About the public’s health
Federal flavor ban goes into effect Thursday, but many flavored vape products will still be available: “A nationwide ban on many flavored e-cigarette products goes into effect Thursday, but teenagers will still have access to nicotine vapes, experts say.
The ban covers a number of kid-friendly flavorings, such as mint and fruit, though menthol and tobacco flavorings will remain legal. However, the ban only applies to specific types of devices: cartridge or pre-filled pod devices, like the ones made popular by Juul. All other devices will be left on the market.”
Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule: United States, 2020: The headline explains the content.
Higher US Rural Mortality Rates Linked To Socioeconomic Status, Physician Shortages, And Lack Of Health Insurance: “Overall, higher rural mortality at the state level can be mainly explained by three factors: socioeconomic deprivation, physician shortages, and lack of health insurance. To a certain degree, these factors reflect a state’s health policies, such as expansion of eligibility for Medicaid, health infrastructure, and socioeconomic conditions.”
About pharma
Merck & Co. to spin-off women's health, legacy brands, biosimilars units into new company: “Merck & Co. announced Wednesday that it plans to spin-off products from its women's health, legacy brands and biosimilars businesses into a new independent company, with the transaction expected to be completed in the first half of 2021. Merck noted that it will retain its portfolio of key growth drivers in oncology, including Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and Lynparza (olaparib), as well as vaccines, hospital and animal health.”
The 10 most-valued pharma brands in the world: “Brand Finance released its annual report on the most valuable pharmaceutical brands.”
About healthcare IT
VA to open "America's first" all 5G-enabled hospital in Palo Alto this week: The headline speaks for itself.
About health insurance
CMS may force Part D plans to offer real-time pricing data to members: “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued (PDF) the second part of its annual Advance Notice governing Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D plans Wednesday. In it, the agency is proposing a requirement for plans to offer real-time pricing comparisons to members.
CMS last year finalized a plan that requires Part D plan sponsors to make that available to providers beginning in 2021. If the new proposal is put in place, Part D plans would have to offer real-time drug pricing data to members in 2022.”
Is this requirement really necessary when the healthcare.gov site gives members annual total costs for Part D plans?
U.S. government proposes higher payments to Medicare insurers in 2021: “The U.S. government on Wednesday proposed an average 0.93% increase in its payments in 2021 to the health insurers that manage Medicare Advantage insurance plans for about 22 million people aged 65 or older or disabled.”
CMS releases proposed Medicare Advantage rule: 5 things to know: Good summary of the MA proposed rule.
A Denver businessman wants to fix America’s health care system — by doing your knee replacement in Mexico: Thus program sends patients to a Joint Commission accredited hospital in Mexico. Physicians get paid more than their US rate; the savings come from hospital, drug and ancillary rates.
Treat Social Needs Like Patient Care: Health Industry Group CEO: Matt Eyles, president and chief executive officer of America’s Health Insurance Plans, said insurance plans should be able to count treatment of social needs as medical care. For purposes of medical loss ratios calculations, such items as transport to get medical care and food are considered administrative expenses.
Supreme Court to consider taking ObamaCare case this month: “The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in December that the [ACA’s] mandate to have health insurance coverage is unconstitutional, but punted the key question of how much of the rest of the law to strike down back to a lower court.” The Supreme Court previously said it would wait for the lower court ruling; now justices said they will discuss taking it up before then.
About emerging science
Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes: The “…Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Project performed whole‑genome sequencing and integrative analysis on more than 2,600 primary cancers and their matching normal tissues across 38 distinct tumour types.” This approach is very different than previous efforts to find small variations in genomes of cancer patients when compared to those who are not afflicted. The results were published yesterday in a variety of Nature publications (open access) that expound on the implications of this achievement.