A new, more conservative plan to stabilize the Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s insurance markets will compete with the bipartisan legislation proposed in the Senate. According to Reuters, the plan from Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Representative Kevin Brady, R-Texas, would guarantee subsidy payments to insurers, but would repeal the individual and employer mandates. It would also include abortion restrictions. While the bipartisan bill introduced earlier is expected to have 60 votes in the Senate, it is unclear if it could pass the House or if the president would sign it into law if it reached his desk.The request for a special fund to help stabilize Massachusetts insurance rates has been rejected by the federal government. The state wants to use the fund to prevent a spike in premiums and argued that it could save the federal government money, reported The Boston Globe. Although CMS denied the waiver on the grounds that there was not enough time to carry out the request, the state plans to consider filing the request against next year. In the meantime, premiums for plans sold on the state’s individual marketplace are expected to increase 24%.A new statewide rule would ban the use of electronic cigarettes in bars, restaurants, and most workplaces. The New York Times reported that the ban is already in place in New York City and certain other localities, and the state already prohibits the use of e-cigarettes in public and private schools. In addition, other states, such as California, Connecticut, and New Jersey, have already added e-cigarettes to their smoking bans. New York’s law goes into effect in 30 days.
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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