Articles from Global Healthy Living Foundation

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) announced today the launch of Your Interactive Patient Guide to Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS), a groundbreaking resource designed to empower individuals living with HS. This innovative guide simplifies the complex journey of managing HS by providing patients with personalized tools and actionable advice to take control of their health.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF), a digital patient advocacy organization focused on chronic disease management, today released the results of a recent poll examining attitudes toward vaccines among individuals living with chronic conditions. The survey, conducted in December of 2024, underscores growing concerns about vaccine hesitancy, misinformation, and vaccine access, particularly in vulnerable populations.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) is excited to present innovative and transformative research at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence 2024 in Washington DC. This marks GHLF’s ninth consecutive year presenting at ACR, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of PatientSpot, the patient-powered research registry formerly known as ArthritisPower. This year’s presentations focus on approaches to improve care for individuals with chronic inflammatory diseases like polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and psoriatic arthritis (PsA), while also examining how emerging technologies can enhance patient outcomes.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF), a digital patient chronic disease community, announced Dress to Depress, an irreverent video take on reality TV series such as “Dress to Impress” and “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.” The video highlights an aspect of the complicated reality that chronic disease patients face when they visit their health care provider – how they choose to dress.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation Australia (GHLF Australia) is proud to announce its collaboration with The Bone Bus, an Australian traveling bone density screening (DEXA) scan service that is also dedicated to promoting lifelong good bone health through public awareness, education, and knowledge of osteoporosis.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) has released a new report titled “Challenges to Vaccine Access for High-Risk Chronic Disease Adults,” which uncovers vaccine access challenges faced by adults with chronic diseases. Despite zero out-of-pocket costs for eligible vaccines, many adults face substantial barriers due to restrictive policies and a lack of clarity in immunization policies.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) has released the results of a landmark survey highlighting the unique challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The survey, which gathered responses from 245 participants who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community and have been diagnosed with a form of IBD, uncovers critical insights into the health disparities and treatment gaps affecting this population.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) today published a critical policy paper authored by Robert Popovian, PharmD, MS, Founder, Conquest Advisors and GHLF’s Chief Science Policy Officer. The paper, titled “Challenges in Adult Vaccination: Policy Strategies for Sustaining Access and Supply,” details the benefits associated with the current vaccine access and payment model for adult vaccination in the United States. It highlights the potential negative consequences if Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) subvert the vaccine reimbursement landscape, which would in turn undermine the important public health role that pharmacists play.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) is proud to announce a significant leap in its mission to support individuals living with chronic diseases. ArthritisPower, a trusted disease tracking platform and research registry since 2014, has transformed into PatientSpot — an expansive platform dedicated to providing support through education, conducting patient-centered research, and amplifying the voice of people living with chronic disease to raise awareness about chronic conditions. The PatientSpot platform is now a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Class 1 medical device.

A groundbreaking study titled “Removing Barriers to Pharmacy Vaccination: A Path to Better Health and Lower Health Care Costs” has uncovered a tangled web of regulations preventing pharmacists from efficiently providing vaccines to adult patients.

The nonprofit Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) announced its collaboration as a co-founding member of the irAE Consortium, a newly formed collaborative effort uniting clinicians, researchers, and patients to tackle a critical issue facing cancer patients undergoing immunotherapy treatment: adverse reactions. Other co-founders include leading experts from Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General Hospital, the Ohio State University, Duke University, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Stanford Cancer Center. The inaugural meeting of the Immune-Related Adverse Events (irAE) Consortium is scheduled for March 7-8, 2024, at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) co-released a groundbreaking report that found a direct link between pharmacy reimbursement and flu vaccination rates among Medicaid-covered adults.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation and its digital, arthritis patient centered research registry, formerly ArthritisPower, will collaboratively present eight scientific abstracts and five patient perspective posters at the American College of Rheumatology Convergence 2023 (Philadelphia, PA, November 10-15, 2023).

ESI and CVS Health continue to expose hundreds of thousands of patients to the risks of taking medicines their doctor did not prescribe, according to an existing peer-reviewed and updated study, and new research by the Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF).

