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What We're Reading: Ky. Medicaid Case Begins; NIH Ends Alcohol Study; AAP Warns of Health Effects of Separating Children
Oral arguments were held in a closely watched case involving Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky; an advisory panel to Francis Collins, MD, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), recommended ending a controversial $100 million study looking at the health effects of moderate drinking; the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is warning that migrant children who are forcibly taken from their parents are at risk of long-term health effects.
Kentucky Medicaid Case Begins
Oral arguments were held Friday in a closely watched case involving Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky, Kaiser Health News reported. The National Health Law Program, the Kentucky Equal Justice Center, and the Southern Poverty Law Center are suing Republican Gov. Matt Bevin and HHS, arguing that waivers allowing work requirements lack the authority to transform a program designed to increase healthcare access into a work program. The state was the first of 4 to win approval for such a Medicaid waiver; close to a dozen other states are looking to adopt their own work requirements. The judge in the case said he would have a decision before the requirements are scheduled to take effect July 1.
NIH Ends Controversial Alcohol Study
An advisory panel to Francis Collins, MD, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), recommended ending a controversial $100 million study looking at the health effects of moderate drinking, and Collins agreed, The New York Times reported. The money for the study came from the alcohol industry and was solicited by NIH scientists, in violation of federal policy.
AAP President Warns of Harmful Long-Term Effects for Children Separated at the Border
The president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is warning that migrant children who are forcibly taken from their parents are at risk of long-term health effects, The Hill reported. Colleen Kraft, MD, said that children who have suffered such trauma and “toxic stress” have demonstrated links to asthma, obesity, and cancer, in addition to tendencies toward substance abuse, developmental delays, and mental health issues. The Trump administration put the policy into place last month.
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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