- Center on Health Equity & Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
What We're Reading: Contractors Lose Insurance; Sickle Cell Gene Therapy; Common Ground on Medical Bills
Federal contractors lost not only wages during the 5-week government shutdown, some of them also lost health insurance; with advances in gene therapy, scientists are beginning to talk about a cure in sickle cell disease; there’s bipartisan interest in attacking the issue of unexpected medical bills, and the effort has been aided by President Donald Trump, who voiced support last week for protecting patients.
Federal Contractors Left Struggling After Shutdown Ended Health Insurance
Federal contractors lost not only wages during the 5-week government shutdown, some of them lost health insurance, The Washington Post reported. The paper detailed how 1 government contractor was unable to pay the $60,000 premium to CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, leaving employees and their families, some of whom have delayed medical care, with financial liabilities.
Gene Therapy May Cure Sickle Cell Disease
With advances in gene therapy, scientists are beginning to talk about a cure in sickle cell disease, The New York Times reported. In a half-dozen clinical trials planned or underway, researchers are testing strategies for correcting the problem at the genetic level. While a handful of the enrolled patients no longer show signs of the disease, it is still early in the course of these experimental treatments, and it is likely to be at least 3 years before one is approved.
Lawmakers, Trump Find Common Ground on Surprise Medical Bills
There’s bipartisan interest in attacking the issue of unexpected medical bills, and the effort has been aided by President Donald Trump, who voiced support last week for protecting patients, The Hill reported. The effort faces obstacles from powerful healthcare industry groups, which want to ensure that they avoid a financial hit from whatever solution lawmakers and the White House put forth.
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.
Read More
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.
Listen
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.
Listen
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.
Read More
