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What we're reading, November 19, 2015: the American Medical Association is calling for a ban on direct-to-consumer television advertisement of prescription drugs and popular silver plans on HealthCare.gov have largest premium increases.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology has made public its detailed guidance to CMS, supporting implementation of physician-focused and other alternative payment models under MACRA.

The hiring of William J. Castner, Jr., comes after St. Peter's Hospital won the right to a hearing where the insurer will have to give more details on why it left the hospital out of its OMNIA network. However, a spokeman for the insurer said the hiring is due to a restructuring.

This is the company's third biosimilar Biologics License Application in the United States.

The study found that 1 in 10 Americans struggles with a drug use disorder at some point in their lives.

A weight-loss cell phone app alone did not help overweight young adults sustain weight loss any better than a written handout did.

The action by NICE highlights discussion on both sides of the Atlantic about the cost of PCSK9 inhibitors, which lower LDL cholesterol.

Although, data on predictive risk factors for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been limited until now, researchers from the United Kingdom recently developed a model for predicting exacerbation risk using data obtainable from primary care.

What we're reading, November 18, 2015: global drug spending is expected to grow 30% in 5 years; Robert M. Califf, MD, sits through mostly friendly senate confirmation hearing for FDA nomination; and moderate coffee consumption could reduce some risks of death.

CMS has made available $32 million in funds to support efforts to further reduce the rate of uninsured children who are eligible for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program.

The drug is estimated to cost close to $13,000 per month.

Critics say there's little documentation for the $51.3 million in savings the Branstad administration says it will achieve in the first 6 months of 2016.

It is time to regulate laboratory-developed tests that cost Medicare $9.7 billion in the year 2012 alone.

Many nonprofit hospitals have "far from perfect" performance on a requirement of the Affordable Care Act to notify patients who qualify for charity care.

What we're reading, November 17, 2015: misunderstanding of antibiotics has fueled the rise of drug-resistant superbugs; healthcare leaders overwhelmingly support government intervention to curb rising cost of drugs; and the FDA wants more regulation on laboratory-developed tests.

CMS has finalized a rule for a bundled payment test for hip and knee replacements that will be mandatory for nearly all hospitals in 67 geographical areas across the country.

The drug was approved based on results of 2 open-label studies that showed reduction in tumor burden of patients who had previously received multiple lines of therapy.

Express Scripts has dropped a specialty pharmacy from its network and filed a lawsuit seeking $140 million from Horizon Pharma. The drugmaker claims Express Scripts' lawsuit relates to a previous dispute.

The study suggests treating depression could help combating poor diet and obesity. But in Kentucky, the future of Medicaid expansion is in doubt following the recent election.

When to screen and how to screen remain controversial issues in prostate cancer.

What we're reading, November 16, 2015: consumers face sticker shock on Affordable Care Act plans when they get sick and face high deductibles; Medicare spending on hepatitis C drugs nearly doubled in 2015; and US maternal mortality has worsened since 1990.

The VEGF inhibitors have been a game-changer in treatment of ocular conditions in diabetes.

Until now, the impact of evidence-based practice centers (EPCs) on hospital decision making has been relatively unclear-but new data from Penn Medicine researchers suggest that hospital EPCs can accurately distribute clinical evidence and are useful in influencing the stakeholder decision-making process.

The use of generic drugs is saving the United States healthcare system billions of dollars in spending every year for a total savings of $1.68 trillion over the last decade.

This week in managed care the top stories include pivotal results from the SPRINT study on blood pressure, an analysis on how states successfully enrolled consumers in the insurance marketplace, and experts discuss value-based care.

An analysis shows that the Priority Review Voucher Program is not spurring drug development in the disease areas it was created to address.

Some takeaways from the most important blood pressure study in 40 years.

Early sign-ups are strong under ACA; new food safety rules become final; report finds poor access to HIV drugs.

St. Peter's Hospital in New Brunswick won the right to a hearing, where New Jersey's largest insurer will have to say why the Catholic hospital was not included in a preferred network set up alongside a major population health initiative.

According to the CDC, while smoking rates are seeing a steady decline, rates for uninsured and adults on Medicaid are more than twice those for adults with private health insurance.