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States increasingly use managed care for Medicaid enrollees, yet evidence of its impact on healthcare outcomes is mixed. This research studies county-level Medicaid managed care penetration and healthcare outcomes among nonelderly disabled and nondisabled enrollees.

A new report from the Government Accountability Office found that CMS could use electronically readable cards in Medicare for a number of different purposes.

A one-minute look at managed care news during the week of April 20, 2015, including the how payment reform could hurt emergency care and Americans want the government to do something about high drug prices.

Researchers from the University of Washington examined drinking patterns down to the county level, and found wide disparities within state borders. This suggests that solutions to problem drinking must be found locally.

The survey, conducted at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and published in the Annals of Surgery, found that half of women with cancer in 1 breast are interested in removing their healthy breast to avoid a second cancer.

Nearly all doctors reported barriers to conducting effective end-of-life conversations with patients, and most felt that it was especially difficult to discuss with patients of a different ethnicity, according to researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine.

For all their talk about evidence-based medicine, a lot of doctors don't follow the clinical guidelines set by leading medical groups.

CMS wasted nearly $251 million in taxpayer dollars on infusion drugs in just 18 months by using outdated drug pricing estimates, which drove up the cost of prescription injectable drugs for an aging baby boomer population.

Avalere, partnering with the National Comprehensive Care Network, surveyed 20 cancer centers and found that 75% of respondents were covered by at least "some" of the exchange plans in their state.

Pharmaceutical companies can expect accelerated drug development by using alternate endpoints instead of the gold standard of OS and PFS for oncology molecules.

The monoclonal antibody MPDL3280A, a PD-L1 inhibitor being developed by Genentech, generated pharmacodynamic responses as measured by circulating biomarkers in phase 1a studies in patients with triple negative breast cancer.

Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, who took office as US Surgeon General in December and has a ceremonial swearing-in Thursday, says he hopes to reduce chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease by promoting physical activity.

Hospital patients felt an increased financial burden in 2014 due to a combination of rising procedure costs and higher deductibles, according to TransUnion Healthcare's Q4 2014 report.

Nursing home operators are asking legislators for a "carve out" from the state's managed care plan. The AARP says this will retain a system that keeps state funds way from caring for the elderly in their homes, which most Louisiana residents prefer.

Results presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2015 show the presence of a known driver of non-small cell lung cancer in small cell lung cancer, implying that promising treatments for the former may be applicable to the latter form of the disease.

Oncologists are slightly less satisfied with their specialty than they were a few years ago, according to the fifth consecutive annual Medscape report.

Being admitted to the hospital on the weekend is associated with an increased likelihood of a hospital-acquired condition, which in turn increases cost and length of stay, reported researchers from the University of Southern California.

The diabetes drug metformin is being used in some cancer treatment trials, but study results show the use of metformin does not improve survival of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

The FDA is offering a grant of up to $1 million to turn large amounts of electronic health record data into usable figures highlighting postmarket risks of various drugs.

The system lets consumers pay cash at store register, while clerks scan bar codes sent to their cell phones. The system replaces these consumers sending in money orders each month.

The incidence rate for heart failure dropped steeply over a decade in a population-based study, and while hospitalization rates remained steady over time, causes shifted from cardiovascular to noncardiovascular.

Adoption of draft United States Preventive Services Task Force breast cancer screening recommendations would result in thousands of additional and unnecessary breast cancer deaths each year, the American College of Radiology said.

New legislation introduced by a bipartisan group of US senators would make it more difficult for new and generic opioid drugs to obtain the approval of the FDA.

Adoption of alternative payment models that reduce the number of visits to the emergency department could cause unintended consequences for emergency care through a reduction in revenue, according to researchers at the Brookings Institute.

The total number of breast cancer cases in the United States is forecast to be 50% greater in 2030 than it was in 2011 driven mostly by a marked increase in cases of estrogen receptor-positive tumors.

While statins can prevent disease in older adults, they can also cause potentially serious side effects that could outweigh the benefits, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The Kaiser Health Tracking Poll found Americans strongly support ensuring that those with chronic conditions like cancer, HIV, and mental illness can have access to affordable drugs, and this sentiment was shared across partisan lines.

Women with an average risk of breast cancer should have screening mammography every 2 years during ages 50 to 74, according to updated recommendations from the United States Preventive Services Task Force.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center found combining 2 immunotherapies to be safe and elicit a clinical response in patients with metastatic melanoma.

What can the US learn from the UK National Health System? Probably not acute care management, but definitely, primary care and preventive interventions.