The Other Washington Could Hold the Key to Medicare's Cost Crisis

The Medicaid budget survey for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 revealed state predictions are expecting a decline in Medicaid enrollment and an increase in spending next year due to the end of pandemic-era policies and federal funding.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the author of a study published in the October 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® that explored prior authorization decisions in cancer care by race and ethnicity for commercially insured patients.

Medicaid expansion is associated with improved care and increased survival rates for patients with certain breast cancers, but future studies should focus on whether Medicaid expansion mitigates the disparities between Black and non-White patients.

Delia Orosco, MS, director of Community Wellness Centers at Inland Empire Health Plan, shares insight into innovative initiatives provided by the wellness centers and their new mobile mammogram clinics.

Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance programs all showed significant variability in expenditures based on social and nonclinical factors.

Among near-poor Black and Hispanic individuals, Medicare Advantage was associated with increased vision care and some, although not uniform, reductions in access disparities vs traditional Medicare.