As social media grows, so too does awareness of cryptocurrencies. And hearing about them online may affect people’s behavior, according to a new study from the University of Georgia.

Giving people better data about their energy use, plus some coaching, can help them substantially reduce their consumption and costs, according to a study by MIT researchers in Amsterdam.

Rewards and financial incentives are successful methods to help people quit smoking, according to a new Cochrane review co-led by a University of Massachusetts Amherst public health and health policy researcher. For the first time, the researchers also found “high-certainty evidence” that this intervention works for pregnant people as well.

Offering rewards helps people to stop smoking, with success rates continuing long after incentives have stopped. 

A new study examining the use of high-cost drugs among patients with colorectal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer found those insured through Medicare Advantage received less expensive cancer drugs compared to others on Traditional Medicare.

The findings were published today in JAMA Health Forum.

"Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States and colorectal cancer ranks third. Gaining a better understanding of treatment options and their costs under different insurance plans is important for assessing the overall healthcare landscape and how insurances manage patient costs,” said the study’s first author Cathy Bradley, PhD, Dean of the Colorado School of Public Health.

The study found Medicare Advantage patients received less expensive cancer drugs, particularly for colorectal cancer, when compared to Traditional Medicare. But this was not the case for non-small cell lung cancer. The researchers found there are less low-cost treatment alternatives available, resulting in high-cost drugs regardless of insurance.

Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have found that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)—organizations that negotiate access to medicines for most patients in the United States—steer patients to use their own pharmacies. However, these pharmacies appear less used in Medicare than in other market segments. These PBMs are part of integrated health care conglomerates that own insurance companies and pharmacies, which may create conflicts of interest.