About pharma
Gilead sues US, claims it illegally acquired Truvada patents:Gilead Sciences has filed a lawsuit accusing the CDC of breaching several contracts to obtain patents for the intellectual property behind the drugmaker's Truvada HIV-prevention drug…
In the suit, filed April 24, Gilead claims the CDC violated the terms of a 15-year-old collaboration between the two parties by failing to tell Gilead that it would obtain patents on the research that led to the development of Truvada.”
About health insurance
Supreme Court rules government must pay billions to Obamacare insurers: In the early years of the ACA, the federal government had a “risk corridor” program to cap both profits and losses. The financial underpinnings, however depended on more profitable plans subsidizing those with losses. Since, overall, the program sustained more losses than gains, the federal government argued it did not owe money to the insurance companies.So the insurers sued. In the meantime, some smaller startups who needed the subsidies went out of business.
In an 8-1 vote today, the Supreme Court decided the government does owe the money.
Expansion of the Accelerated and Advance Payments Program for Providers and Suppliers During COVID-19 Emergency: “Beginning on April 26, 2020 CMS will not be accepting any new applications for the Advance Payment Program, and CMS will be reevaluating all pending and new applications for Accelerated Payments in light of historical direct payments made available through HHS’s Provider Relief Fund. Significant additional funding will continue to be available to hospitals and other healthcare providers through other programs.” This announcement is a huge change for the way CMS pays providers and it may be a while before it is reversed.
A Dozen Facts About Medicare Advantage in 2020: This article is a really good summary of the status of the MA program. “In 2020, more than one-third (36%) of all Medicare beneficiaries – 24.1 million people out of 67.7 million Medicare beneficiaries overall – are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans; this rate has steadily increased over time since the early 2000s.”
About the public’s health
Symptoms of Coronavirus: The CDC just updated its list of symptoms and signs of COVID-19:
Fever
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Chills
Repeated shaking with chills
Muscle pain
Headache
Sore throat
New loss of taste or smell
FDA greenlights two blood-filtering systems for COVID-19:”The FDA granted two emergency authorizations to blood-filtering devices designed to assist the distressed immune and respiratory systems of patients with severe cases of COVID-19.”
Trump team moves to scrap protections for LGBTQ patients:”The Trump administration is moving to scrap an Obama-era policy that protected LGBTQ patients from discrimination, alarming health experts who warn that the regulatory rollback could harm vulnerable people during a pandemic.”
HHS is “close to finalizing its long-developing rewrite of Obamacare’s Section 1557 provision, which barred health care discrimination based on sex and gender identity.”
Total and High-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in Adults: United States, 2015–2018: Finally, some good news: “High total cholesterol prevalence declined from 1999–2000 to 2017–2018. Low HDL-C prevalence declined from 2007–2008 to 2017–2018.” The prevalence of high cholesterol in the total population declined about 8% in that time.
Ninety-seven million Vietnamese people escape death from Coronavirus: While these data are “unaudited,” if true they provide insight into what can be done with an aggressive, early response to a pandemic.
Coffee consumption and mortality from cardiovascular diseases and total mortality: Does the brewing method matter?: Bottom line: “Unfiltered brew [such as espresso, boiled coffees and coffee made with a French press] is associated with higher mortality than filtered brew, and filtered brew was associated with lower mortality than no coffee consumption.”
About healthcare IT
IBM Rapid Supplier Connect: Emergency supplier onboarding and inventory availability: “IBM Rapid Supplier Connect makes it possible for buyers and suppliers – including non-traditional suppliers joining the fight to help keep hospitals and key support organizations ready – to quickly find each other, accelerate verification and onboarding processes, and gain near real-time insights into inventories of life-saving equipment. It combines a scalable blockchain for business network, proven supply chain solutions, and a network of dedicated industry and technical experts.”
And just interesting
Billionaire Bonanza 2020: Wealth Windfalls, Tumbling Taxes, and Pandemic Profiteers: “Between March 18 and April 10, as the U.S. employment rate approached 15 percent, the combined wealth of America’s billionaires increased by $282 billion — nearly a 10 percent increase. After a brief decline, the combined wealth of U.S. billionaires is greater than their 2019 levels.”