First Do No Harm: HER2-Positive Breast Cancer, Trastuzumab, and Cardiac Monitoring Guidelines
July 2nd 2015With a growing understanding of the risk of cardiotoxicity associated with cancer treatment, cardio-oncology has emerged as an important subspecialty, resulting in the establishment of cardio-oncology programs most often based at or in collaboration with comprehensive cancer centers.
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Overweight Colorectal Cancer Patients Outlive Those With the Lowest BMI, New Study Finds
July 2nd 2015Metastatic colorectal cancer patients with higher body mass index (BMI) outlived patients with the lowest BMI by an average of 2-and-a-half months, according to new data presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology 17th World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer 2015.
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Identifying High-Cost Patients for Care Management
July 1st 2015The fact that a small percentage of the population accounts for roughly half of healthcare spending in the United States is not new information. Now a new white paper from the Health Care Transformation Task Force has taken a look at what healthcare systems can do to identify these individuals in order to better manage their care and lower spending.
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Why the King v. Burwell Ruling Is Good News for Millions of Americans
July 1st 2015The health coverage of millions of Americans in 34 states was pending upon the Supreme Court decision on the King v Burwell case. Luckily, common sense prevailed and the Supreme Court based its ruling on the original motivation behind the creation of the exchanges rather than on the plain language used in the provision.
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CMS Continues Implementation of ACA's Premium Stabilization Programs
July 1st 2015CMS has begun to implement risk adjustment and reinsurance programs, 2 premium stabilization programs of the Affordable Care Act. The report highlighted the estimated reinsurance payments issuer in addition to summary level information on the programs, which helps to keep premiums affordable as well as various coverage options available to consumers.
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Medicare Advantage Enrollment Climbs, but So Do Financial Burdens
July 1st 2015Despite concerns that Medicare Advantage payment reductions included in the Affordable Care Act would lead to a decline in enrollment, the number and share of beneficiaries enrolling in Medicare Advantage has only continue to climb since the health reform law was enacted.
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Low Premium Plans Increase Marketplace Price Competition
June 30th 2015In an effort to better examine and understand the implementation and effects of the Affordable Care Act, researchers from the Urban Institute found that nongroup health insurance premiums in insurance marketplaces were lower than expected.
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AAP Releases New Recommendations for Preventing Childhood Obesity
June 30th 2015A week after JAMA released a report that found more than two-thirds of Americans age 25 years and older are overweight or obese, the American Academy of Pediatrics presented updated guidelines on preventing childhood obesity and recommendations for parents to help their children maintain a healthy weight.
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Police Untrained to Handle People Suffering From Mental Health Issues
June 30th 2015Police officers in the United States are woefully untrained to approach individuals with behavioral health issues, according to a new analysis from Washington Post. In the first 6 months of 2015, police have shot and killed 123 people in the throes of mental or emotional crisis.
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Medicaid Enrollees With Hepatitis C Face Reimbursement Challenges
June 30th 2015Heterogeneity in Medicaid coverage of the anti-viral agent sofosbuvir is rampant across the United States, with varying reimbursement criteria and lack of conformation to recommendations by professional infectious disease organizations.
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GOP Presidential Hopefuls Still Eye 2016 Election as Chance to Repeal Obamacare
June 29th 2015Shortly after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the government in King v. Burwell, President Barack Obama triumphantly claimed that "Affordable Care Act is here to stay." However, the truth is that GOP presidential hopefuls have no intention of letting the law stand.
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The Country's Sharply Divided Reactions to King v. Burwell Ruling on Subsidies
June 26th 2015With the Supreme Court ruling in King v. Burwell keeping subsidies available to consumers on the federally facilitated marketplace, healthcare associations, insurers, health plans, and other stakeholders have been voicing their support and relief at the 6-3 ruling.
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