National Health Care Spending In 2020: Growth Driven By Federal Spending In Response To The COVID-19 Pandemic: This annual article in Health Affairs (subscription only) is well-worth reading. Below is the abstract:
”US health care spending increased 9.7 percent to reach $4.1 trillion in 2020, a much faster rate than the 4.3 percent increase seen in 2019. The acceleration in 2020 was due to a 36.0 percent increase in federal expenditures for health care that occurred largely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, gross domestic product declined 2.2 percent, and the share of the economy devoted to health care spending spiked, reaching 19.7 percent. In 2020 the number of uninsured people fell, while at the same time there were significant shifts in types of coverage.”
About Covid-19
15 sobering stats that tell the tale of the coronavirus in the U.S.: An excellent summary of where we are now with respect to the Covid-19 pandemic. For example:
“1 in 420: The number of Americans who have died of the coronavirus.”
1 in 100 people over age 65 have dies from the virus
4th COVID shots likely soon for some immunocompromised Israelis, says top doc: “Some immunocompromised people in Israel are likely to be offered a fourth COVID-19 vaccine shot within weeks, according to a member of the government’s pandemic advisory panel, The Times of Israel reported.
Galia Rahav, head of Sheba Medical Center’s Infectious Disease Unit, on Tuesday said that while fourth shots for the general population have been ruled out for now, her ongoing research underscores their importance for some.”
CDC advisers to weigh limits on Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of continued rare blood clot issues: “Vaccine advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are meeting Thursday to weigh possible limits on the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine because of continued blood clot issues, mostly in young and middle-aged women, according to clinicians familiar with the agenda.”
Alera COVID-19 Employer Pulse Survey, Part 3: “Since the last COVID-19 Employer Pulse survey was released in June 2020, even more companies have implemented formal infectious disease response plans, especially those with over 1,000 employees. Overall, 67% now have a plan in place, and another 18% are putting a plan in place now or are considering developing a plan, compared to 43% and 46% respectively. There are only a few companies that continue to not consider putting a plan in place.”
Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinician ambulatory electronic health record use: “Clinician time spent in the EHR per day dropped at the onset of the pandemic but had recovered to higher than prepandemic levels by July 2020. Time spent actively working in the EHR after-hours showed similar trends. These differences persisted in multivariable models. In-Basket messages received increased compared with prepandemic levels, with the largest increase coming from messages from patients, which increased to 157% of the prepandemic average. Each additional patient message was associated with a 2.32-min increase in EHR time per day (P < .001).”
COVID-19 can be a disability, says EEOC: “The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission released updated guidance Dec. 14 saying that a person diagnosed with COVID-19 can be considered to have a disability under certain circumstances.
According to the new guidance, a person diagnosed with COVID-19 who has mild symptoms that resolve in a few weeks without issue will not be considered to have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. A person can be considered to have a disability when their COVID-19 symptoms cause mental or physical impairment that ‘substantially limits one or more major life activities,’ the EEOC said.
The EEOC said that whether the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to individual workers will be determined on a case-by-case basis ‘that applies existing legal standards to the facts of a particular individual's circumstances.’”
4 most common symptoms of omicron variant: “The four most common symptoms of the omicron variant are cough, fatigue, congestion and runny nose, according to a CDC analysis of the first 43 cases investigated in the U.S.
People with COVID-19 can report a wide range of symptoms, with cough and loss of smell emerging as two frequent indicators of the virus.”
Omicron spreading rapidly in U.S. and could bring punishing wave as soon as January, CDC warns: “Top federal health officials warned in a briefing Tuesday morning that the omicron variant is rapidly spreading in the United States and could peak in a massive wave of infections as soon as January, according to new modeling analyzed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The prevalence of omicron jumped sevenfold in a single week, according to the CDC, and at such a pace, the highly mutated variant of the coronavirus could ratchet up pressure on a health system already strained in many places as the delta variant continues its own surge.”
HHS releases $9B in provider relief payments: “HHS is distributing $9 billion in payments to healthcare providers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funds will be split among more than 69,000 healthcare providers. HHS said the average payment for small providers is $58,000 and the average payment to large providers is $1.7 million…”
Risks of myocarditis, pericarditis, and cardiac arrhythmias associated with COVID-19 vaccination or SARS-CoV-2 infection: Bottom line- incidence of these cardiac problems is higher with Covid-19 infection than after getting vaccinated.
”Our findings are relevant to the public, clinicians and policy makers. First, there was an increase in the risk of myocarditis within a week of receiving the first dose of both adenovirus and mRNA vaccines, and a higher increased risk after the second dose of both mRNA vaccines. In contrast, we found no evidence of an increase in the risk of pericarditis or cardiac arrhythmias following vaccination, except in the 1–28 days following a second dose of the mRNA-1273 vaccine. Second, in the same population, there was a greater risk of myocarditis, pericarditis and cardiac arrhythmia following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Third, the increased risk of myocarditis after vaccination was higher in persons aged under 40 years. We estimated extra myocarditis events to be between 1 and 10 per million persons in the month following vaccination, which was substantially lower than the 40 extra events per million persons observed following SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
About health insurance
Goldman Sachs Projects Rosy 2022 For UnitedHealth Group, Anthem, CVS: “Goldman initiated coverage of 10 insurers, half of which received ‘buy’ ratings in the newest report: UnitedHealth Group, Anthem, CVS Health, Molina Healthcare and Alignment Healthcare. Another four were rated ‘neutral:’ Humana, Cigna, Bright Health Group. Just one, Oscar Health, got a ‘sell’ rating.
Goldman analysts Nathan Rich and Lindsay Golub wrote that they project 13% earnings per share growth for large-cap managed care organizations over the course of 2022 and 2023, more than double their expected earnings growth across the S&P 500 of 6%.”
Dual Eligible Beneficiaries Prefer Medicare Advantage Over FFS: “Dual eligible beneficiaries were more likely to choose a Medicare Advantage plan over a fee-for-service Medicare plan, a study commissioned by Better Medicare Alliance (BMA) found….
Researchers found that 44 percent of dual eligible beneficiaries were enrolled in Medicare Advantage compared to 35 percent who were enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare. Additionally, 23 percent of all Medicare Advantage members were dual eligibles whereas 17 percent of fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries were dual eligibles.
Dual eligible beneficiaries who were enrolled in Medicare Advantage were more likely to have a usual source of care compared to beneficiaries enrolled in a fee-for-service Medicare plan, the report found. Medicare Advantage dual eligibles received preventive care services more often than fee-for-service dual eligibles as well.”
Deadline time for HealthCare.gov coverage that starts Jan. 1: “Consumers seeking government-subsidized health insurance for next year have through Wednesday to sign up if they want their new plan to start Jan. 1.
Independent experts say HealthCare.gov’s sign-up season doesn’t seem to be drawing as many new customers this year — 8% to 9% fewer than last year — but it’s too early to draw final conclusions because deadlines drive much of the enrollment.
Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act is different this time because it’s an early test of President Joe Biden’s idea that the U.S. can get close to coverage for all by building on existing programs.
Wednesday is the first of two deadlines for HealthCare.gov coverage, with increased financial assistance available through Biden’s coronavirus relief legislation. The last chance will come Jan. 15, for coverage that takes effect Feb. 1.”
About the public’s health
Screening for Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes in Children and Adolescents: For asymptomatic children and adolescents younger than age 18 years, the “USPSTF concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening for type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents.”
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