Most Popular Stories
Featured Jobs
- Cardiology NP Needed 30 Minutes Outside Chicago
CompHealth - Northwest, IN - SIGN ON BONUS - NP / PA HOSPITALIST WITH CRITICAL CARE EXP NEAR ATL
CompHealth - Southern, GA - RN Director of Emergency Department-Eastern Pennsylvania
Comphealth - Eastern, PA - NYC - PHARMACY MANAGER - INTERNAL MEDICINE - FOR PRESTIGIOUS HOSPITAL
CompHealth - New York City, NY - Urgent Care NP / PA Wanted in Northern Montana - Loan Repay
CompHealth - Northern, MT
Events
- M3 Mobility Exchange
November 29-December 1, 2011 — Grand Del Mar, San Diego, CA - mHealthcon Conference
Dec 1 — Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ - Northwestern Online Master of Science in Medical Informatics Program
Paid Research Reports
-
Electronic health records: getting it right first time
-
Cloud Computing Adoption In The APAC Life Sciences Industry
-
Stakeholder Opinions: Ophthalmology - Leading brands under threat
-
Genomics, Proteomics and Metabolomics in Diagnostics: Market landscape, innovative technologies and future outlook
-
Healthcare Regulatory Update: The United Arab Emirates
-
Point of Care Testing: Evaluating the return to evidence based medicine, novel technologies and the competitive landscape
Free Newsletter
Free Newsletter
FierceHealthPayer provides the latest news about the fast-changing and heavily regulated area of healthcare reimbursement. Join thousands of healthcare plan executives who get FierceHealthPayer via weekly email. Sign up today!
Top Tags
California Blues won't cover controversial breast cancer drug
Blue Shield of California will stop covering the breast cancer drug Avastin as of Oct. 17. However, it will still pay for the drug if deemed necessary on a case-by-case basis or if members are currently under treatment with the drug, reports the New York Times.
The decision makes Blue Shield the largest insurer to stop coverage of Avastin. Three other regional insurers--Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield, Excellus, and Dakotacare--have already stopped covering Avastin for breast cancer, reports MedPageToday.
A federal advisory committee unanimously recommended in June that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rescind the drug's approval as a treatment for breast cancer based on two studies showing it wasn't effective and its risks outweighed benefits, according to the Dow Jones Newswires. The FDA hasn't yet decided whether to continue Avastin's approval and there's no timeframe set for when that decision will be made.
Regardless of the FDA's decision, Medicare said it will continue to pay for Avastin when it's used to treat metastatic breast cancer, MedPageToday notes.
To learn more:
- read the New York Times article
- see the MedPageToday article
- check out the Dow Jones Newswires article
Related Articles:
Blue Shield to stop denying coverage of autism therapy
Blue Shield credits $167M to customers, limits profits
Blue Shield's 'walkstations' help employees exercise and work at same time
Home | Subscribe | Advertise | Mobile Edition | RSS | Privacy | Site Map | EditorsTHE FIERCEMARKETS NETWORKFierceEnergy | FierceSmartGrid | FierceFinance | FierceFinanceIT | FierceComplianceIT | FierceHealthcare | FierceHealthFinance | FierceHealthIT | Hospital Impact | FierceMobileHealthcare | FierceHealthPayer | FiercePracticeManagement | FierceEMR | FierceCIO | FierceCIO:TechWatch | FierceContentManagement | FierceMobileIT | FierceGovernmentIT | FierceGovernment | FierceHomelandSecurity | FierceBiotech | FierceBiotech Research | FiercePharma | FierceVaccines | FierceBiotechIT | FiercePharma Manufacturing | FierceMedicalDevices | FierceDrugDelivery | FierceIPTV | FierceOnlineVideo | FierceTelecom | FierceEnterpriseCommunications | FierceBroadbandWireless | FierceDeveloper | FierceMobileContent | FierceWireless | FierceWireless:Europe | FierceCable© 2011 FierceMarkets. All rights reserved. |