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.
Express Scripts to Give Refunds if Patients Don't Stay on Expensive Drugs
September 8th 2016Pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts said payers and employers are increasingly frustrated about paying in excess of $3000 a month for drugs that patients soon abandon, meaning they experienced little medical benefit.
Back-to-Back Reports From CDC: Americans Gaining Weight, Using More Marijuana
September 2nd 2016The state-by-state obesity figures revealed huge health disparities. Obesity rates for whites reached 35% in just 2 states, while the rates reached 35% for blacks in 34 states and the District of Columbia, and 11 states for Hispanics.
Study of Diabetes Self-Management Program Finds Parity Between In-Person, Digital Formats
September 1st 2016A diverse group of 1242 patients received diabetes self-management education either in-person or online and achieved lowered blood glucose and depression levels, had fewer symptoms of hypoglycemia, and exercised more.
New Jersey's Christie Touts "Cost-Cutting" Medicaid Expansion
August 31st 2016Since New Jersey's Republican governor shares power with a Democratic legislature, acceptance-if not full-throated support of Medicaid expansion-was not a surprise in 2013. But this week's event was seen by political observers as a sign Christie wants to be compared with Ohio's John Kasich.
Time in Range, Quality of Life Gain Attention at FDA Diabetes Workshop
August 31st 2016Researchers and patients alike are increasingly interested in therapies that do more to limit the day-to-day, and hour-to-hour fluctuations in blood glucose that consume the time and energy of those living with diabetes.
Too Much Focus on Tight A1C Control May Be Misguided in Diabetes Care, Mayo Clinic Study Finds
August 30th 2016The authors are among those concerned that patients with diabetes may be given more medication than they can tolerate or afford to achieve small improvements in A1C, without any other health benefits.
CMS Moves to Shore Up Marketplace; Will Adjust for Drug Costs in 2018
August 30th 2016CMS' new proposal to shore up the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces signals that federal officials have heard concerns that not enough has been done to prevent adverse selection or share risk for the sickest patients who gained coverage under the ACA.
Diabetes Drugs Are Prescribed 15 Times More Often Than Those for Obesity, Study Finds
August 29th 2016Payer coverage has been cited as the most frequent barrier to patient access to obesity therapy. While most new obesity therapies have lower wholesale costs than SGLT2 inhibitors, lack of coverage puts them out of reach for most Americans, according to a new study.
Kentucky's Bevin Submits Updated Medicaid Plan That Calls for Active Consumer Engagement
August 29th 2016Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin's updated Medicaid proposal relies on beneficiaries being active consumers in their healthcare, but evidence shows that will be unlikely, especially among those with low incomes.
How Increased Cost Sharing Triggered the EpiPen Crisis
August 24th 2016While Mylan has steadily increased the price of EpiPens since 2007, the uproar from consumers is more recent. This suggests that for several years, payers masked the cost of the product, but that has changed with the popularity of high deductible plans.