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What We're Reading: Interstate Health Insurance; Secondhand Smoke and Kidney Disease; Gun Violence Research
CMS is requesting comment on eliminating regulatory and other barriers that may be impeding interstate health insurance; a study has found a link between secondhand smoke exposure and chronic kidney disease; House Democrats have renewed their push for gun violence research.
Trump Administration Looking at Interstate Health Insurance
The Trump administration is looking for ways to jumpstart the sale of health insurance across state lines, an idea President Donald Trump has often touted in the past. The Wall Street Journal reported that CMS is requesting comment on how to eliminate regulatory and other barriers that may be impeding interstate sales. CMS Administrator Seema Verma spoke in favor of the idea, saying Americans are in desperate need of more affordable health insurance options and that interstate sales could offer more competition and lower prices.
Secondhand Smoke Linked to Kidney Disease
A new study of more than 130,000 nonsmokers has demonstrated a connection between secondhand smoke exposure and a higher risk of chronic kidney disease. The study, published in the Clinical Journal of American Society of Nephrology, revealed that groups who had been exposed to secondhand smoke were 44% more likely to have chronic kidney disease than those who had no exposure.
Democrats Push for Funding Gun Violence Research
House Democrats have renewed their push for new funding for gun violence research, referring to the issue as a public health emergency. According to The Hill, if successful, it would be the first time in 20 years that Congress has funded research on on the issue. Last year, Congress included a statement in a spending bill that stated the CDC can study gun violence, but no funding was allocated.
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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