Mary Caffrey

No one questions the long-term savings that the Diabetes Prevention Program will bring to Medicare, but getting it off the ground will require several steps that have never been done before, including a new payment model.

With the nation's largest commercial payer on board, the maker of the at-home DNA colon cancer screening test will put more focus on physician education and consumer awareness, with the hope of increasing screening rates for a test that patients find uncomfortable and inconvenient.

The investigational oral therapy, upadacitinib, is a potential competitor for Pfizer's JAK inhibitor, which treats patients who are not responding adequately to DMARDs.

Being isolated due to being overweight can have long-term health consequences, and the study's lead author said reducing stigma should be part of anti-bullying efforts.

While alcohol is known to limit skeletal muscle growth, few studies have looked at the relationship between sarcopenia and problem drinking.

The enzyme that affects the body's ability to process LDL cholesterol was found to be correlated with A1C levels. A symposium on the topic will be part of this weekend's 77th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association.

CMS is giving seniors until September 30, 2017, to request a waiver from all or part of the penalties they face for not enrolling on time for Medicare.

The study said the alternative to BMI offers a better way to measure visceral fat, which poses a greater cardiovascular threat.

The change reflects scientific advances that have converted AIDS from a certain death sentence to a condition that can be managed with proper diagnosis and treatment.

The #Coverage2Control campaign begins a year after the announcement that UnitedHealth would shift most adult type 1 diabetes patients toward Medtronic technology, or require them to pay significant out-of-pocket costs. More significantly, JDRF reports payers are saying they will not fund the artificial pancreas.

US Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asked why Medicaid did not move earlier to force Mylan to pay what it owed in rebates for the epinephrine injector.

Researchers from the United Kingdom combed studies to figure out which of several indicators, such as body mass index or waist circumference, were predictors of future cardiac events or health conditions, like hypertension or prediabetes.

While regulators long ago saw enough cardiovascular safety data to approve insulin degludec, full trial results will be presented June 12 at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions in San Diego.

Physicians' groups said in a letter they fear seniors will lose or forget to bring the new Medicare cards to appointments, and there is no backup plan for doctors to gain access to the new identification number.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest released the letter proactively after the Trump administration has already eased rules for school lunches and delayed implementation of a labeling rule for restaurants.

Few people have adequate savings for long-term care, and most assume they will care for relatives and rely on family for their own care. A survey from the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found support for family leave policies across members of both parties.

The American Medical Association declared obesity a disease in 2013, but insurers have been slow to cover drugs to treat the disease.

A Senate working group is already crafting an entirely new version of a replacement for the Affordable Care Act. House Speaker Paul Ryan waited on a new CBO score to make sure the American Health Care Act met necessary savings targets to use the budget reconciliation process to undo Obamacare.

The proposed cuts would come just as CMS is gearing up to launch the Diabetes Prevention Program in Medicare starting in January 2018. Diabetes accounts for $1 of every $3 spent in Medicare, and CMS has been looking for ways to slow the number of beneficiaries who develop the disease.

The researchers' hypothesis: improvements in continuous glucose monitoring technology would bring greater quality of life improvements for those with type 1 diabetes, even if they were not using insulin pumps.

The budget bans the use of federal funds for abortion. The White House budget director said it was the first spending plan in some time written "through the eyes of the people who are paying the taxes."

A panel at the Pharmacy Quality Alliance talks about how to take patient input and turn it into meaningful measurement.

The findings come after other data recently showed an overall increase in diabetes incidence among youth, especially minorities.

The proposed budget reportedly includes the $880 billion cut to Medicaid over 10 years that is part of the American Health Care Act. Elsewhere today, the Trump administration is expected to file for a 90-day delay in a lawsuit that could ultimately end subsidies for those buying insurance on the exchanges.

Most contracts now have penalties for not reaching targets, and adherence remains a challenge.

In a wide-ranging discussion, panelists at the 12th annual meeting of the Pharmacy Quality Alliance discuss the role of pharmacy benefit managers, the prospects of changes to Medicaid, and how the cloud of uncertainty affects planning decisions.

The former House healthcare expert said that changes are sure to come to the AHCA when the Senate takes up the bill, especially in the Medicaid provisions.

On the opening day of the 12th annual meeting of the Pharmacy Quality Alliance, speaker Richard Shannon, MD, of the University of Virginia, shared how the dedication to quality must be intense and shared throughout the healthcare system.

The sharp decline in cardiovascular deaths is the good news. The connection between clusters of high death rates and high rates of poverty, limited education, poor diets, and lack of access to care remains the bad news.

The study authors say that communities can invest in mass transit systems as a prevention tool to avoid rising rates of obesity.