A long-anticipated draft of federal guidelines on circumcision was released on Tuesday, and it turns out that the health benefits of the procedure are clear, and health insurers should ideally pay for it.
This isn’t to say that there will be any sort of requirement in play. The procedure is a personal choice and is very involved with religious and cultural perspectives.
Although, some people protest against the practice and argue that there are health and physical repercussions, it seems that some of the benefits are apparent.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
“The scientific evidence is clear that the benefits outweigh the risks,” said the CDC’s Dr. Jonathan Mermin, who oversees the agency’s programs on HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
The first federal guidelines indicate that circumcision can decrease a male’s risk of sexually-transmitted diseases, penile cancer and even urinary tract infections. But they aren’t totally in action yet. For the next 45 days, the CDC will receive public comment before finalizing them next year.
The CDC started a major focus on the guidelines about seven years ago, when a cluster of influential studies in Africa indicated circumcision might help stop spread of the AIDS virus.
Part of the motivation for this research comes from the fact that the procedure is less common today than previously, partially because of insurance coverage.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
A wave of state Medicaid programs stopped paying for newborn circumcisions, which cost roughly $150 to $200. The list eventually rose to 18 states, according to CDC numbers. By 2010 the newborn circumcision rate was down to about 58 percent, according to one CDC estimate.
The thought process behind these new guidelines show that there are very specific benefits to the procedure:
—Cut a man’s risk of getting HIV from an infected female partner by 50 to 60 percent.
—Reduce their risk of genital herpes and certain strains of human papillomavirus by 30 percent or more.
—Lower the odds of urinary tract infections during infancy, and cancer of the penis in adulthood.