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) is thrilled to announce the launch of "Informed Immunity: A Guide to Vaccines for the Chronic Illness Community," a groundbreaking podcast dedicated to providing accessible and reliable vaccine information.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) is pleased to announce that Daniel Hernandez, MD, GHLF’s Director of Medical Affairs and Hispanic Outreach, has been recognized as a 2023 Fierce 50 honoree by Fierce Healthcare and Fierce Life Sciences. The Fierce 50 showcases 50 companies and individuals making a significant impact and driving progress in the pharmaceutical, health care, and biotech industries.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF), an international U.S.-based non-profit organization committed to improving the lives of people with chronic disease through better access to care, education, support, advocacy, and patient-centered research, has announced a new partnership with Darna Center, the Global Center for Gender, Race and Health Equity, a U.S.-based center with a mission to improve gender, race, and, health equity for women in Africa. Darna means our home in Moroccan dialect.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) announced a robust initiative this Hispanic Heritage Month that aligns with its steadfast commitment to health care equity and community engagement. The program aims to enhance the health care across generations of Hispanic communities by focusing on health care barriers, equity, health disparities, and both social and mental health implications.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) is the presenting sponsor of the Michael Kuluva New York Fashion Week (NYFW) Runway Show 2024. As a designer with chronic disease and a long-time active GHLF advocate, Michael is introducing his premier namesake collection at his first in-person, NYC show since the COVID-19 pandemic. Michael is also the designer behind the fun-filled Tumbler & Tipsy brand.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) today refreshed a free, interactive tool showing that state laws banning accumulator and maximizer clauses in health insurance policies have not increased the cost of health insurance. In nineteen states, to date, these laws protect patient assistance programs (PAPs) by requiring that the financial assistance given to patients count toward their co-pays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket (OOP) maximums. Set up as charitable programs by drug manufacturers, PAPs help patients afford expensive medications that might otherwise be out-of-reach based on the design of their health plan’s formulary and OOP payment requirements. Going as far back as 2014 and including the most recently available 2022-2023 data, the updated GHLF analysis and tool is for legislators, policymakers, and interested parties who value objective data to advocate for similar legislation in all states and at the national level.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF), an international, patient-centered, nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for people with chronic illness, today launched the HEROES (Health Education + Reliable Outreach + Empathetic Support) program. Created by, with, and for stylists, salons, and barbershops, with input from patients and health care professionals, GHLF’s HEROES program is a free platform to equip salon professionals to better support their clients with skin and scalp conditions. Evidence-based information about psoriasis, as well as atopic dermatitis (eczema) and alopecia, will be provided in accessible, easy-to-understand formats for both HEROES and their clients.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF), an international, patient-centered, nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life for people with chronic illness, in partnership with the Association of Women in Rheumatology and the AIDS Institute, will host on Thursday, March 30, 2023 a Congressional Briefing on copay accumulator programs, the focus of the HELP Copays Act (H.R. 830).

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) today published a new report finding an increase nationwide in people receiving vaccines at pharmacies compared to physician practices in 2020 and 2021. Data show that across all vaccines for adults (regardless of location, gender, or income), a large majority of the administration took place at the pharmacy level, with most COVID-19, shingles, and flu shots administered by pharmacists (as compared to non-pharmacy medical settings), with share of pneumococcal and adult HPV vaccination at pharmacy trending up, as well.

The Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) today launched a free, interactive tool that will provide legislators, policy makers, and interested parties with objective data demonstrating how U.S. health insurance premiums have fluctuated since 2014. GHLF analysis shows that, to date, there has been no statistically significant change in the rates of health insurance premium increases after the passage of state laws requiring that patient assistance funds count toward policyholders’ deductibles or out-of-pocket (OOP) maximum payments.

Today the Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) announced the launch of a new education module and campaign titled, Psoriasis: An Inside Out Disease, during August’s Psoriasis Awareness Month. It is estimated that more than 7.5 million people live with psoriasis in the United States. This chronic, autoimmune skin condition is often comorbid with diseases like psoriatic arthritis and metabolic syndrome, and many people with psoriasis can also have psychiatric and emotional concerns, such as depression and anxiety, substance abuse, and self-harming behaviors brought on by the stigma associated with the disease.

A peer reviewed paper published in Health Science Journal from the Global Healthy Living Foundation evaluating the 2022 national formulary of the second-largest PBM in the US found that nearly half (46%) of their 563 exclusions had questionable clinical or financial benefits to patients, meaning that prescribers are forced to select treatments that may have adverse financial or medical outcomes for their patients. The study also found that in some cases, the exclusions violate the core principle of a "formulary," where lower-priced generics, authorized generics, or biosimilar should be preferred over equivalent brand name medicines.

A peer reviewed paper published in Journal of the American Pharmacists Association from the Global Healthy Living Foundation finds that pharmacists can play a critical role in increasing vaccine access for people who live in low-income communities, particularly seniors, and reduce health disparities. “Accessibility of adult immunizations in pharmacies compared to physician offices in low-income communities,” finds that in communities with a poverty rate of at least 30 percent, the number of pharmacies is 15 percent higher than the number of physician offices and that pharmacies offer significantly more hours for vaccination compared to physician offices.

Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) and its digital patient community for people with all forms of arthritis, CreakyJoints®, is the primary, presenting sponsor of the 2022 Tumbler and Tipsy® by Michael Kuluva collection timed to close New York Fashion Week. Recognizing how our world has grown closer during the pandemic through the accelerated adoption of online video platforms, designer Michael Kuluva’s virtual presentation includes models – many of whom are CreakyJoints and GHLF members – from around the world. As a designer with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and CreakyJoints member, Michael recognizes the ongoing need for social distancing even with the introduction of vaccination to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

Today, the Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) announced a newly published study reporting that despite a well-intentioned investment of time and money to advocate, state-by-state, for protective, patient-centered step therapy laws, the resulting legislation generally protects less than 10 percent of state populations. Further dampening the impact of these laws are a lack of codified penalties, meaning that most of these laws cannot be enforced. The Health Economics Policy and Law peer-reviewed study titled “Do Patients Benefit From Legislation Regulating Step Therapy?” is the result of a Global Healthy Living Foundation analysis of the structure and language of step therapy laws in 29 states.