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What We’re Reading: Fund Rejection Worries Prevention Groups; Sanders Tries to Decrease Drug Prices; Growing Autism Prevalence
Tennessee’s governor rejected $8.8 million in federal grant money for HIV prevention and detection; Senator Bernie Sanders pleads for drug price decrease in his first drug hearing as health chair; the prevalence of autism is growing, with children of color more likely to be diagnosed compared with White children for the first time.
Tennessee’s Rejection of $8.8M Federal Dollars Panics HIV Prevention Groups
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) rejected $8.8 in federal funding for HIV prevention and detection, reported The New York Times. Tennessee is the only state to reject this federal funding, with the governor planning to use $9 million in new state funding for HIV monitoring and prevention in July. Despite this, some organizations are worried that the state won’t offer them vital funding if they do not align with the governor’s conservative beliefs regarding transgender rights and abortion access.
Senator Sanders Pleads for Drug Price Decreases in Committee Hearing
In a hearing with the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Senator Bernie Sanders used his new platform as chair of the committee to vehemently voice his beliefs on drug prices, according to Kaiser Health News. The committee has very little power over drug prices, which is under the jurisdiction of the Finance Committee that oversees Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act. This prompted a more aggressive approach from Sanders because of this limited power that ended with the senator pleading with Moderna’s CEO for a small concession on vaccine pricing, to which the CEO made no promises.
Rising Autism Rates, More Children of Color Being Diagnosed, Details New Data
A new study found that autism rates grew in the years Between 2018 and 2020, rates of autism grew from 1 in 44 children to 1 in 36 diagnosed, reported USA Today. The new data found that, for the first time, White children are less likely to carry the diagnosis than children of color. These years hold the most recent data for autism, with the increase being attributed to more children of color getting the help they need, said the chief science officer at autism advocacy group Autism Speaks. However, one of the authors on the study noted that it is unknown why autism prevalence is increasing and it should be considered a “major public health crisis.”
Urticaria Diagnosis Challenged by Overlapping Pruritic Skin Conditions
April 23rd 2025Urticaria is complicated to diagnose by its symptomatic overlap with other skin conditions and the frequent misclassification in literature of distinct pathologies like vasculitic urticaria and bullous pemphigus.
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New Research Challenges Assumptions About Hospital-Physician Integration, Medicare Patient Mix
April 22nd 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Brady Post, PhD, lead author of a study published in the April 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care®, challenges the claim that hospital-employed physicians serve a more complex patient mix.
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Personalized Care Key as Tirzepatide Use Expands Rapidly
April 15th 2025Using commercial insurance claims data and the US launch of tirzepatide as their dividing point, John Ostrominski, MD, Harvard Medical School, and his team studied trends in the use of both glucose-lowering and weight-lowering medications, comparing outcomes between adults with and without type 2 diabetes.
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ACOs’ Focus on Rooting Out Fraud Aligns With CMS Vision Under Oz
April 23rd 2025Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are increasingly playing the role of data sleuths as they identify and report trends of anomalous billing in hopes of salvaging their shared savings. This mission dovetails with that of CMS, which under the new administration plans to prioritize rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse.
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