Despite Subsidies Upheld in Marketplaces, Some Americans Continue to Prefer Staying Uninsured
June 25th 2015The Supreme Court may have kept subsidies available to all Americans regardless of whether their state has set up its own exchange, but some people still refuse to purchase coverage, and they're perfectly happy remaining uninsured.
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SCOTUS Upholds ACA Subsidies on HealthCare.gov in King v. Burwell
June 25th 2015In a triumphant win for President Obama's Affordable Care Act and millions of Americans, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled against the plaintiffs in the case King v. Burwell and upheld the availability of subsidies for individuals on the federally facilitated marketplace.
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40% of Physician Networks Could Be Considered Narrow
June 24th 2015A new study summarizing network size by physician, not just hospital participation, determined that 41% of networks on the marketplaces can be considered small or x-small and contain just 25% or less of office-based physicians in the area.
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The Argument for More Selective Use of Breast Cancer Biomarker Testing
June 23rd 2015A more selective use of biomarker testing for patients with breast cancer could save millions of dollars without compromising the care they receive, according to the results of a study published in The American Journal of Surgical Pathology.
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CBO Largely Uncertain of the Full Economic Effects of Repealing the ACA
June 23rd 2015There have been numerous attempts to repeal part or all of the Affordable Care Act since it became law, and the Congressional Budget Office admits its estimates on the effect of repealing the law are all subject to "substantial uncertainty."
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Cost-Effective Interventions to Fight Childhood Obesity
June 23rd 2015When evaluating the cost-effectiveness of 4 different interventions to prevent or reduce childhood obesity, researchers found that the benefit of these interventions surpassed the current clinical interventions to treat obesity.
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As Managed Care Embraces Telehealth, Medicare Slower to Change
June 23rd 2015Concern from Congress about the potential cost of widespread use has kept telehealth from expanding in traditional Medicare. But things are starting to change as ACOs gain the ability to use telehealth, and rule changes allow its use for mental health and other services.
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ASCO's Conceptual Value Framework Released: Tool for Shared Decision Making
June 22nd 2015A framework that primarily considers clinical benefit, toxicity, and cost of new treatments was released today by ASCO. A presscast complementing the release described the framework as a tool for providers to discuss value of new treatments with patients, compared with the standard of care.
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Despite Increase in Patients Under ACA, PCPs Report No Change in Quality of Care Provided
June 22nd 2015During the first year of health coverage expansion under the Affordable Care Act, many primary care providers said the number of patients they saw increased, but reported no compromise in quality of care provided, according to a study from the Kaiser Family Foundation and The Commonwealth Fund.
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JAMA Authors Report Two-Thirds of US Adults Are Overweight or Obese
June 22nd 2015The authors analyzed data from 2007 to 2012 to report their findings. They say that population health efforts must go beyond screenings for chronic conditions associated with overweight and obesity and identify those at normal weight in danger of weight gain.
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This Week in Managed Care: June 20, 2015
June 20th 2015This week 3 states received approval to set up their own state exchanges in the even the Supreme Court removes subsidies in the federally facilitated marketplace, and the deadline passed for stakeholders to respond to CMS' proposed rules for mental health parity in Medicaid managed care.
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Value-Based Calculator Estimates How Much Cancer Drugs Should Really Cost
June 19th 2015One of the most vocal physicians about the high prices of cancer drugs, Peter Bach, MD, MAPP, director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, recently led the effort to create a value-based calculator to determine the true worth of cancer drugs.
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Post-Surgical Complications Treated Best at Same Hospital
June 19th 2015In a national study that included 9 million Americans, researchers found that the hospital a patient experiencing post-surgical complications returns to for readmission has an impact on the quality of care the patient receives.
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