About Covid-19
CDC expects Covid vaccine data on pregnant women in summer, kids under 12 in fall: The message is the headline.
100 Million Vaccine Doses Held Up Over Contamination Concerns, Firm Reveals: “The chief executive of Emergent BioSolutions, whose Baltimore plant ruined millions of coronavirus vaccine doses, disclosed for the first time on Wednesday that more than 100 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine are now on hold as regulators check them for possible contamination.
In more than three hours of testimony before a House subcommittee, the chief executive, Robert G. Kramer, calmly acknowledged unsanitary conditions, including mold and peeling paint, at the Baltimore plant. He conceded that Johnson & Johnson — not Emergent — had discovered contaminated doses, and he fended off aggressive questions from Democrats about his stock sales and hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses for top company executives.”
UK launches extensive trial of third booster shots of Covid vaccines: “The UK is laying the scientific foundations for giving third booster shots of Covid-19 vaccines in the autumn, with a wide-ranging clinical trial that will assess the effects of seven different jabs on people who have already received two Oxford/AstraZeneca or BioNTech/Pfizer doses. The new Cov-Boost study will ‘provide data on immunogenicity and side-effects to inform the government’s decision on whether people should be revaccinated later this year and, if so, which vaccines to use in what doses for different age groups’, said Saul Faust of Southampton university, the trial’s chief investigator.”
Access, not hesitancy, now biggest barrier to COVID-19 vaccination: “The biggest impediment to getting more people fully vaccinated for COVID-19 is access, not vaccine hesitancy, according to Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the Obama administration.”
It's official: Pfizer, BioNTech ink enormous deal with Europe to provide 1.8B more COVID-19 vaccine doses: “The companies made it official on Thursday, saying they will deliver up to 1.8 billion doses to the bloc through 2023.
Earlier this month, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen tweeted about the enormous deal, signaling that the mRNA shot had become the bloc’s vaccine of choice. Many of the doses under the new deal are expected to be used as boosters.”
Change Healthcare Launches No-Fee, Privacy-Protecting, Portable Vaccination Record: “Change Healthcare today announced the launch of its Vaccination Record solution. This digital solution gives Americans the ability to access a durable, security-enabled, and trusted record of their vaccinations and/or testing results to be used when and where they choose. The solution is based on the open standards designed by the Vaccination Credential Initiative™.
Vaccination Record allows vaccination and testing providers to quickly and easily provide their customers a security-enabled and durable record of their vaccinations, and allows those consumers to easily see, save, and share their vaccination information with whomever they choose. It allows authorized parties to verify that information, if allowed by the consumers. To bring this solution to Americans, Vaccination Record can be accessed on all types of devices, including feature phones, smart phones, and computers, and, like a boarding pass, can be printed for convenience. The record and the credentials are fully under the consumer’s control.”
About health insurance
Medicare Expansion Could Have a Mixed Impact on Premiums: A study from Avalere concludes that:
”Under an expansion of the Medicare program, individuals who turn 60 would be eligible to enroll in Medicare and forgo their existing forms of coverage or, in the case of the uninsured, newly enroll in health insurance. An expansion of Medicare eligibility, depending on the exact parameters of the policy, could lead to as many as 24.5M additional individuals receiving Medicare coverage… primarily shifting from some form of commercial market coverage.
Importantly, simply expanding Medicare eligibility does not guarantee premium affordability. The current design of the Medicare program could lead to some low-income beneficiaries—particularly those who switch from subsidized exchange coverage—spending more on premiums in Medicare than they currently spend. For lower-income individuals (e.g., those at 138% of the federal poverty level [FPL]), current exchange subsidies are consistently more generous than the subsidies available to Medicare beneficiaries. For higher income individuals above 400% FPL, Medicare can offer significant premiums savings relative to exchange subsidies.”
