About health insurance
Health Insurers Respond to COVID-19: A Survey: Contrary to previous reports: “Few insurers anticipate raising 2021 premiums due to coronavirus – 83% say they do not anticipate raising rates for 2021 in response to the crisis, while 17% anticipate raising rates no more than 5%. Eighty-seven percent of respondents offering Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans say it is unlikely they will leave the ACA market due to coronavirus.”
More than Half of Participants Likely to Leave Cost-Saving Medicare Program: “…almost 60 percent of respondents in risk-based models reporting they are likely to quit the ACO program to avoid financial losses stemming from the pandemic, and 77 percent of ACOs reporting they are “very concerned” about the impact of COVID-19 on their ACO’s 2020 performance.”
CMS delays new payment model for emergency care: “CMS has delayed the start date of its Emergency Triage, Treat and Transport model from May 1 until this fall…Medicare now pays for emergency ambulance services when beneficiaries are transported to hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and dialysis centers. Most beneficiaries who call 911 with a medical emergency are taken to a hospital emergency department. Under the ET3 model, Medicare will reimburse for transport to an urgent care clinic or primary care office, or for providing care in place or using telehealth.”
About pharma
The top 10 drugs by sales increase in 2020: The article gives each drug’s story and some manufacturer background. Keytruda is at the top of the list.
Death penalty states hoarding drugs needed to ventilate COVID-19 patients: In addition to reduced supply of opioids (due to problems with that class of drugs), here is another cause for shortages of medications needed to treat ventilator patients. “Nineteen out of 28 death penalty states use midazolam, vecuronium bromide, rocuronium bromide and fentanyl for executions, all of which are listed as being in short supply in hospitals…”
About the public’s health
US clears first saliva test to help diagnose new virus: “Rutgers University researchers have received U.S. government clearance for the first saliva test to help diagnose COVID-19, a new approach that could help expand testing options and reduce risks of infection for health care workers.”
More than 117 million children at risk of missing out on measles vaccines, as COVID-19 surges: “As COVID-19 continues to spread globally, over 117 million children in 37 countries may miss out on receiving life-saving measles vaccine. Measles immunization campaigns in 24 countries have already been delayed; more will be postponed.”
Retail scripts of vaccines, acute drugs decline sharply amid COVID-19 pandemic: The above article applies to the US as well. “…total prescriptions for drugs for acute use have plummeted by 28% since February… In contrast, chronic disease therapies are doing well, with weekly scripts even growing 2% at the end of March as compared with early February.
Within the realm of branded products, vaccines saw the most decline, probably because people stopped going to public spaces to address a disease they don’t even have [emphasis added]. Meanwhile, the autoimmune market, HIV and anticoagulants have so far experienced no impact…”
.The Occupational Safety and Health Act [OSHA] at 50: Introduction to the Special Section: The American Journal of Public Health's May issue has a special section devoted to the 50th anniversary of OSHA.
About emerging science
Large-scale proteomic analysis of Alzheimer’s disease [AD] brain and cerebrospinal fluid reveals early changes in energy metabolism associated with microglia and astrocyte activation: “A protein network module linked to sugar metabolism emerged as one of the modules most significantly associated with AD pathology and cognitive impairment. This module was enriched in AD genetic risk factors and in microglia and astrocyte protein markers associated with an an(ti-inflammatory state, suggesting that the biological functions it represents serve a protective role in AD. Proteins from this module were elevated in cerebrospinal fluid in early stages of the disease. In this study of >2,000 brains and nearly 400 cerebrospinal fluid samples by quantitative proteomics, we identify proteins and biological processes in AD brains that may serve as therapeutic targets and fluid biomarkers for the disease [emphasis added].”