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What We're Reading: Public Housing Smoking Ban
What we're reading, November 12, 2015: nationwide ban on smoking in public houses could have a huge economic impact; CMS barrier to sharing patient records on drug and alcohol abuse; an urgent care—ED hybrid model could save unnecessary costs.
Would Public Housing Smoking Ban Improve Population Health?
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has proposed a ban on smoking in public housing homes as well as on common property in these facilities, nationwide. While tenants are already objecting, there could be broader health implications of the rule. A CDC study estimates that such a ruling throughout the nation could save $153 million, $94 million being healthcare savings.
Read more in The New York Times.
CMS Policy on Patient Privacy Is Creating Havoc
New rules from CMS eliminate hospital and physician records on drug or alcohol abuse. Analyzing morbidity and mortality trends is impossible in the absence of this data, especially in some states in New England that have been marred by the heroin epidemic.
Read more in The Incidental Economist.
Urgent/Emergency Care Hybrid Model to Test Health Saving
Centura Health, a healthcare network in Colorado, has developed a new hybrid model aimed to reduce healthcare costs. Four centers within Colorado will provide emergency as well as urgent care services under the same roof, but billing will be based on the actual services rendered. For patients needing services for non-life threatening conditions, urgent care physicians—whose services cost less than emergency care—will be in charge.
Read more in Healthcare Finance.
Varied Access: The Pharmacogenetic Testing Coverage Divide
February 18th 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with the author of a study published in the February 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® to uncover significant differences in coverage decisions for pharmacogenetic tests across major US health insurers.
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How Access to SMA Treatment Varies Globally and by Insurance Type
March 18th 2025Posters presented at the 2025 Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Clinical & Scientific Conference show that therapeutic advances in treating spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) are not uniformly making it into the hands of patients who could benefit.
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The Impact of Cost Sharing on High-Value Care
March 14th 2025Michael Chernew, PhD, professor of health care policy and director of the Healthcare Markets and Regulation Lab, Harvard Medical School, shares how cost-sharing policies shape access to critical health care services and influence value-based insurance design.
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