Several articles of general interest by key thought leaders:
Addressing Consolidation in Health Care Markets
Vital Directions For Health And Health Care: Priorities For 2021
Health Costs And Financing: Challenges And Strategies For A New Administration: The article focuses on affordability, access and equity. Quality per se is not discussed, except a small section on value-based compensation.
About COVID-19
Johnson & Johnson seeks emergency FDA authorization for single-shot coronavirus vaccine: “Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson submitted its single-shot coronavirus vaccine to U.S. regulators Thursday afternoon for emergency use authorization after the vaccine was shown to be robustly effective against illness in a global trial — and especially at preventing severe disease and death.”
Burned by Low Reimbursements, Some Doctors Stop Testing for Covid: “Across the country, some doctors are seeing reimbursement rates so low that they do not cover the cost of the test supplies, jeopardizing access to a tool experts see as crucial to stopping the virus’s spread.”
Swiss medical regulator rejects Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid vaccine: “Switzerland’s medical regulator has said it cannot authorise use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine based on the available trial data…”
Data privacy startup Skyflow jumps into digital health passport market to help public spaces reopen: “Data privacy startup Skyflow is entering the health care space to provide a way for people to go back to public spaces amid the COVID-19 pandemic with a digital passport.
The company launched Skyflow for Healthcare, which consists of digital passports for COVID-19 and vaccination. Airlines, theme parks and government agencies can use the digital diagnostics and vaccination solution to verify if a person is safe from COVID-19 and ready to enter a public space.”
About pharma
McKinsey Settles for $573 Million Over Role in Opioid Crisis: “McKinsey & Company, the consultant to blue-chip corporations and governments around the world, has agreed to pay $573 million to settle investigations into its role in helping ‘turbocharge’ opioid sales, a rare instance of it being held publicly accountable for its work with clients.
The firm has reached the agreement with attorneys general in 47 states, the District of Columbia and five territories, according to a court filing in Massachusetts on Thursday. The settlement comes after lawsuits unearthed a trove of documents showing how McKinsey worked to drive sales of Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin painkiller amid an opioid crisis in the United States that has contributed to the deaths of more than 450,000 people over the past two decades.”
Roche hit by worst-case biosim assault—to the tune of $5.6B—as COVID-19 hurts new king Ocrevus: “Biosimilars to the three cancer megablockbusters in the U.S., EU and Japan put a CHF 5.05 billion ($5.62 billion) dent in Roche’s top line in 2020, the company said Thursday. The worldwide loss was about CHF 5.7 billion.”
Ken Frazier to retire as Merck CEO after 10-year run, handing the baton to CFO Robert Davis: “The only Black CEO of a Big Pharma company—and one who's spoken out about racial injustice and pandemic promises—is now retiring.
Ken Frazier, who has been Merck & Co.’s chief executive since 2011, will retire June 30, the New Jersey pharma said Thursday. He will continue to serve as executive chairman for a transition period that’s yet to be determined.
Robert Davis, currently Merck’s chief financial officer, will take the reins.”
About health insurance
A number of healthcare organizations issued a joint letter to Congress asking for an extension on the Medicare sequestration moratorium.
UnitedHealth Group CEO Wichmann to retire, Optum chief Witty named successor: “Wichmann has served as CEO of UnitedHealth since 2017 after first joining the company in 1998; he also was previously its chief financial officer.
Witty will take the title immediately and will join the company's board.”
Recall that before joining United, Witty headed up GSK pharmaceuticals fro a number of years.
About hospitals and health systems
Proposed Community Benefit Minimum Spending Floor Notification: Many states have a community benefits standard for purposes of hospital tax-free status. This announcement from the Oregon Health Authority sets a specific dollar minimum for five Legacy System’s hospitals: $252,951,639 for fiscal year 2022. This announcement is a call for comments before implementation.