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Rx News | November 22, 2013
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Employee Benefits Association of Northern Illinois
Rockford, Illinois
Dec. 4, 2013

 

National CooperativeRx is a not-for-profit coalition founded and owned by plan sponsors to achieve higher value prescription benefits through volume purchasing, clinical solutions, actionable data and unparalleled customer service. For your sales and marketing needs, please contact us at 866-679-9479, extension 223

Coalition News

Did you know November is
American Diabetes Month?

According to Healthcare.gov:

 

In the United States, more than 25M people are living with diabetes and 79M more are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

 

Over time, if it's not controlled, type 2 diabetes can cause serious health problems like heart disease, stroke, and blindness. You may be at risk for type 2 diabetes if you:  

  • Are age 45 or older
  • Are overweight
  • Have a parent, brother, or sister with diabetes
  • Are African American, Hispanic or Latino American, American Indian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander
  • Have had diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes)
  • Have had a baby with a birth weight of more than 9 pounds
  • Have high blood pressure or cholesterol
  • Exercise less than 3 times a week


You can do a lot to lower your chances of getting type 2 diabetes by:

 

  • Watching your weight
  • Eating healthy
  • Staying active

 

 
News You Can Use
Time.  According to a recent study, people who ate nuts more than 7 times a week had a 20% lower death rate after 4 years than individuals who didn't eat nuts. Nut eaters also tended to be leaner, more physically active, and non-smokers. (Sifferlin, 11/20)   Full Story

HealthDay.  If kids today were to race kids from 1975 in a mile race, on average they would finish 1.5 minutes slower.  This trend is happening worldwide as children are more overweight and exercising less.   (Thompson, 11/19)    Full Story

Industry News
Reuters.  Shares for Oncolytics Biotech Inc's lead cancer drug (Reolysin) went down 21% when it didn't show as much improvement in survival rates of patients with head-and-neck cancer as expected by investors.  (Dey, Goel, 11/21)  Full Story

Time.  According to a new report from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, worldwide, patients will spend $1T on prescription drugs for everything from cancer to heart disease by 2014.  Reasons for the higher spending are increased access to medication, new health care systems, and new drugs.  (Sifferlin, 11/19)   Full Story

Bloomberg. CSL Ltd., an Australian company, may have found a way to boost good cholesterol and avert repeat heart attacks.  The company is looking into their idea to extract good cholesterol (HDL) from discarded blood components left over from making hemophilia, and infuse it into patients. (Gale, 11/20)  Full Story

  


Health Policy Matters
Kaiser Health News.  About 4M Medicare beneficiaries now belong to an ACO (Affordable Care Organization), and more than 428 hospitals have signed up for either the Medicare program or a private ACO.  If an ACO can prove it's keeping the patients assigned to it healthier and spending less money to do so, it gets to keep some of the savings. This article explores how ACOs are trying to keep their patients healthier.  (Gold, 11/21)   Full Story