Policy

Kicking off the 2023 Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health annual conference, Mark Fendrick, MD, of the University of Michigan, delivered a keynote exhorting the audience of employers and payers to implement the principles of value-based insurance design (VBID) in order to improve individual and population health and drive toward equity.

Blue Cross Blue Shield in Massachusetts sets agreement with Tufts Medicine using equity benchmarks; drug prices covered by Medicaid to undergo yearly audit; South Carolina abortion ban headed to governor as Planned Parenthood announces national staff cutbacks to shift resources to the states.

Surgeon General warns of social media’s harm; additional women in Texas cite health risks from abortion bans; White House supports bill against fentanyl trafficking.

WHO urges caution regarding artificial intelligence (AI) bias; South Carolina ban would restrict abortion at 6 weeks; appeals court pauses ruling barring free preventative health services.

Medicare Part D low-income subsidies alone are insufficient to improve the uptake and equitable use of high-cost, orally administered antimyeloma therapy.

The possible consequences for health care if the United States breaches the debt ceiling; skepticism follows proposal for over-the-counter birth control pill; North Carolina governor calls potential abortion ban harmful.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, said she will leave the agency at the end of June, a few hours after the World Health Organization (WHO) ended the global emergency status for COVID-19 on Friday.

A settled class-action lawsuit paves the way for 5 million New Yorkers on Medicaid to have expanded dental coverage; 2 hospitals broke federal law by denying a woman whose life was in danger an abortion; mask mandates in most health care settings are being lifted around the United States.

FDA accelerates approval of drug for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); hundreds of thousands could lose Medicaid coverage under Republican debt bill including work requirements; the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reports that half a million veterans have filed claims for health benefits related to toxic exposures.

A new rule could provide access to health care for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program recipients; North Dakota governor signs law banning most abortions in the state; legislators call on China to cooperate in investigation of COVID-19 origins.

Increases in Medicare Advantage market share over the past 10 years are largely caused by an increased preference for managed care among Medicare beneficiaries.

The Biden administration and drug manufacturers are looking at different ways to keep free access to COVID-19 vaccines; mifepristone remains available without new restrictions while a court battle continues; the goal to reduce HIV in the US by 2030 may fall short, some warn.

A study from investigators in the Quantitative Health Science, Neurology, and Radiology departments of Mayo Clinic investigated if and how social and structural determinants of health (SSDOH) might influence mild cognitive impairment and/or risk of dementia among participants of the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging.

President Joe Biden signs order to boost care worker compensation and support caregivers; social media adds are fueling weight loss medication demands; an investigational metabolic modulator has been shown to mitigate fatigue in patients with long COVID.

Construction of a composite measure, use of a summary disparity statistic, and measure selection are key considerations in the design of equity-focused payment programs.

Autism is being diagnosed more often in girls; cancer medication shortages mean some patients may die before receiving treatment; new CMS policies aim to reach underserved populations.

Nicolas Ferreyros, managing director at Community Oncology Alliance (COA), discusses the recent Senate commerce hearing on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which brought bipartisan attention and energy towards addressing the concerns related to PBMs in Washington.

A federal ruling could undermine the framework of FDA drug approvals; Florida’s warning on COVID-19 vaccines omits key data; uninsured patients with cancer struggle to find care.

Payment models that align financial incentives of payers, providers, and patients can mitigate spending growth in thoughtful ways, but the details of the models matter.

This retrospective study examined food insecurity and neighborhood disadvantage in health system patients as predictors of acute health care utilization.

Insured lower-wage employees had lower prevalence of mental health conditions but greater severity, with more hospital admissions and emergency department visits than high-wage employees.

A ruling by District Judge Reed O’Connor on March 30 called the future of preventive care access into question.

The National Cancer Plan is being implemented as part of the Cancer Moonshot aims; inflation and higher spending are driving up monthly plan premiums under the Affordable Care Act; millions of people may lose Medicaid coverage after pandemic protections end.

Under preferred pharmacy networks, unsubsidized Part D beneficiaries faced substantial incentives and moderately switched toward preferred pharmacies, whereas subsidized beneficiaries were insulated and demonstrated little switching.

Rates for reimbursement cuts will be lower than expected within Medicare Advantage plans; financial safety nets, in the form of Social Security and Medicare, are likely to be unable pay full benefits; CDC teams experience symptoms similar to East Palestine, Ohio, residents following train derailment

The ruling of Braidwood Management v Becerra puts HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) coverage at risk, potentially leading to more than 2000 preventable HIV infections in the coming year.

Digital health data can facilitate the participation of underrepresented and diverse patient populations in clinical trials, but first the FDA must build its capability to evaluate such information in its regulatory processes for new drug development.

Pharmacy benefit manager reform is a major trend in state managed care policy, said Adam Colborn, director of government relations at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP).

A panel assembled at the American Academy of Dermatology 2023 Annual Meeting encouraged the audience of dermatologists to advocate together for needed changes in payment, access, and practice.

Gov. Mark Gordon sings a ban on the use of abortion pills in Wyoming; a new study shows that Affordable Care Act has reduced racial disparities in health care; California Gov. Gavin Newsom announces a contract to make affordable insulin.