HIV

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

This week, the top managed care stories included another insurer announcing it would pass on drug rebates to consumers; FDA approved a new continuous glucose monitor and created a new medical device class; new guidelines address how to treat people with both HIV and cancer.

The #AskTheHIVDoc series, launched by Greater Than AIDS in 2015, tackles frequently asked questions that patients at risk for or living with HIV want to know, should know, or are nervous to ask their doctors about. The series has also found usefulness among physicians and health groups.

“HIV status alone should not be used for cancer treatment decision making,” said Gita Suneja, MD, Duke Cancer Institute.

New CDC Director Robert Redfield, MD, replaces the acting director, who led the agency through the severe flu season after Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, resigned at the end of January.

While years of efforts to combat the HIV epidemic have resulted in major successes, progress in reducing infection among men who have sex with men has lagged as they remain the most affected population, according to a study in Annals of Internal Medicine.

The National Institutes of Health is investigating whether there were any improprieties committed with the recently begun study into health effects of moderate alcohol consumption; concerns over HIV research from 20 years ago brought up against CDC director pick; new Idaho law requires women seeking abortions be told they can halt the drug-induced procedure halfway.

While rates of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) usage among Americans have significantly increased year over year since PrEP gained approval for HIV prevention in 2012, significant gaps exist among African Americans and Latinos, according to analyses from AIDSVu and the CDC.

An updated cost sharing reduction (CSR) subsidy bill would cut premiums while making programmatic changes to insurance; hospitals are facing shortages of opioids for patients; there's low usage of HIV prevention medicine among minorities, according to new data.

A year has passed since Amy Lansky stepped down as director of the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP), and the position continues to remain open, worrying HIV/AIDS advocates.

Use of an HIV-prevention pill is increasing across the country, but has lagged among blacks and Latinos; Wyoming House fails to pass Medicaid work requirement bill that sailed through the state Senate; Los Angeles County is overhauling the healthcare in its jails in order to better equip inmates to manage their health.

The FDA approved the antiretroviral medication for adult patients living with HIV who have been treated with multiple medications in the past and whose HIV infection did not respond to other currently available antiretroviral therapies.

During the 4-year time period, the rates of HIV diagnosis decreased among those aged 16 to 19 years, were stable among those aged 20 to 23, and increased among those aged 24 to 29, according to a study published by the CDC.

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

This week, the top managed care stories included a bipartisan group of governors releasing an outline for health reform; a report finds value-based contracts brings down prescription drug co-pays; 20 states file a lawsuit over the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.

The National Comprehensive Cancer Center (NCCN) has released new NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology to help ensure that people living with HIV who are diagnosed with cancer receive safe and necessary treatment.

The FDA has tentatively approved Mylan’s New Drug Application for Dolutegravir, Emtricitabine, and Tenofovir Alafenamide Tablets, 50mg/200mg/25mg, for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, and the drug will be immediately available in developing countries as a first-line regimen.

A 9-week, telephone-administered interpersonal psychotherapy intervention reduced depression in patients living with HIV in rural areas, accrding to a study published in Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

From 2002 to 2015, CD4 cell counts at the start of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) increased, and the proportion of individuals with severe immunodeficiency at the start of cART decreased among all income groups, according to a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases.

Using an “ingestible mini pill box,” researchers have developed a slow-release pill to deliver HIV treatment. Once inside the stomach, the capsule unfolds into a 6-armed structure, accommodating multiple drugs at a time.

The most common reasons pepole give for never being tested for HIV is that they were "unlikely to have been exposed to HIV" and they were “never offered an HIV test," according to a National Health Statistics Reports.

The study will evaluate the current preferred first-line regimen for pregnant women recommended by the World Health Organization and 2 regimens containing newer antiretroviral drugs that are becoming more widely used.

Researchers at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute have developed a method that more accurately identifies new versus long-standing HIV infections, an important distinction when determining where to target public health initiatives and research.

Although people with HIV are more susceptible to the hepatitis B virus, there is a low prevalence of hepatitis B vaccination among patients receiving medical care for HIV infection in the United States, according to a study in Annals of Internal Medicine.

The same mechanisms that cause those with long-term HIV infection to suffer higher rates of heart attacks or strokes put children born with disease at early risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a new study.

While public funding through the National Institutes of Health has created a foundation for healthcare research, the private sector can benefit from getting more involved, said Bill Gates, philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft.

Although an additional one-time screening at any age between 15 and 30 yields important gains in HIV diagnosis rates and life expectancy for HIV-infected people, screening at age 25 would provide the most favorable clinical outcomes and the best value for money, according to a study in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

The Trump administration dismissed the remaining members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS as it prepares to appoint members to the 2018 council.