Laura Joszt, MA

The American public's perennially low opinion of the pharmaceutical industry has gotten even lower, and it seems unlikely that public opinion will gain much ground over the next year.

People with insurance have significantly higher probabilities of being diagnosed for diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension than people without insurance.

Democratic president hopeful Bernie Sanders took aim at the pharmaceutical industry with a new bill that would provide the government with negotiating power, allow the import of lower-cost drugs from Canada, and requires reporting of information that affects drug pricing.

Avoidable risk factors to health are taking a growing toll on global health, according to an analysis of 79 risks in 188 countries. The results were published in The Lancet.

Treatment for high blood pressure should be more aggressive with a target lower than commonly recommended by guidelines, according to a study from the National Institutes of Health.

House Republicans won a minor victory in a new lawsuit against the Obama administration for the legality of spending money from the Treasury for health insurers under the Affordable Care Act. Arguments will be heard this fall.

A draft report on the value-based price benchmark for the newly approved PCSK9 inhibitors for lowering bad cholesterol found that Repatha and Praluent should cost approximately 85% less than their list prices.

Despite concerns, consumer-driven health plans do not cause vulnerable populations to avoid care, but there are still opportunities for them to use their plans more wisely, according to a Cigna study.

CMS has released a new plan to address health equity in Medicare, which includes 6 priority areas aimed at reducing health disparities over the next 4 years.

Analyses from the American Medical Association determined the potential Aetna-Humana and Anthem-Cigna mergers will diminish competition in at least 23 states and more than 100 metropolitan areas.

An analysis of Medicare Advantage (MA) plan market shares finds little competition in counties across the nation, according to a report published by The Commonwealth Fund.

Price transparency in healthcare has become more important as consumers increasingly engage in healthcare decision making and are asked to pay more for their care.

CMS will test whether providing Medicare Advantage plans with the ability to integrate value-based insurance design increases enrollee satisfaction, improves enrollee clinical outcomes, reduces overall plan expenditures, and results in lower plan bids, thus saving money for Medicare and beneficiaries.

HHS is seeking new protections for vulnerable populations to protect them from discrimination and ensure they have equal access to healthcare and health coverage.

Patients age 65 years and older who are hospitalized for the flu can benefit from the use of early antiviral treatment, according to a new report from the CDC. The early use of flu antiviral medications reduces hospital length of stay and risk of needing extended care after discharge.

CMS is making available grant funding for 100 organizations to provide enrollment assistance during the third open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act.

Although Repatha and Praluent, the first of a new class of cholesterol-lowering drugs, come with a hefty price in the United States, they will cost 50% to 60% less in Europe.

In 1 month, the US healthcare system will transition to International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, whether or not physicians are ready to implement the new coding system.

A large majority of healthcare organizations have been compromised by a cyberattack during the last 2 years and only half believe they are adequately prepared for preventing these attacks.

Research from The Commonwealth Fund found little indication that risk segmentation is causing adverse effects in the insurance market either in coverage sold on the exchanges and coverage sold off the exchanges.

In the second quarter of 2015 the healthcare spending growth rate was 5.9%, a decline from 6.6% in the first quarter of the year, but the health spending growth rate is still 2 percentage points higher than rates experienced between 2009 and 2013.

With 1 biosimilar already approved in the US, the FDA has finally released draft guidelines for naming these new products.

The use of hospital observation instead of hospital admission is becoming increasingly common for Medicare beneficiaries; however, it may mean unexpectedly higher out-of-pocket costs.

An analysis of provider networks offered in the Affordable Care Act's marketplaces found large variation of the prevalence narrow networks among the states, according to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania.

Republican presidential hopefuls may all be ready to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but new reports in August found the health law continues to make big changes to the US healthcare system.

An analysis of data available on HealthCare.gov and 12 state-based exchanges while consumers shopped for plans found that sites should take more steps to better support consumers in making informed health plan decisions.

Since the first open enrollment period under the Affordable Care Act, enrollment in Medicaid has increased 21% and the program needs to be reinvented to keep up with future healthcare needs.

Enrollees on the public health insurance exchanges have shown themselves to be savvy, informed consumers, according to the results from the 2015 Survey of US Health Care Consumers report from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.

The incidence of hospitalizations for pulmonary hypertension among children has doubled from 1997 to 2012 with associated costs growing to $3.12 billion.

Millions of exchange plan enrollees are missing out on subsidies available under the Affordable Care Act because they picked a non-qualifying health plan.