About the public’s health
Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of Smallpox Eradication: Finally, something to celebrate. Today, the WHO celebrates the 40th anniversary of the eradication of smallpox. “Smallpox is the first and only disease to be permanently eradicated worldwide. Until it was wiped out, smallpox had plagued humanity for at least 3 000 years, killing 300 million people in the 20th century alone, that is 4 million people annually.
In 1967, WHO launched the 10‐year Intensified Smallpox Eradication Programme to concentrate on endemic countries.” It is a model of a public health initiative.
HRSA Provider Relief Fund – General Allocation: Check this site to see the amounts healthcare organizations received under the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. The list is organized by state.
EUA Authorized Serology Test Performance: On the heels of the FDA announcement that it is more carefully evaluating SARS-CoV-2 tests, it approved 12 of them. This site provides the details. The problem is that predictive values (positive and negative) depend on the disease’s prevalence, which is unknown and can vary by geography. Check this site for the FDA calculator for predictive values given certain sensitivity, specificity and prevalence. It also calculates those values if you use two tests.
About healthcare IT
Congress must tackle patient matching amid COVID-19, says Pew Charitable Trusts: If we want to do meaningful disease tracing, we need unique patient identifiers. This problem is long overdue to be addressed and now has a compelling reason to finally resolve it.
About health insurance
Wide State-Level Variation In Commercial Health Care Prices Suggests Uneven Impact Of Price Regulation: “…we found that average commercial prices for inpatient and outpatient facility services were about double Medicare fees, while commercial prices for professional services were about 60 percent higher. Finally, average hospital revenue would fall about 35 percent if commercial prices were limited to Medicare rates, but this would vary widely by state. If Medicaid rates were also increased to match Medicare rates, hospital revenue would likely fall by about 30 percent.”
CMS Announces Final Payment Notice for 2021 Coverage Year: Lots of information about ACA exchange plans. One of the most controversial has been whether patients can count coupons for drugs toward annual deductibles or out of pocket limits. The final rule language is a bit confusing. It seems to say the insurer can, but is not obligated, to allow this practice. Here is the language:
“…we are revising § 156.130(h) to state that, to the extent consistent with applicable state law, amounts paid toward reducing the cost sharing incurred by an enrollee using any form of direct support offered by drug manufacturers for specific prescription drugs may be, but are not required to be, counted toward the annual limitation on cost sharing. However, we are not finalizing any change to the definition of cost sharing.”