About health insurance
New Study Shows Why the Coronavirus Pandemic is Leading Many Americans to Enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan For 2021: “Key Findings
35% are enrolled in a MA plan for 2021 because they’ve had it before and prefer it, 29% like the prescription drug coverage, 16% like the affordability, and 9% like the supplemental benefits.
Of those who decided on a MA plan because of supplemental benefits, 35% cited COVID-19 supplemental benefits specifically, while 27% cited telehealth benefits.
45% are switching from an original Medicare plan in 2020 to a Medicare Advantage plan in 2021.
Of those enrolled in a MA plan for 2021, 65% compared all of their Medicare options before enrolling, while 26% did a ‘brief amount of research.’”
Trends in Diagnosis Related Groups for Inpatient Admissions and Associated Changes in Payment From 2012 to 2016: Revisions in DRG payments are supposed to reflect more accurate severity of illness and resultant resource use. But according to this study. “between 2012 and 2016, the proportion of admissions assigned to a DRG with major complication or comorbidity increased for 15 of the top 20 reimbursed DRG families. This change was not accompanied by commensurate increases in disease severity but was associated with increased payment.”
Addressing Commercial Health Plan Abuses to Ensure Fair Coverage for Patients and Providers: This AHA paper details the problems hospitals face due to prior authorization and medical necessity denials.
But the fundamental problems are the fragmented healthcare system with selective institutional contracting and the perverse incentives of the fee-for-service system.
About healthcare quality
The Leapfrog Group Announces 2020 Top Hospitals and Pandemic Heroes of the Year Awards: The headline speaks for itself. Check the website for details.
About the public’s health
States are receiving vaccines based on the size -- not the risk -- of their populations: ”The overarching goal is to get the vaccine out the door as quickly and efficiently as possible — not to spend time quibbling over how to precisely allocate it based on the exact needs of each state.”
The threat of antibiotic resistance — in charts: This Financial Times review is an excellent global summary of the problem. The US has the lowest rate of antibiotic resistance, with Canada as a close second. The highest rates, by far are in Russia and Pakistan. Per capita antibiotic use are highest in Vietnam and Serbia.
UK preparing to study 'mix-and-match' approach to COVID-19 vaccination:”Rather than receiving two doses of the same vaccine, participants in the study will receive one dose of either BNT162b2, an mRNA-based candidate, or AZD1222, which uses a replication-deficient chimpanzee viral vector, followed a few weeks later by a single dose of the vaccine they did not receive initially.
Although late-stage studies have shown that two doses of BNT162b2 given 21 days apart have an efficacy rate of 95%, researchers want to explore whether the immune response can be increased by using this ‘heterologous boost’ approach.”
Genetic screens identify host factors for SARS-CoV-2 and common cold coronaviruses: “…we identified phosphatidylinositol phosphate biosynthesis and cholesterol homeostasis as critical host pathways supporting infection by all three coronaviruses. By contrast, the lysosomal protein TMEM106B appeared unique to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Pharmacological inhibition of phosphatidylinositol kinases and cholesterol homeostasis reduced replication of all three coronaviruses. These findings offer important insights for the understanding of the coronavirus life cycle and the development of host-directed therapies.”
UK probing if allergic reactions linked to Pfizer vaccine: “British regulators warned Wednesday that people who have a history of serious allergic reactions shouldn’t receive the new Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine as they investigate two adverse reactions that occurred on the first day of the country’s mass vaccination program.
The U.K.’s Medical and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is looking into whether the reactions were linked to the vaccine. The two people affected were staff members with the National Health Service who had a history of allergies, and both are recovering. Authorities have not specified what their reactions were.
In the meantime, the regulator has issued the warning for anyone who has had a significant allergic reaction to a vaccine, medicine or food. That includes anyone who has been told to carry an adrenaline shot or others who have had potentially fatal allergic reactions.”
New WHO campaign to help COVID-era quitters kick the habit: “‘Commit to Quit’ campaign will advocate for stronger national policies, increasing access to cessation services, raising awareness of tobacco industry tactics, and empowering tobacco users to make successful attempts through ‘quit and win’ initiatives, WHO said.
For instance, Florence, an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven 24/7 digital health worker, will tirelessly provide accurate information, help people make a quitting plan, and recommending help-lines and support apps.
The campaign will focus on twenty-two high-burden countries, where the majority of the world’s tobacco users live.”
Some States Balk After C.D.C. Asks for Personal Data of Those Vaccinated: “The Trump administration is requiring states to submit personal information of people vaccinated against Covid-19 — including names, birth dates, ethnicities and addresses, raising alarms among state officials who fear that a federal vaccine registry could be misused.” Compared to many other countries, including Canada, our country has a great distrust of government; these days, it seriously hampers public health programs.
CorVent Earns FDA Emergency Clearance for Multi-Patient Ventilator System: “The system provides primary critical care support and is designed to rapidly expand ventilation capacity in hospitals for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.”
Income-Related Inequalities in Affordability and Access to Primary Care in Eleven High-Income Countries: This Commonwealth Fund study is worth reading. Among the findings:
”More than one-third (36%) of U.S. adults with lower income have two or more chronic conditions — significantly more than in other countries…
More than one-quarter (28%) of U.S. adults with lower income said that, in the past year, they worried about being able to afford basic necessities such as food or housing, a significantly greater proportion than seen in other countries, where 6 percent to 22 percent reported this.
Half of U.S. adults with lower income don’t get needed care because it’s too costly. In the survey, 50 percent reported skipping doctor visits, recommended tests, treatments or follow-up care, or prescription medications in the past year because of the cost.”
About healthcare IT
Critical vulnerability makes GE radiological devices vulnerable to hacking: “A critical vulnerability puts more than 100 of GE Healthcare's radiological devices at risk of being hacked, with attackers able to access and alter sensitive personal health information.
Uncovered by cybersecurity researcher CyberMDX, the flaw involves default passwords found on GE's product management software and affects CTs, PET scanners, molecular imaging devices, MR systems, mammography solutions, X-ray machines, and ultrasound systems.”
About pharma
Changes in Drug List Prices and Amounts Paid by Patients and Insurers: “This study’s findings suggest that drug list prices more than doubled over a 7-year study period. Despite rising manufacturer discounts and rebates, these price increases were associated with large increases in patient out-of-pocket costs and insurer payments.”
An Aldehyde Responsive, Cleavable Linker for Glucose Responsive Insulins: “A glucose responsive insulin (GRI) that responds to changes in blood glucose concentrations has remained an elusive goal. Here we describe the development of glucose cleavable linkers based on hydrazone and thiazolidine structures.” Imagine a Type 1 diabetic patient who can take insulin that is bound to another compound. When glucose rises, the “free” insulin is released as needed to lower blood sugar.
This science could be a real breakthrough in diabetic treatment.
About healthcare IT
Android's version of the Apple health records app rolls out to 230 health systems: “The Android app CommonHealth—which enables users to access and share their health records, such as COVID-19 and lab tests—is now connected to 230 U.S. health systems.
By the end of this month, CommonHealth will connect to more than 340 health systems, according to a group of healthcare researchers and software developers that worked on the app.
The platform allows users of the Android operating system to collect and manage their health data on their mobile devices in a similar way that Apple Health Record operates on iOS. The CommonHealth project extends the health data portability and interoperability model pioneered by Apple Health to the 55% of Americans with Android devices, or 85% globally.”