Trending News Today: ACA Withdrawals Could Create Insurance Monopoly

Aetna’s withdrawal from Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges last week along, with other earlier insurer withdrawals, could potentially create insurance monopolies. A recent study found there may be only 1 insurer in 31% of counties for 2017, according to The Wall Street Journal. Insurers that remain in these counties are seeking large premium increases, and consumers will have limited alternative options, according to the study.

Cancer researchers may discover new mechanisms behind the disease if they study “miracle” patients, who respond extremely well to an experimental treatment, which deviates from the normal response. These patients are often overlooked, but their genes could hold new information that leads to a more effective treatment, The Washington Post reported. By sequencing the genomes of these patients, traditional patients could also benefit, the article noted.

Collaboration between different medical schools within a campus could promote teamwork and train different healthcare workers to work together, according to NPR. Since healthcare is largely a team effort, it is beneficial to introduce them earlier in the training process. By collaborating early on in medical training, healthcare providers from all fields can catch a glimpse of what it would be like once in a hospital or clinical setting.