Texas sets public hearings as it tries to convince federal government to extend health funding for the uninsured: This story highlights the complexity and political nature of the Medicaid waiver process. “Last month, federal health officials rescinded the Trump-era extension to the 1115 waiver agreement — which Texas has had with the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services since 2011 and is up for review every few years — and ordered Texas to collect public input, as the agreement requires, while it renegotiates the new extension beyond its current October 2022 expiration date.
The decision did not stop funding for the current waiver, which will continue to provide $3.87 billion in annual funding for 2021 and 2022 to partly offset free care provided by Texas hospitals to the uninsured, and to pay for innovative health care projects that serve low-income Texans, often for mental health services.
The extension granted in the final days of Trump’s administration would have continued hospital reimbursements until September 2030 but allowed the innovation fund to expire.”
Digital health company Babylon acquires 700-physician group in California: “Babylon, a digital health company in London, recently acquired a Novato, Calif.-based medical group with 700 physicians.
Babylon said it acquired Meritage Medical Network in April, according to a May 11 news release. The acquisition comes as the company further expands its U.S. presence. Babylon said it now serves 100,000 Americans and recently announced new U.S. offices in Palo Alto, Calif. Business in the U.S. reflects 70 percent of Babylon's revenue.
The company uses artificial intelligence and virtual care services to provide patients with 24/7 access to information, health monitoring and clinicians through their mobile devices.”
Failed New York health insurer gets $220M settlement from US: “A liquidated New York health insurer will recover $220.8 million from the U.S. to resolve a lawsuit alleging that the federal government failed to distribute payments under an ACA program.
Health Republic Insurance of New York was a nonprofit health insurer that participated in a number of federal ACA programs, including its risk corridors program. Under the program, the government collected payments from insurers with lower-than-expected claims on the health insurance exchanges and made payments to insurers with higher-than-expected claims. However, the balances collected were insufficient to cover what insurers were owed.
Health Republic will use the settlement to pay all claims in full…
The settlement resolves a 2017 lawsuit filed by New York's superintendent in her capacity as liquidator of the health plan.”
JPMorgan launches healthcare company, Morgan Health: “JPMorgan Chase on May 20 unveiled its new healthcare company, dubbed Morgan Health, which its top executive told Becker's Hospital Review can be viewed as a continuation of Haven, an ambitious healthcare venture that recently disbanded.
’We learned a lot from the Haven experience,’ Dan Mendelson, CEO of Morgan Health, said. ‘The Haven experience focused us on primary care, digital medicine and specific populations. … You can see this as a continuation of the work that was started at Haven.’
However, Mr. Mendelson said there are several key differences between Morgan Health and Haven, the healthcare venture launched by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase in 2018. For one, it has a much more simplified business structure, as it is a unit of JPMorgan Chase. Second, it has a philosophy of striking partnerships to meet its goals rather than working from the ground up.”
I was skeptical about Haven’s success when it launched, mainly because of lack of insurance and big company experience of its CEO.
Now, a much smaller entity with employees distributed all over the country wants to get into the same business. Its success will depend on what “striking partnerships “ actually means. Morgan Health could certainly use the help.
Clover Health's stocks skid as startup insurer posts $48.4M loss in Q1: “Clover Health posted a $48.4 million loss in the first quarter of 2021, nearly doubling its year-over-year losses as medical costs jumped under the pandemic.
The startup insurer reported a $28.2 million loss in the first quarter of 2020, according to the company's earnings report released this week. Clover's stock values took a nosedive following the financial reporting, dropping from about $7.70 per share at 10:30 a.m. Monday to $6.82 per share at market close…
Clover executives said they believe its medical care ratio is often higher than competitors' due to its benefit offerings and lower out-of-pocket costs for members.”
Supreme Court review of appellate decision on site-neutral payments is unnecessary, HHS says in new filing: “The Biden administration has asked the Supreme Court to take a pass on an appeals court decision upholding the agency’s authority to bring Medicare payments to off-campus clinics in line with independent physician practices.
