Mary Caffrey is the Executive Editor for The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®). She joined AJMC® in 2013 and is the primary staff editor for Evidence-Based Oncology, the multistakeholder publication that reaches 22,000+ oncology providers, policy makers and formulary decision makers. She is also part of the team that oversees speaker recruitment and panel preparations for AJMC®'s premier annual oncology meeting, Patient-Centered Oncology Care®. For more than a decade, Mary has covered ASCO, ASH, ACC and other leading scientific meetings for AJMC readers.
Mary has a BA in communications and philosophy from Loyola University New Orleans. You can connect with Mary on LinkedIn.
Letter on PCSK9 Value-Based Contracts Asks: When Are Discounts Applied?
August 16th 2017Cardiologists were thrilled with results of the FOURIER trial, but payers were less moved. Given the drug's $14,000 a year price, some wanted to know if they would see more than the 30% to 35% discounts they had been offered.
CMS to Cancel Mandatory Cardiac, Expanded Joint Replacement Bundles
August 15th 2017UPDATE: CMS called for other changes to the existing Comprehensive Joint Replacement model. Experts who work with providers on bundled payments have predicted tweaks that will let voluntary programs qualify as an Advanced Alternative Payment Models under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act.
CMS Gives Insurers Extra Time to File Rates for HealthCare.gov
August 11th 2017The notice says some states have given insurers the ability to build a cushion into silver plan rates to account for the possible loss of cost-sharing reductions. An extra 3 weeks would give plans in more states the chance to do the same thing.
WellDoc, AADE Launch Diabetes Digital Health Learning Network
August 4th 2017The partnership seeks to establish best practices for helping diabetes educators collect data to improve population health. The announcement comes the first day of the annual meeting of the American Association of Diabetes Educators, being held in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Healthy Eating Advocates, Convenience Stores Split on Delay for Menu Labeling Rule
August 3rd 2017A rule that would have created national standards for menu labels was halted a day before it took effect in May. Advocates for healthy eating cried foul, but a trade group for convenience stores said the rule would have harmed its members.
A Michigan Program Asks the Working Poor to Volunteer to Get Free Dental Care
August 3rd 2017More than 100 million adults don't have dental coverage, which is not an essential health benefit even though data show rising numbers of emergency department cases related to dental problems. A Michigan experiment shows a possible solution, but even the study's author said it is not a panacea.