In “Adult Conversation on High-Priced Drugs? Don’t Hold Your Breath (But Hang in There)…,” Rob Cunningham provided a summary of a recent event held by the Brookings Institution that examined the cost and value of biomedical innovation. The event focused predominately on the controversial price of Sovaldi, a drug that has a cure rate of over 90% […]
This week, several articles caught our eye: Amy Berman shared her own experience “Choosing Wisely” when she opted for a single dose of radiation therapy to alleviate pain from bone metastases, instead of a course of 10 treatments. The Kaiser Family Foundation reported that 89% of uninsured individuals polled are not aware that the next open […]
This week, coverage of the release of data on payments by drug and device manufacturers to physicians caught our eye. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the first round of Open Payments data as mandated by the Physician Payments Sunshine Act provisions of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The Sunshine Act […]
Several articles caught our eye this week about the complexities of our reimbursement system and the lack of incentives in our current system for the kind of care patients value and need – time with their physicians and help in coordinating their care among providers in a fragmented system. Coordinating care for people with cancer and […]
Emily Lee, a policy analyst at the Center for American Progress (CAP), spoke to us at the NCCS Cancer Policy Roundtable in April of 2014. Lee was a speaker on a panel titled “Bundles or Episodes of Care: Are These Payment Models Workable for Cancer Care?” which discussed the development of models for cancer care […]
In “Biggest Insurer Drops Caution, Embraces Obamacare,” Jay Hancock of Kaiser Health News reported on UnitedHealthcare’s decision to offer plans on the exchanges in 24 states next year, up from four states this year. Hancock writes, “The move represents a major acceleration for the company and a bet that government-subsidized insurance, sold online without regard […]
A PBS Newshour segment, “Pediatric Cancer Survivors Face a Lifetime of Health Challenges,” discusses the late effects and potential secondary cancers that survivors of pediatric cancers face. The piece puts a human face on the challenges with its profiles of Laura Allaire, an adult survivor of pediatric cancer, and eleven-year-old Samantha Schwarz, who is being […]
An op-ed authored by NCCS CEO Shelley Fuld Nasso and published in the Santa Barbara Independent today championed hospice care, the Medicare Care Choices Program, and cancer care planning for Medicare beneficiaries. Citing the common view that seeking hospice care is equivalent to “giving up,” Fuld Nasso notes that a flaw in the current system […]
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Founder
Northeast Regional Cancer Institute
“Perhaps one of the most impactful collaborations in Dr. Brereton’s extraordinary career remains his early work and long friendship with Ellen Stovall. Through him, and in turn through the thousands of lives he has touched, Ellen’s work continues, and her mission lives on.”
—Karen M. Saunders
President, Northeast Regional Cancer Institute