LISTSERV - PREMEDINFO-L Archives - HUNTER.LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU

Congress probes shady 'addiction brokers'

This morning, federal lawmakers are taking a closer look at the murky network of middlemen in the opioid crisis who are known as brokers. STAT-Boston Globe investigations have found that brokers lure patients struggling with addiction and send them to pricey, often low-quality treatment centers hundreds of miles from home. The brokers pocket a fee from the treatment centers — which, in turn, are often handsomely paid through fraudulently obtained insurance benefits. Today, officials from the Massachusetts attorney general’s office and state attorneys from Florida, where many out-of-state patients are sent, will testify before a House oversight subcommittee on addiction treatment fraud — watch here at 10:15 ET.

Aetna is rolling out no-copay Narcan

Aetna is announcing today it’ll no longer charge its commercially insured customers a copay when they pick up Narcan, the opioid overdose reversal medication, as of Jan. 1. Research has suggested that higher copays mean people are less likely to pick up a prescription, so “we want to do our part and make sure there is no barrier to access to Narcan,” says Dr. Dan Knecht, Aetna’s vice president of clinical strategy and medical policy. The waivers apply only to Narcan, not other forms of the generic naloxone, but Knecht says Narcan is the most widely prescribed version. Over the last nine months, Aetna has processed more than 1,000 Narcan prescriptions in its commercial and Medicare business lines. Aetna plans to extend the waiver to its individually insured customers later.

The healthiest — and least healthy — places in America

(America's health rankings)

It’s time for this year’s America’s Health Rankings, the annual report on the nation's health from the United Health Foundation. Here’s a look at the findings:

§ Massachusetts is this year’s healthiest state, followed by Hawaii, Vermont, Utah, and Connecticut. The calculations take a whole slew of factors into account, from vaccination rates and air pollution levels to insurance coverage and health outcomes.

§ Mississippi was at the bottom of the rankings, with Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, and West Virginia also in the bottom five. Mississippi and Louisiana struggle particularly with high rates of smoking, obesity, and poverty among kids.

§ There are wide variations in vaccination rates. Just 31 percent of South Carolina girls ages 13 to 17 have received the full HPV vaccine series that protects against cervical cancer, compared to 73 percent of their peers in Rhode Island.

§ Mental health providers flock to certain states. There are 547 mental health care providers per 100,000 people in Massachusetts. In Alabama, there are just 85.

The promise of CAR T cells

With the latest wave of cancer breakthroughs, scientists are proving that the most potent player in the fight against cancer may be your own immune system. With recent FDA approvals, the development of highly targeted CAR T-cell therapies is moving from clinical trials to standard of care.

Showing success in patients for whom other therapies did not work, the promise of the breakthrough therapy has imbued patients, clinicians and researchers with hope.

Inside STAT: The best and worst pharma CEOs this year

STAT's biotech writer Adam Feuerstein has picked his nominees for the best and worst biopharma CEOs this year. Some have played a part in an impressive list of 2017 accomplishments: a groundbreaking CAR-T therapy, the first drug proven to work via RNA interference, a big jump in stock prices. Others, not so much. Adam's letting STAT readers choose the winners — cast your votes for the best biopharma CEO here and the worst biopharma CEO here.

What can we do about rising drug prices?

Drug prices are front and center today on Capitol Hill, where the Senate health committee is convening to talk about soaring prescription drug prices. They’ll be joined by Norm Augustine, who led the National Academy of Sciences panel that put out a big report last month about what it’ll take to make medicines actually affordable. Among the report’s chief recommendations: The government should negotiate drug prices directly with manufacturers, deny tax deductions for direct-to-consumer drug advertising, and set an annual cap on out-of-pocket drug costs for people who are covered by Medicare. You can watch today’s hearing live here at 10 a.m. ET.

How to help type 2 diabetics cut their health care costs

Doctors stick to a standard guideline when helping type 2 diabetes patients control their blood sugar, but new research suggests a different approach could shave thousands of dollars off their health care costs in the long run. For years, the American Diabetes Association recommended that type 2 diabetics aim to keep their A1C — a measure of blood sugar levels over time — below seven percent. Now, they recommend coming up with a realistic goal for each patient that takes their medical history into account, though many doctors still abide by that original rule. But the analysis found the individual plan could help patients control their blood sugar better — and save them an average of $13,546 in health care costs over their lifetime.