That is the title of a paper published today in Current Medical Research and Opinion with co-authors Nadine Zawadzki, Moises Marin, Ivana Audhya, Lauren Sedita, Natasha Kulkarni and Alexa Klimchak. The abstract is below. ObjectivesQuantify caregiver risk preferences to inform the “value of hope” for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) therapies affecting time to loss of…
Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, appeared on CBS News’ “Face the Nation With Margaret Brennan” on Aug. 31 to discuss leadership changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and vaccine policy concerns. Gounder noted that the departures of top officials and confusion over how to get vaccines affect the…
It makes sense to approach some marketing efforts with skepticism. Scams, deepfakes, and deceptive social media posts are common, with people you don’t know seeking to profit from your behavior. But should people extend this same skepticism to pediatricians who advise vaccines for children? Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said financial…
The Trump administration has given notice that political appointees, rather than scientists, will ultimately decide who gets grant money from the world’s largest biomedical research funder — the federal government’s National Institutes of Health. In an Aug. 7 executive order, President Donald Trump announced that political officers would have the power to summarily cancel any…
Public health and access to lifesaving vaccines are on the line in a high-stakes leadership battle at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to fire CDC director Susan Monarez is more than an administrative shake-up. The firing marks a major offensive by Kennedy to…
How does formulary restrictions impact health outcomes for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS)? To answer this question, Blaylock, Van Nuys and Joyce (2025) use data 100% Medicare claims data from 2018-2022 covering patients with both prescription drug plans (PDPs) and Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plans (MA-PDs). Individuals were categorized as above vs. below average formulary…
Amy Frank dijo que pasó 17 horas al teléfono durante casi tres semanas, rebotando entre su aseguradora y el sistema hospitalario local, para asegurarse de que el plan de salud cubriera la atención que su esposo necesitaba después de una cirugía. Muchas de sus llamadas no pasaron de la música en espera. Cuando lograba comunicarse,…
“So far AI in health care is being used to drive existing profits on workflows and increase revenue per event that patients in the end have to pay for. That’s not a win for anyone long term!” Included Health’s CEO Owen Tripp dives into the present and future use of AI, LLMs, patient self-triage and…
John McGing couldn’t reach a human. That might be business-as-usual in this economy, but it wasn’t business; he had called the Social Security Administration, where the questions often aren’t generic and the callers tend to be older, disabled, or otherwise vulnerable Americans. McGing, calling on behalf of his son, had an in-the-weeds question: how to…
Amy Frank said it took 17 hours on the phone over nearly three weeks, bouncing between her insurer and her local hospital system, to make sure her plan would cover her husband’s post-surgery care. Many of her calls never got past the hold music. When they did, the hospital told her to call her insurer….