for 2 uterine cancers, endometrial cancer, the most common gynecologic cancer, and a rare cancer called uterine sarcoma.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have found that preventing a mutated protein from leaving the nucleus and traveling to the cytoplasm of the cell can help inhibit the growth of leukemic cells in acute myeloid leukemia.

An early review of the second performance period of the Oncology Care Model (OCM) seems to show improvements over the first period.

Arkansas said that 4353 people lost their Medicaid coverage as a result of not reporting their work, volunteer, or job training activities under new rules that requires them to record hours, and will now lose their health insurance for the remainder of 2018.

Researchers determined the incidence and timing of rare, fatal side effects from immune checkpoint inhibitors, and said the number is still extremely low.

The announcement comes with word from FDA touting the effectiveness of its efforts to advance digital health regulatory pathways.

The FDA, warning of an "epidemic," said that it is cracking down on the sale of e-cigarettes to kids in the largest enforcement crackdown to date. It also said it may pull the products or issue criminal penalties to keep the immensely popular vaping devices out of kids’ hands.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) earned European approval this week, in combination with platinum-based pemetrexed, for the first-line treatment of metastatic nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in adults whose tumors lack EGFR or ALK mutations.

The lawsuit—filed by the American Hospital Association, America’s Essential Hospitals, the Association of American Medical Colleges, 340B Health, Genesis Healthcare System, Kearny County Hospital, and Rutland Regional Medical Center—is asking a federal court to order HHS to make the final rule effective within 30 days.

As levels of disability increased among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), cost of illness increased and health-related quality of life decreased.

Researchers from the University of Utah explain that patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were more than twice as likely to develop early-onset Parkinson disease or a related basal ganglia and cerebellum disease than peers who do not have ADHD. Among patients with more severe disease who are prescribed stimulant medications to control their ADHD, the risk was 6- to 8-fold higher.

The application is based on results presented in March at the 67th Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology.

There is an increased need for potential biomarkers that can identify patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who will benefit from treatment involving inhaled corticosteroids (ICS). According to a recent study, the 2% threshold for blood eosinophils could accurately predict ICS treatment response in patients with COPD, but the risk of pneumonia was increased.

Not only do pharmacy benefit managers profit thousands of percent using spread pricing, but the spreads are growing; support for Medicare for all is growing among Democrats in Congress, but it's still unclear how such a drastic chage would impact the complex American healthcare system; while precision medicine has great potential, it still has far more failures than successes, but that isn't usually discussed.

Using whole-exome sequencing and evaluating germline mutations, researchers have discovered novel mutations in several genes among patients with essential thrombocythemia and primary myelofibrosis, which could influence the treatment they receive.

A retrospective analysis of data from patients with severe asthma who participated in the COBRA trial identified key clinical characteristics that may help clinicians recognize patients who may benefit from additional targeted drug therapy, such as benralizumab.

Health insurance coverage gains created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) caused the number of the uninsured in the United States to fall from 17% in 2013 to 10% in 2016, according to a new analysis from the Urban Institute. The report said the reductions were even more striking in states that expanded Medicaid.

Over 14,600 comments poured into CMS to meet a deadline to comment about proposed changes to its 2019 physician fee schedule for Medicare, with many physician organizations and individuals asking the agency to halt or slow down its plans to cut physician reimbursement for evaluation and management services. While some groups cheered some of the changes—such as broader coverage for telehealth and other digital monitoring—most expressed many concerns.

Two studies presented at the PAINWeek conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, took a look into the prevalence of acute medication use and overuse among migraineurs, as well as rates of medication discontinuation due to lack of efficacy or side effects.

While the rate remains unchanged from 2016, there was an observed shift from prescription opioids to other drugs and dangerous drug combinations.

The Senate appears ready to pass a package of opioid bills this week; Michigan is asking for the Trump administration’s approval for work requirements for Medicaid; the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a 2017 ruling that blocked enforcement of a Missouri law that kept the state from enforcing new regulations on doctors providing abortions.

With the expansion of Medicaid, eligible, low-income people living with HIV were transferred from the Ryan White Program to Medicaid, causing concern for interrupted access to care and treatment.

At a full-day event in Newark, New Jersey, drug enforcement officials came together with community leaders to brainstorm diverse approaches to the opioid crisis that are focused on preventive interventions at home, in the community, in schools, and at workplaces, as well as to learn from best practices that have been implemented in other states.

In an indirect treatment comparison of 3 drugs for severe eosinophilic asthma, GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) mepolizumab, marketed as Nucala, reduced exacerbations by 34% to 45% compared with reslizumab or benralizumab. The results were published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.