About Covid-19
States with the Fewest Coronavirus Restrictions: Iowa continues its top spot on the least restrictive list. The most restrictive is Vermont.
J&J vaccine shortage to hit states next week: This shortage is the result of the manufacturing contamination last week.
About health insurance
More than a half million Americans gain coverage under Biden: “More than a half million Americans have taken advantage of the Biden administration’s special health insurance sign-up window keyed to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government announced Wednesday in anticipation that even more consumers will gain coverage in the coming months.
The reason officials expect sign-ups to keep growing is that millions of people became eligible effective Apr. 1 for pumped-up subsidies toward their premiums under President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief legislation. The special sign-up opportunity for Affordable Care Act plans will be available until Aug. 15.”
CMS Resumes All Hospital Surveys As COVID-19 Cases Lessen: “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced the immediate resumption of all hospital survey activities, including those related to Medicare compliance and patient safety.
This comes after the agency hit pause on the surveys while hospitals worked to mitigate the COVID-19 crisis.”
CMS proposes boost in pay rates to psychiatric, rehab facilities: 5 details:
—“ Inpatient psychiatric facility [IPF] payment rate. CMS is proposing to increase IPF payment rates 2.3 percent over this year in fiscal year 2022. This would increase total payments to the facilities by about $90 million, the agency said.
—Inpatient rehabilitation facility [IRF] payment rate. CMS is proposing to increase IRF payment rates by 2.2 percent in fiscal year 2022. CMS estimates this rate increase would increase total payments to the rehab facilities by $160 million.”
About the public’s health
Overdose deaths may have topped 90,000 in 2020: “Commonwealth researchers estimated the year’s total overdose deaths could have exceeded 90,000 — up from 70,630 in 2019. That would be the largest single-year percentage increase in the past two decades.”
About pharma
J&J Commits Up to $780 Million for Flu Drugs, Readies Itself for Next Pandemic: “Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen has agreed to pay up to $780 million for the global rights to Cidara Therapeutics’ Cloudbreak antiviral conjugate (AVC) candidates being developed for preventing and treating seasonal and pandemic influenza.
The collaborative agreement will see Cidara, a San Diego, Calif., biotech, handle the initial development and manufacturing of CD388, its long-acting antiviral immunotherapy candidate, while Janssen will be responsible for late-stage development, manufacturing, regulatory submissions and international commercialization. Janssen will also provide all future funding for the candidate.”
Did pharma overshoot digital sales rep calls? Study charts decline in effectiveness: “Last month, 44% of healthcare professionals said face-to-face sales visits are their preferred option for pharma promotions, according to the latest study from healthcare consultancy ZoomRx.
Even more encouraging for reps is that the face-to-face visits are garnering positive prescription intent—17% higher than before the pandemic began.
However, the bad news is that the opposite is true for digital interactions. Only 24% of doctors now prefer a virtual sales detail. Effectiveness, measured by Zoom Rx as physician likelihood to prescribe after a sales rep encounter, is also waning. It dipped to 50% in March, which is even lower than the pre-pandemic level, when six in 10 HCPs said sales rep meetings had a positive impact on prescribing the detailed product.”