About pharma
FDA extends pregnancy warning for common pain relievers: “Pregnant women should avoid a group of common pain relievers including Advil and Aleve for the last four months of pregnancy, federal health officials said Thursday, expanding the warning from three months.
The Food and Drug Administration said the fever-and-pain-reducing drugs can cause a rare but serious complication that can harm the fetus. They can lead to kidney problems in the fetus that can result in low levels of amniotic fluid that fills the womb.
The warning applies to a family of anti-inflammatory drugs that includes both over-the-counter ingredients like ibuprofen and prescription-strength drugs like Celebrex.”
Gilead questions WHO study that cast doubts on drug's COVID-19 benefits:”The American company told Reuters the data appeared inconsistent, the findings were premature and that other studies had validated the drug’s benefits.
In a blow to one of the few drugs being used to treat people with COVID-19, the WHO said on Thursday its “Solidarity” trial had concluded that remdesivir appeared to have little or no effect on 28-day mortality or length of hospital stays among patients with the respiratory disease.”
Pharma, take note: Millennials plan to spend more on meds, study says: “WPP's global media group, Mindshare, began surveying consumers in mid-March to find out what people were thinking about the then-emerging pandemic…
Overall, 77% of those surveyed planned to increase spending or spend the same amount on prescription medications.
However, when analyzed by generation, 26% of millennials—compared with only 9% of baby boomers—said they expect to increase their spending. It's not that boomers will spend less; 85% expect to spend the same amount. They just aren't likely to buy more. For comparison, 41% of millennials expect to keep their spending steady.”
About health insurance
Medicaid Enrollment & Spending Growth: FY 2020 & 2021: From the Kaiser Family Foundation:
“After relatively flat enrollment growth in FY 2020 (0.04%), states responding to the survey expect Medicaid enrollment to jump in FY 2021 (8.2%) attributed to the FFCRA’s MOE requirements and to the economic downturn that started late in FY 2020.
Across all reporting states, states were anticipating that total Medicaid spending growth would accelerate to 8.4% in FY 2021 compared to growth of 6.3% in FY 2020. Enrollment was the primary factor identified as putting upward pressure on expenditure growth in FY 2021.”
President Trump’s Medicare drug discount cards face uncertain path: “Three weeks after President Trump announced the government would send tens of millions of older Americans $200 to help pay for medicine, the election-season idea is mired in uncertainty over whether such drug discount cards are legal, proper or will ever exist.” Read the article for more details.
Georgia gets Trump approval for Medicaid work requirements, partial expansion: “The Trump administration has given Georgia the green light to partially expand Medicaid without federal support, and to impose work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries.
The plan announced by Gov. Brian Kemp (R) Thursday stops short of the full-scale Medicaid expansion supported by Democrats, which would cover thousands more low-income adults regardless of their employment status.
Kemp’s plan, called "Pathways to Coverage," would cover adults who meet the work requirements and who earn no more than 100 percent of the federal poverty level — $12,760 a year for an individual.”
The Potential Effects of a Supreme Court Decision to Overturn the Affordable Care Act: Updated Estimates: “Using projections of coverage and spending in 2022 that account for an anticipated partial economic recovery from the COVID-19 recession, researchers estimate overturning the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would leave an additional 21 million people uninsured.”
Blue Shield of California’s Innovative Drug Cost Transparency Initiative Provides $10 Million in Prescription Savings: “Knowing that doctors treat dozens of patients per day, Blue Shield of California first released a tool that empowers doctors at the point of prescription – while the patient is still sitting in front of them during a visit. Integrated seamlessly into electronic records systems, this tool acts like an online shopping cost-comparison engine, displaying appropriate drug alternatives along with the patient’s copay and the total drug cost for each.”
Appeals court skeptical of AHA in lawsuit over HHS price transparency rule: “A trio of appellate judges was very skeptical of the hospital industry’s arguments that a controversial price transparency rule set to go into effect in January should be struck down…
The rule requires facilities to post payer-negotiated rates for 300 shoppable services. The idea is to give consumers a way to price shop among different hospitals for certain services.”
About the public’s health
Global Burden of Disease: This link is to tomorrow’s special issue of The Lancet. A great topical review.
The Third Coronavirus Surge Has Arrived: We worried about the second wave of the infection. Now, this article from The Atlantic explains we are experiencing the third wave: “After a month of warning signs, this week’s data make it clear: The third surge of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is under way. Outbreaks have been worsening in many states for more than a month, and new COVID-19 cases jumped 18 percent this week, bringing the seven-day average to more than 51,000 cases a day. Though testing rose by 8 percent nationally, that’s not enough of an increase to explain the steep rise in cases. Meanwhile, COVID-19 hospitalizations, which had previously been creeping upward slowly, jumped more than 14 percent from a week earlier.”
About hospitals and health systems
47 hospitals closed, filed for bankruptcy this year: A list of the casualties (so far) due to the decreased elective care volumes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.