In a recent filing (PDF), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) argued opponents of the site-neutral payments policy, which is a long list of provider industry stakeholders headlined by the American Hospital Association (AHA), “have not identified any ‘specific prohibition in the statute that is clear and mandatory’ that HHS’ action contravenes.” Rather, the appellate court had correctly determined that ‘the reduction was a permissible exercise of HHS’ statutory authority,’ the agency wrote…
HHS’ 2019 Outpatient Prospective Payment System rule aims to remove payment disparities where hospital-affiliated clinics receive more Medicare reimbursement than physicians' offices providing the same services. Critics and studies have suggested disparity has helped drive greater consolidation within the provider landscape.”
Amazon Introduces New Mental Health Benefit for All U.S. Employees and Their Family Members: “Amazon today launched a new mental health benefit, Resources for Living, that provides every U.S. employee, their family, and their household with a single place to start for personalized, convenient, and confidential support for mental health and daily life assistance. These services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and include access to free counseling sessions in-person or through the phone, video, or text.”
Humana Taps NowPow to Address Social Needs for Medicare & Medicaid Members in Chicago: “As part of the partnership, Humana will leverage NowPow’s personalized community referral platform to help extend the digital infrastructure for its population health strategy supporting Humana Medicaid and Medicare members in Chicago. This effort aims to improve members’ health by meeting needs like food insecurity, loneliness and social isolation, and transportation.”
About the public’s health
US cervical cancers fall but other sex-related cancers rise: “Screening and the HPV vaccine have led to drops in cervical cancers over the last two decades in the U.S., a new study finds, but the gains are offset by a rise in other tumors caused by the virus.
Oral sex is helping fuel more cases of mouth and throat cancers in men. For older women, anal cancer and a rare type of rectal cancer caused by HPV may be more common than cervical cancers by 2025.”
Near-Complete Ban on Abortion Is Signed Into Law in Texas: “Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas signed into law on Wednesday one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion measures, banning the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy…
The legislation, also known as the ‘heartbeat law,’ amounts to an outright ban on abortion, as many women are not aware they are pregnant at the six-week mark. It also would allow any private citizen to sue doctors or abortion clinic employees who would perform or help arrange for the procedure.”
Merck, locked in next-gen pneumococcal vaccine race with Pfizer, strengthens its lead in childhood use: “Merck's V114 passed safety and efficacy bars in two phase 3 trials, the company said Thursday, giving it a timing advantage over the Pfizer rival. The readout sets the stage for Merck to submit an application for its shot in kids by the end of the year, potentially offering an edge over Pfizer, which doesn't expect late-stage pediatric data on its pneumococcal candidate until 2022.
In adult use, both rivals have won priority reviews at the FDA. The agency is set to make a decision on Pfizer's 20-valent shot in June and Merck's 15-valent candidate in July.”
About healthcare IT
Irish government says it will not pay ransom over 'significant' cyberattack on health system: “Ireland’s health service shut down its IT systems Friday to protect them from a "significant" ransomware attack the government said was carried out by an international cybercrime gang.
The country's health service, called Health Service Executive (HSE), posted on Twitter Friday morning that it shut down its IT systems following the attack in order to assess the situation with its security partners.”
Successful targeting of non-US healthcare entities is rare, if lack of reporting in the media is any indication.
About hospitals and health systems
FTC Too Busy To Scrutinize All Hospital Mergers, Sens. Told: “The Federal Trade Commission's hospital merger group is overworked and operating on outdated antitrust guidelines that make it hard for the agency to keep the rapidly consolidating industry in check, the Senate's antitrust subcommittee heard Wednesday. FTC employees often work 14-hour days and still have to ‘regularly pass on transactions due to lack of staffing,’ Brian Miller, an ex-FTC official who is now a Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor, testified. Some extra funding would definitely help, Miller told Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. , after she asked if additional resources would help hospital enforcement.”
Health system financial results for Q1: An updated list of financial Q1 stats for some major systems. The list mostly highlights the importance of non-operating income to the “bottom line.”