This Week in Managed Care: December 9, 2016

Hello, I’m Sara Belanger, with The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network.

Republicans on the ACA

The first Kaiser Health Tracking Poll taken since the 2016 presidential election found that growing numbers of Republicans would rather see the Affordable Care Act scaled back, not fully repealed.

Since the last survey taken in October, the poll found that the share of Republicans who support a full repeal dropped from 69 percent to 52 percent, while the percentage who want the law scaled back rose from 11 percent to 24 percent.

The most unpopular part of Obamacare is the individual mandate, the part of the law that requires people to have health coverage.

Senior Care Coordination

There’s plenty of talk about making care coordination a priority, but many seniors are missing out, according to a Harris Poll for CareMore Health, which operates Medicare Advantage and Medicaid plans in 7 states.

The poll of 1000 seniors uncovered the following:

• 34% of seniors say a family member coordinates their care
• 35% of seniors say no one coordinates their care
• Only 43% say providers ask about treatments or medication prescribed by other doctors

CareMore’s president, Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA, FACP, said the findings show how promoting a culture of care coordination is easier said than done.

Said Jain: “Navigating the healthcare system is inherently challenging and is even more perplexing for seniors, as many suffer from chronic diseases like heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes, and are at high risk for complications.”

ASH 2016

This week more than 20,000 hematologists and cancer specialists gathered in San Diego, California for the 58th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology.

Joseph Alvarnas, MD, of the City of Hope, a hematologist and oncologist who is editor in chief of Evidence-Based Oncology, spoke with AJMC about the importance of understanding the individual patient when making a treatment plan. Watch the interview.

See all of our conference coverage from ASH 16.

Jardiance Indication

The FDA has approved a new indication for empagliflozin, the SGLT2 inhibitor sold as Jardiance for patients with type 2 diabetes.

Jardiance is the first diabetes therapy with an indication to reduce cardiovascular death, following the results of the EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial that were reported in September 2015. Cardiovascular disease is 70% higher among patients with diabetes, according to the CDC.

The FDA’s Jean-Marc Guettier, MD, highlighted the importance of this milestone: “Availability of antidiabetes therapies that can help people live longer by reducing the risk of cardiovascular death is an important advance for adults with type 2 diabetes.”

For more about what the EMPA-REG OUTCOME study means for diabetes care, watch the AJMC Peer Exchange, “Reducing Cardiovascular Mortality in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.”

Patient-Centered Diabetes Care

Registration is open for the fifth annual meeting of Patient-Centered Diabetes Care, the multi-stakeholder gathering that brings payers, providers, policy experts and leaders from pharma together to discuss current topics disease management and payment reform.

This year’s meeting will be in at the Marriott Glenpointe in Teaneck, New Jersey April 6^th and 7^th 2017. The Diabetes Prevention Program, which Medicare will begin funding in January 2018, is just one of the topics on the agenda.

For information and to register, visit the conference page.

For all of us at the Managed Markets News Network, I’m Sara Belanger. Thanks for joining us.