About the public’s health
The coronavirus pandemic has caused nearly 300,000 more deaths than expected in a typical year: An update. “The CDC said the novel coronavirus, which causes covid-19, has taken a disproportionate toll on Latinos and Blacks, as previous analyses have noted. But the CDC also found, surprisingly, that it has struck 25- to 44-year-olds very hard: Their “excess death” rate is up 26.5 percent over previous years, the largest change for any age group.”
WTO Holds Off On Waiving IP For COVID-19 Vaccines:”Member states of the WTO's Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights on Friday declined to take an unprecedented step to waive provisions of the TRIPS Agreement, a global treaty governing international property rights, according to Amnesty International and other civil society organizations familiar with the talks.”
Government watchdog to investigate allegations of Trump interference at CDC, FDA: The Government Accountability Office (GAO) agreed to launch the investigation at the request of several Democratic senators.
Volunteers to be infected with coronavirus in world’s first ‘human challenge’ trials in London:”Up to 90 fit people aged 18-30 will be deliberately infected with virus in effort to accelerate vaccine development.”
Harvard-CU Boulder Portable Air Cleaner Calculator for Schools.v1.2: This calculator tells you how to choose an air filter given the size of the space in which it is placed.
American Society for Microbiology Finds Shortages of Testing Supplies in Labs: “The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) has announced that its online data collection tool has found crucial pandemic supply shortages, including a lack of commercial COVID-19 tests and routine laboratory diagnostics in clinical labs.
Of the 117 Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)-certified labs running the tool, 73 percent have a shortage of commercial testing kits for COVID-19, 65 percent of labs have a shortage of nonCOVID-19 testing supplies for routine bacteria and 70 percent of labs are short on supplies for testing for sexually transmitted infections, ASM said.”
STAT-Harris Poll: The share of Americans interested in getting Covid-19 vaccine as soon as possible is dropping:”“Overall, 58% of the U.S. public said they would get vaccinated as soon as a vaccine was available when asked earlier this month, down considerably from 69% who said the same thing in mid-August. That change suggests growing concern that the regulatory approval process for a Covid-19 vaccine has been politicized by the Trump administration in the run-up to the presidential election.”
About health insurance
CMS: Average ACA plan premiums to drop by 2% in 2021 as more insurers join exchanges: “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Monday that the premium decline is part of a larger trend with the insurance exchanges, where premiums for the average plan has declined by 8% since 2018.” This prediction contrasts with the 1% increase that the Kaiser Family Foundation reported yesterday.
Hospitals Denied Full Court Review in Medicare Drug Pay Suit: “Hospitals objecting to a Trump administration rule that cut their Medicare payments for certain drugs by billions of dollars per year failed to convince the full District of Columbia Circuit to rehear the case.
In an unsigned Oct. 16 order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied a petition for en banc review filed by the American Hospital Association and several individual hospitals.”
Best Insurance Companies for Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans 2021: The ratings are from US News, based on Medicare data.
KFF Health Tracking Poll – October 2020: The Future of the ACA and Biden’s Advantage On Health Care: “The latest KFF Health Tracking Poll finds a large majority of the public – including majorities of Democrats (91%), independents (81%), and Republicans (66%), now say they do not want to see the Supreme Court overturn the ACA’s pre-existing condition protections. The share who do not want to see these protections overturned has increased by double digits from one year ago for each group.
Six in ten adults say they do not want to see the Supreme Court overturn the entire ACA, up 10 percentage points from one year ago. This includes majorities of both Democrats (89%) and independents (66%), but three-fourths of Republicans still want to see the entire law overturned. Overall views of the Affordable Care Act are slightly more positive this month, with 55% of the public saying they view the law favorably. This ties its highest favorability measured in ten years of KFF polling (tied with February 2020).”
Read the entire poll results.
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Healthgrades 2021: REPORT TO THE NATION: “The Healthgrades 2021 Report to the Nation analyzes the performance of nearly 4,500 hospitals as measured by risk-adjusted mortality and complication rates. The analysis shows wide performance gaps persist among hospitals…
Healthgrades’ recent assessment of 32 of the most common procedures and conditions in the country show that if all hospitals, as a group, performed similarly to 5-star rated hospitals, on average: 218,785 lives could potentially have been saved and complications in 148,681 patients could potentially have been avoided from 2017- 2019.” Much more information in this report and is worth reading.
About pharma
HHS lawyer: Trump’s drug cards could violate election law: “The health department’s top lawyer is warning in an internal memo that President Donald Trump's plan to give seniors $200 discount cards to buy prescription drugs could violate election law, according to three officials with knowledge of those legal concerns.
The lawyer’s objection, coupled with his advice to seek approval from the Department of Justice, is a significant blow to Trump’s hope to promote the hastily devised plan before Election Day.”
About healthcare IT
Nation's First Implant of Bluetooth-Connected Heart Device at St. Elizabeth[Edgewood, KY]: “The smartphone connectivity in this device is expected to substantially improve patient remote monitoring rates and patient engagement in monitoring. Research has shown that better patient engagement and compliance with monitoring translates into reduced hospitalizations, better clinical outcomes, and improvement in survival. The smartphone connectivity offers patients flexibility compared to traditional bedside monitors. The app allows easy transmission of data manually and access to device status such as battery longevity, all done in a cybersecure mode with enabled two-way authentication.”
American Telemedicine Association Partners with ORCHA to Launch Review Process in the U.S. to Ensure Patients Have Access to Safe and Effective Apps: “The American Telemedicine Association (ATA)… announced a new partnership with ORCHA (Organization for the Review of Care and Health Apps) to create a review process for the U.S. to enable healthcare providers, insurers, and employers to give patients access to safe and effective health apps. ORCHA’s automated, intelligent review engine allows healthcare organizations to assess thousands of apps against more than 300 measures in order to build and manage a health app program…
ORCHA has evaluated more than 4,000 health apps currently available in the U.S. against its criteria and found only 15% meet quality thresholds. Most apps fail to meet healthcare, security or usability standards established to safeguard patients. Such quality standards apply across apps for all health conditions, from fitness to heart conditions.”
Research Report: COVID-19 Pandemic Shifts Innovation Priorities at Health Systems: Telehealth/virtual care has become, by far, the highest priority. But only 20 percent said that they would continue providing these services if reimbursement rates returned to pre-COVID-19 levels.