Do US commercial payers consider HTA and economic evidence when making coverage decisions?

That is the question asked in a new paper by Enright, et al. (2025). The authors use the Tufts Medical Center Specialty Drug Evidence and Coverage (SPEC) database current as of August 2023.  This database contains publicly available specialty pharmacy coverage decisions as issued by 18 large US commercial health plans, which—collectively—cover 200m people (i.e.,…

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Your Neighbor Has Backyard Chickens. Should You Be Worried?

If your neighbor is a backyard chicken hobbyist, should you be worried about bird flu? KFF Health News national public health correspondent Amy Maxmen answers that question and shares her reporting, on WAMU’s “Health Hub” segment March 5. The latest outbreak of bird flu has upended egg, poultry, and dairy operations, sickened dozens of farmworkers,…

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