About Covid-19
Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine protective, safe in young children: “Moderna Inc said on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine generated a strong immune response in children aged six to 11 years and that it plans to submit the data to global regulators soon.”
FDA review appears to pave the way for Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for children 5 to 11: “The review found that for four scenarios that were weighed, “the benefits of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine 2-dose primary series clearly outweigh the risks.” But in one, when the virus was at its lowest levels, there could be more hospitalizations related to a rare heart side effect associated with the vaccine than the number of hospitalizations prevented from covid-19, the illness caused by the virus.
Even then, the review found, “the overall benefits of the vaccine may still outweigh the risks under this lowest incidence scenario”because of how hospitalized cases of the two conditions differ. The vaccine-related myocarditis cases have tended to resolve in a few days, unlike covid-19 infections, which can lead to death.”
White House: We don’t have ‘unlimited rights’ to Moderna vaccine recipe: Despite significant federal support…”The Biden administration has concluded that it lacks the authority to share details of Moderna’s vaccine process, two senior administration officials told The Washington Post, after a months-long legal review.”
US will require foreign travellers to get WHO-authorised vaccines: “Under the rules, which will take effect in two weeks’ time, anyone who has been inoculated with one of the seven vaccines authorised by the WHO will be allowed to enter the US by land or air. They include the Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines, which were developed in China, despite the lack of data about their effectiveness against the Delta variant of the coronavirus…
Children under the age of 18, people with allergies to any of the vaccine ingredients and visitors from countries where less than 10 per cent of the population has been vaccinated will all be exempt from the new mandate.”
Policy-makers at all governmental levels (in most places) in this country are trying to get everyone immunized with effective vaccines. How did this travel policy get approved???
EEOC Issues Updated Covid-19 Technical Assistance: “The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today posted updated and expanded technical assistance related to the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing questions about religious objections to employer COVID-19 vaccine requirements and how they interact with federal equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws…
The key updates to the technical assistance are summarized below:
Employees and applicants must inform their employers if they seek an exception to an employer’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement due to a sincerely held religious belief, practice, or observance.
Title VII requires employers to consider requests for religious accommodations but does not protect social, political, or economic views, or personal preferences of employees who seek exceptions to a COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
Employers that demonstrate ‘undue hardship’ are not required to accommodate an employee’s request for a religious accommodation.”
Senate confirms Biden pick to lead OSHA as vaccine rule nears: “The U.S. Senate on Monday voted along party lines to confirm California workplace safety chief Doug Parker to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), filling the post for the first time in more than four years.”
The Ridiculous Practice That Stopped Some Nurses From Working in a Pandemic: The article provides examples of how non-compete clauses are restricting nurses from practicing in needed areas.
HHS extends shelf life of Eli Lilly's COVID-19 antibody drug: “HHS has extended the shelf life of Eli Lilly's COVID-19 antibody cocktail drug for six more months.
The drug, a combination of monoclonal antibodies etesevimab and bamlanivimab, can now be refrigerated for 18 months instead of 12…”
About health insurance
Lower premiums, more choices on Obamacare exchanges for 2022 as Democrats battle to extend generous subsidies: “The average premium for the benchmark silver plan in 2022 will decline by 3% a month for the 33 states that are participating in the federal exchange, healthcare.gov, according to the report, issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
This is the fourth year in a row that premiums have dropped, as insurers are better able to price their policies based on enrollees' health care needs and as the marketplaces become more competitive. The average benchmark plan premium is 10% lower for a 27-year-old and 9% lower for a family of four than in 2018, before subsidies, for example.”
In a related posting from CMS: Marketplace 2022 Open Enrollment Fact Sheet
10 ZIP codes with the highest uninsured rates: FYI
Aetna to shift to digital payments, remittances by September 2022: “Aetna has set a September 2022 goal to move to digital payments, remittances and explanation of benefits statements.
The move began last month, and the payer is encouraging providers to use its Availity provider portal for explanation of benefits statements and direct deposit or virtual credit cards for payments, according to an October newsletter.”
Coalition of employers launches PBM: “A nonprofit coalition of large, private employers has launched a new pharmacy benefit manager named EmsanaRx.
The Purchaser Business Group on Health, which includes nearly 40 employers, said the new PBM will increase transparency and flexibility for employers.
The group said EmsanaRx will address the "lack of accountability of the PBM industry to its employer clients, who largely lack access to information about drug costs, true discounts and administrative fees that contribute to huge profits…
The group said EmsanaRx will offer a fixed price per prescription and direct guidance from a dedicated clinical pharmacist account manager partnering with employers to design their own pharmacy network and modify their formulary.”
About the public’s health
Vaping marijuana by teens doubles in last seven years, with potentially harmful consequences, study says: “Marijuana vaping by school-aged youth doubled between 2013 and 2020, a new study found, with reported use within the last 30 days rising seven-fold during the same time period.”
Trends in Mortality Among Pregnant and Recently Pregnant Women in the US, 2015-2019: “All-cause mortality rates for recently pregnant women increased 4.4% annually from 2015 to 2019, mostly attributable to causes other than pregnancy-specific complications, including drug/alcohol poisoning, and the APCs for all-cause and drug/alcohol poisoning mortality rates were greater for recently pregnant women than for the total female population of childbearing age.”
About hospitals and health systems
FTC tightens reins on merger control: 6 things to know: “The Federal Trade Commission announced Oct. 25 it is restoring its practice of requiring companies that previously pursued an anticompetitive merger to get prior approval for future transactions.”
For example: “The FTC is reinstating the prior approval practice after the commission voted in July to repeal a 1995 policy statement that prevented the agency from imposing these merger restrictions.”
UHS grows to 360 hospitals, posts $218M profit in Q3: “King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services reported higher revenue but a lower profit in the third quarter of 2021.
The hospital chain's revenues increased 8.4 percent year over year to $3.2 billion in the third quarter of this year. The company's 360 acute care and behavioral health hospitals contributed to the growth.”
Non-Covid-19 related care contributed to the revenue growth.
About diagnostics
FDA Designates Biological Dynamics’ Pancreatic Cancer Test a Breakthrough Device: “he FDA has designated Biological Dynamics’ liquid biopsy assay, Exo-PDAC (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma), as a breakthrough device.
The assay is designed to detect PDAC, an aggressive and lethal form of cancer early in the course of the disease in high-risk adults.”
About healthcare IT
Amazon’s Latest Healthcare Venture: Bringing Alexa To The Patient’s Bedside: “Amazon announced its latest venture: integrating and scaling its famous Alexa systems into senior living communities and large healthcare systems…
For senior living facilities, the idea is to develop a stronger sense of community and connectedness: the initiative aims to ‘tailor resident experiences by customizing community information like activity schedules and meal menus. Care team members can communicate more efficiently with residents using Alexa communication features, which enable them to make Announcements, voice and video calls, or send direct audio messages to other Alexa-enabled devices throughout the property.’
For hospital systems, efficiency and communication are key factors: ‘patients can communicate with their care staff, control devices in their room, or stay informed and entertained with news and music, just by asking Alexa. Healthcare providers can communicate with patients quickly and easily with features like calling and Drop In—without the need to enter patient rooms. This enables hospitals to increase productivity, conserve medical supplies and protective equipment, such as masks, gloves, and gowns, and free up staff time to provide more personalized care.’”