About health insurance
Advocate Aurora, Providence halt medical bills for coronavirus patients: The holding of bills is not only for testing but also treatment.
Insurers scramble to clarify what Trump meant during his major address on the coronavirus: The article has a good summary of the different payment policies of major insurers. Basically, waiving cost of testing and encouraging use of telehealth.
About the public’s health
Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, part I: National cancer statistics: Just-published data from the American Cancer Society. Obviously different stats for each cancer but:
“Although overall cancer death rates continue to decline, incidence rates are leveling off among males and are increasing slightly among females. These trends reflect population changes in cancer risk factors, screening test use, diagnostic practices, and treatment advances. Many cancers can be prevented or treated effectively if they are found early. Population‐based cancer incidence and mortality data can be used to inform efforts to decrease the cancer burden in the United States and regularly monitor progress toward goals.”
FDA approves Roche HPV test add-on for identifying women with higher risk of cervical cancer: “The FDA approved Roche’s diagnostic for triaging women whose primary cervical cancer screenings have tested positive for the human papillomavirus (HPV). The company’s CINtec PLUS Cytology test is designed to identify women with HPV infections who are most likely to develop cervical pre-cancers.
Roche describes the product as the first biomarker-based triage test in this area, with the goal of making it easier for physicians and patients to decide the next steps following an initial positive result, such as ordering referrals for further diagnostic procedures.”