Peter Wehrwein, Managing Editor

The continuing resolution that passed last night does extend telehealth flexibilities.

The new, now-defeated bill eliminated the PBM reform measures included in a larger spending bill that the president-elect and Elon Musk torpedoed on Wednesday.

Spending reached $4.86 trillion in 2023, a 7.5% increase from 2022 The growth in spending on hospital care was the highest since 1990.

The 2024 Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute (PBMI) Annual National Conference was held Sep. 4-6 in Orlando, Florida. Managed Healthcare Executive is the official publication of the institute. Here is a sample of our coverage.

CMS has balked at covering vagus nerve stimulation for treatment-resistant depression. Positive results from an industry-sponsored randomized trial could break the logjam, although it may be several years before results are reported.

Dialing back doses of the two biologics saved $13.2 million over three years, researchers report at an American Society of Health-System Pharmacists meeting.

Authorities have named Mangione, 26, as a person of interest in last week’s fatal shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan. He was taken into custody at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania around 9 a.m. ET, officials said.

On financial toxicity, and when, how and by whom it should be discussed.

The Stanford medical school professor, the expected pick for the top job at the National Institutes of Health, has been a prominent critic of COVID-19 lockdowns and school closures.

Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H., as FDA administrator may be the least controversial of Trump's picks for the top healthcare jobs so far.

Kennedy's vaccines may give some Republican senators pause while Oz has an ally in Medicare Advantage plans.

Mehmet Oz, M.D., is another unconventional pick by Trump and is perhaps another an indication that Trump intends to let his HHS secretary nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., "go wild on health."

Breast cancer treatment settings prove to be a good opportunity to talk about financial toxicity. These conversations can also happen in generalized healthcare, according to Laila Gharzai, M.D., LLM, from the Department of Radiation Oncology at Northwestern University.

His critics say he anti-vaccine ideas are dangerous and not based on science. Kennedy says he just wants' "good science" about vaccines and that he will clean up corruption at federal health agencies.

Their results argue for a change to parity between small-molecule agents and biologics when it comes to Inflation Reduction Act price negotiation timelines, the researchers say.

Current financial screening procedures in the United States may need to change, according to recent research done by Laila Gharzai, M.D., LLM, from the Department of Radiation Oncology at Northwestern University.

Laila Gharzai, M.D., LLM, from the Department of Radiation Oncology at Northwestern University explains the concept of financial toxicity and how it affects breast cancer treatment outcomes.

The future of the Affordable Care Act looks cloudier but the hot topic is the role that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may play in the new administration.

Type 1 diabetes is a relentless disease, according to David Maahs, M.D., M.A., Ph.D., from Stanford University.

The rising popularity of the continuous glucose monitor, which is not the same as an insulin pump, has been a huge advance in type 1 diabetes treatment, according to David Maahs, M.D., M.A., Ph.D., from Stanford University.

David Maahs, M.D., M.A., Ph.D., explains why teamwork is the most important part of the 4T diabetes management program.

David Maahs, M.D., M.A., Ph.D., explains the role that teamwork, targets, technology and tight control plays in type 1 diabetes management and why it’s best to intervene right after diagnosis.

Changing the site of care to less expensive locations. and putting biosimilars are favored strategies, according to a survey conducted by the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions

Stephanie Graff, M.D., FACP, FASCO, director of breast oncology at the Lifespan Cancer Institute and author of Investigating the Salience of Clinical Meaningfulness and Clinically Meaningful Outcomes in Metastatic Breast Cancer Care Delivery, shares the reasons why she chose to study metastatic breast cancer patients.

There is a need for strict policies regarding the use of AI in the managed care space, according to Douglas S. Burgoyne, Pharm.D., MBA, FAMCP, adjunct associate professor at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy.

University of Washington’s Peter Rabinowitz, M.D., M.P.H., sees a world awash in emerging diseases and climate change data but says it needs to be delivered to clinicians in a form that they can use at the point of care, possibly via the electronic medical record.

Health plans and PBMs are using AI to aggregate data, summarize information and enhance their formulary decision-making processes, according to Douglas S. Burgoyne, Pharm.D., MBA, FAMCP, adjunct associate professor at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy.

Technology can help address the complexities of specialty medications by automating processes and enabling proactive interventions to ensure patients stay on their critical therapies, according to Kristen Whelchel, Pharm.D., CSP, Research and Patient Care Improvement Pharmacist with Vanderbilt Specialty Pharmacy's Department of Health Outcomes and Research.

The list includes dengue fever, chikungunya, leptospirosis and Valley fever, says University of Washington professor Peter Rabinowitz, M.D., M.P.H.