Health Care Delivery

What we're reading, April 7, 2016: hospitals will help Louisiana pay for Medicaid expansion; Pfizer considers splitting the company after deal with Allergan falls through; and Pfizer gets 300 lawsuits dismissed.

Systems failures frustrate women who seek access to evidence-based, cost-effective contraceptive care.

What we're reading, April 6, 2016: the federal government could be doing more to alert uninsured individuals about their eligibility for subsidies; the White House will transfer leftover Ebola funds to combat the Zika virus; and Senate companion bill to 21st Century Cures Act is almost done.

People who enrolled in a Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan after enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have higher rates of disease and received significantly more medical care compared with those enrolled before the ACA was enacted.

In order to combat a projected budget gap of $3.8 billion, Connecticut state employees were provided the opportunity to enroll in a program using value-based insurance benefit design concepts.

A new study by researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research has found that visits by trained community health workers improved screening rates for breast cancer among Latino women.

What we're reading: California will open Medi-Cal to all low-income children regardless of immigration status; Arizona governor signs bill to follow earlier FDA guidelines for abortion-inducing drug; and the loss of 2 Obamacare provisions could result in increased premiums in 2017.

The National Pharmaceutical Council has released a set of guiding principles on specific elements that should be included in value assessment frameworks.

According to IMS Health, increased penetration and acceptance of biosimilars in Europe and in the United States can result in $110 billion in total savings to the 2 healthcare systems.

During the opening session at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network 21st Annual Conference, healthcare providers came together to discuss palliation from the provider and the patient perspective.

Tricia Neuman, ScD, director of the Kaiser Family Foundation's Program on Medicare Policy and the Project on Medicare's Future, discussed patient access to expensive treatments and the barriers to improving transparency.

The current primary care provider workforce will not be able to meet the growing demands driven by recent healthcare reforms. What is the solution?

State newspapers have been sharply critical of Governor Matt Bevin's last-minute changes to the Benefind system, which was designed to work alongside Kynect to integrate benefits, not replace it to administer Medicaid.

The Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco and the Association for the Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence have developed a position statement recommending access to smoking cessation interventions for smokers in the high-risk group who undergo a lung cancer screen.

What we're reading, March 30, 2016: the Supreme Court asks for more information in birth control case; Americans display lack of knowledge about Zika virus; and China provides an opportunity for drugs that fail to make it to market elsewhere.

Getting patients access to their own data is a good thing that will increase engagement, but it is important that improving access to data will create cohesive care for the patient and not lead to fragmentation, said Julia Adler-Milstein, PhD, assistant professor at the School of Information and the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan.

What we're reading, March 29, 2016: the Obama administration is expected to announce new measures to combat opioid addiction; cholesterol test results from Theranos could throw off doctors' decisions; and Republicans aren't talking as much about Obamacare on the campaign trail.

Pointing out that high drug prices are access barriers, the Congressmen have urged the government agencies to hold a public hearing to address the issue.

The Affordable Care Act’s cost-sharing reductions vary by plan making the out-of-pocket costs for the qualifying patients very different.

What we're reading, March 28, 2016: Covered California mishap with insured consumers' tax forms; Ted Cruz needs to outline his Obamacare replacement plan; and Google's life sciences startup runs into trouble.

Chip Kahn, president of the Federation of American Hospitals, discusses the future of the Affordable Care Act, and the importance of coordinated care.

The mains why Americans are less satisfied with their health system compared with people in other countries is their concern and uncertainty about being able to access “most preferred care.”

Sync for Science-a collaboration between the National Institutes of Health, Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, and Harvard Medical School-will allow patients to access their own health data, which they can then share with researchers involved in the initiative.

In a survey conducted by a sales and marketing firm, oncologists, oncology nurses, and oncology administrators have expressed displeasure with the customer experience rendered by oncology manufacturers.

Overall, the healthcare industry in the United States is getting better at acknowledging social determinants involved with health, but housing for Medicaid patients remains an issue, explained J. Mario Molina, MD, president and CEO of Molina Healthcare.

What we're reading, March 25, 2016: Congress went on its spring recess without voting on Zika emergency funding; HealthCare.gov has more than 300 cybersecurity incidents; and Indiana's Medicaid expansion model has caught the attention of other conservative states.

Experts say it all the time: healthcare is local. That makes it really important to involve employers and local communities that know best the challenges consumers face, said Karen van Caulil, PhD, president and CEO of the Florida Health Care Coalition.

A retrospective research study has identified disparity in the use of the test, primarily driven by race, insurance status, and the type of facility where treatment was administered.

What we're reading, March 24, 2016: Valeant doubles the price of aid-in-dying drug; the Supreme Court seems split on contraception case; and less than 3% of Americans meet qualifications for a healthy lifestyle.

Bruce Gilbert, executive director of the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange in Nevada explains how the exchange has targeted a more specific audience for enrollment and how the state has benefited from having a state exchange.