Medical care
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Little is known about the effect of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) elimination of out-of-pocket costs for preventive services. This policy likely reduced out-of-pocket colonoscopy costs most for high-deductible health plan (HDHP) members. ⋯ The ACA was associated with improved colorectal cancer screening among HDHP members.
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High opioid dosage has been associated with overdose, and clinical guidelines have cautioned against escalating dosages above 100 morphine-equivalent mg (MEM) based on the potential harm and the absence of evidence of benefit from high dosages. However, this 100 MEM threshold was chosen somewhat arbitrarily. ⋯ A clear cut-point in opioid dosage to distinguish between overdose cases and controls was not found. However, lowering the recommended dosage threshold below the 100 MEM used in many recent guidelines would affect proportionately few patients not at risk for overdose while potentially benefitting many of those at risk for overdose.