On a recent earnings call, Pfizer CEO Ian Read said he expects the rebates drugmakers pay to pharmacy benefit managers to go away. Of course, as
Stat News
points out, the extent to which this will come to pass—or whether it happens at all—remains to be seen. However, the Health and Human Services’ blueprint for cutting drug costs would at least restrict, if not end, the use of the controversial rebates.
(
Stat News
)
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Next year, consumers may be able to obtain certain prescription medications—including cholesterol-lowering drugs—without seeing a doctor. The FDA recently issued a draft guideline outlining such a strategy; the agency says it could help lower drug costs. The move is
not
expected to lower the bar for moving prescription drugs to over-the-counter status.
(
Employee Benefit Advisor
)
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Innovation & Transformation
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The FCC is seeking input on a $100 million telehealth pilot to improve access for low-income patients. The Connected Care Pilot Program “is about identifying patient groups that are predominantly low-income patients, and how we support the deployment of telehealth directly to them where they are," FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told
FierceHealthcare
. “There’s no shortage of patient populations that could benefit from this; a lot of times they just need additional funding on the connection to get it across the finish line.”
(
FierceHealthcare
;
notice
)
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Young people (ages 14 to 22) use the internet to gather health information, find community and connect with providers, according to
Digital Health Practices, Social Media Use and Mental Well-Being Among Teens and Young Adults in the U.S
., sponsored by Hopelab and Well Being Trust. Among the findings: 87 percent report looking for health information online—most often about fitness, nutrition, stress, anxiety and depression; 64 percent have used health-related mobile apps; and 39 percent have gone online to find people with health conditions similar to their own.
(
Digital Health Practices report
;
Deseret News
)
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The growth of ACOs appears to be associated with a reduction in physician work hours and self-employment, according to research published in
JAMA Network Open
. The strongest association between ACO growth and self-employment was found among older physicians. “It is possible that older physicians are shifting to employment and selling their practices to hospitals to receive retirement benefits. Such retirement could fuel further increases in ACO employment in the short run, but in the long run could raise questions about availability of physicians in ACOs,” researchers speculate.
(
JAMA Network Open
)
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Apathy was tied to a heightened risk for dementia in older adults, according to research published in
JAMA Psychiatry
. The findings weren’t all that surprising, lead author Jan Willem van Dalen, MPhil, told
MedPage Today
. Previous research has shown that “apathy is one of the most pervasive symptoms in mild cognitive impairment and early dementia.” He points out that while considerable research is focused on biomarkers based on advanced analyses, “relatively simple measurement of neuropsychiatric symptoms merits consideration as it is less invasive, cheaper, and easier.”
(
MedPage Today
;
JAMA Psychiatry
)
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J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon told CNBC that his partnership with Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett to improve health care for employees is taking the long-term view and will likely start small. “I'll remind people that Jeff Bezos, when he started Amazon, he might have had visions about the ‘everything store,’ but he started with books. And he spent 10 years getting books right.” (
CNBC
)
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MarketVoices...quotes worth reading
“The conversation has been about them but not by them, so we wanted to add their voices to the discussion. What emerges is frankly a much more complex picture of the relationship between social media and emotional well-being than we’ve seen previously discussed. Social media can be a lifeline if you feel alone; it can be a source of comfort when you’re feeling down—and that’s among teens who share they are experiencing moderate to severe depressive symptoms, as well as teens who are not experiencing depressive symptoms.”-- Susannah Fox, co-author of
Digital Health Practices, Social Media Use and Mental Well-Being Among Teens and Young Adults in the U.S.
, discussing the findings with
Deseret News
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Sandy Mau
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