Rising Number of Latinos Diagnosed With Alzheimer’s Disease
By the year 2060, the number of Latinos in the United States with Alzheimer’s disease is expected to rise by more than 8 times. Alzheimer’s is increasingly common in the US, but Latinos represent the fastest growing minority, reported Kaiser Health News. This population is at least 50% more likely to develop the disease than whites, and they are more likely to have a family member care for someone with Alzheimer’s rather than place the person in a nursing home. But using formal care services is now becoming more common among Latinos.
Government Sues UnitedHealth Over Medicare Scheme
A lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group alleges that the insurer overcharged Medicare hundreds of millions of dollars. According to Reuters, the lawsuit, which was filed in 2011 but was just unsealed on February 16, claims the insurer depicted Medicare members as being sicker than they were. The Department of Justice has joined the lawsuit against UnitedHealth, as well as one against WellMed Medical Management, which UnitedHealth bought in 2011.
Evidence Shows Wearable Devices Don’t Result in Weight Loss
Wearable technology like Fitbit and Apple Watch, may be encouraging people to be more active, but they aren’t resulting in people losing more weight. In a column for The New York Times’ "The Upshot," Aaron E. Carroll, MD, MS, lays out the evidence from past trials that show people using wearable devices lose less weight than people not using these devices. These devices are good for improving activity over time, but not for losing weight.
Varied Access: The Pharmacogenetic Testing Coverage Divide
February 18th 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with the author of a study published in the February 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® to uncover significant differences in coverage decisions for pharmacogenetic tests across major US health insurers.
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STEER Data Open Door to SMA Gene Therapy for Wider Age Range of Children
March 19th 2025Delivery of onasemnogene abeparvovec into the intrathecal space was safe and effective for children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) aged 2 to 17 years, who had previously been shut out of receiving gene therapy.
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EMBARK Data Show Continued Improvements With DMD Gene Therapy
March 19th 2025Data from the EMBARK trial of delandistrogene moxeparvovec in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) show that benefits in functional outcomes, gene expression, and muscle imaging persist 2 years after receiving the gene therapy.
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How Access to SMA Treatment Varies Globally and by Insurance Type
March 18th 2025Posters presented at the 2025 Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Clinical & Scientific Conference show that therapeutic advances in treating spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) are not uniformly making it into the hands of patients who could benefit.
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