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What We're Reading: Annual Flu Shots Can Reduce Effectiveness of Vaccine
What we're reading, November 11, 2015: annual flu shots may reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine; Democrats call for changes to the so-called Cadillac tax; and Millennium Health files for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Annual Flu Shots Can Reduce Effectiveness of Vaccine
Getting a flu shot every year may not be beneficial. STAT is reporting that evidence suggests getting the flu shot repeatedly can gradually reduce the effectiveness of the vaccine. Scientists reported that children vaccinated annually over a number of years were more likely to contract the virus than those only vaccinated during the year they were studied. However, it is still better for people to be vaccinated than not vaccinated, the researchers say.
Increasingly Unpopular Cadillac Tax May See Some Changes
Democrats are open to discussing changes to the so-called Cadillac tax, which levies a tax on high-cost employer-based health plans and was passed as part of the Affordable Care Act. The excise tax has become increasingly unpopular with presidential candidate hopeful Hillary Clinton called for a repeal of the tax, reported the New York Times. The White House continues to defend the tax, which gives employers an incentive to make plans more efficient, but the Obama administration has not ruled out changes.
Millennium Health Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy After Federal Settlement
After Millennium Health LLC agreed to pay $256 million to settle allegations it billed the federal government for unnecessary taxes, the drug-testing laboratory has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, reports the Wall Street Journal. The federal government alleged that Millennium had billed Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs for medically unnecessary tests and encouraged doctors to order a broad range of tests instead of tailoring tests to the individual. The largest debt listed as part of Millennium’s chapter 11 petition was $206 million owed to the Department of Justice.
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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Higher Weight-Adjusted Waist Index Tied to Greater Mortality Risk in Patients With Osteoarthritis
April 23rd 2025Researchers consider the weight-adjusted waist index a more precise predictor of mortality risk in patients with osteoarthritis than traditional obesity measures, like body mass index.
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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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