About the public’s health
The coronavirus isn’t mutating quickly, suggesting a vaccine would offer lasting protection: The headline speaks for itself.
COVID-19 Resource: From the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition. Included is the link to the Johns Hopkins University interactive global map.
Trump signs executive order to prevent price gouging, hoarding of medical supplies: “The executive order signed by Trump on Monday gives Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar the authority to designate certain supplies as critical, meaning those found to be hoarding or price gouging such equipment could face criminal action…”
About healthcare professionals
As coronavirus spreads, thousands of foreign doctors could be blocked from U.S. entry, group warns: This year more than 4,200 foreign physicians were chosen to do medical residencies in American teaching hospitals. However, because of COVID-19 concerns, the State Department has temporarily stopped issuing J-1 visas they need to work in the U.S.
About pharma
Eli Lilly pauses enrollment in ongoing trials, delays new study starts citing strain coronavirus placing on healthcare system: Another side-effect of the pandemic is that research into treatments for other conditions has slowed or stopped.
India investing $1.3B to cut dependence on Chinese APIs:”India, like other countries, has grown dependent on cheap active pharmaceutical ingredients [APIs] from China. With the COVID-19 outbreak having put pressure on prices and supplies, the country is now doing something to wean itself away from that API habit.
The government is setting up a 100-billion-rupees ($1.3 billion) fund to produce more APIs in the country…”
HHS Gives Liability Cover for Coronavirus Countermeasures: “HHS is providing immunity from legal liability for any drug, biologic, device, or vaccine approved or cleared to treat, diagnose, cure, prevent, or mitigate COVID-19.
Manufacturers, distributors, and healthcare providers will be exempt from claims of loss caused by or related to manufacturing, distributing, or using medical countermeasures, except in the case of ‘willful misconduct.’”
About health insurance
2020’s States with the Most and Least Medicaid Coverage: States are ranked using criteria of spending, quality, and eligibility and enrollment.
BCBS sues Walgreens, alleges 10+ years of overcharging for drugs: A group of Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in New York has sued Walgreens, alleging that, … since 2007… Walgreens inflated the prices by billing for inflated ‘usual and customary prices,’ or the cost the general public would pay for prescriptions without going through insurance, instead of using a lower rate that many customers can get through its discount program, called the Prescription Savings Club.”
Coronavirus could drive up insurance premiums for tens of millions of Americans, projection shows: Peter Lee, director of California’s individual insurance marketplace, said his organizations’ actuaries estimated that medical care stemming from the coronavirus could generate between $29 billion and $216 billion in hospital costs nationally for patients on employer-sponsored or individual market coverage. “Actuaries for Covered California, the state's ACA marketplace, estimated that patients hospitalized because of coronavirus would stay an average of 12 days, generating an average bill of $72,000…California’s $72,000 estimate for a hospital stay for coronavirus is considerably larger than what other analysts have projected. Kaiser Family Foundation researchers found the average employer-sponsored plan pays an average of $20,292 for hospital admission of a patient with pneumonia and major complications. The average cost ranged from $11,533 to $24,178, depending on the area of the country.”