About the public’s health
A LIFETIME OF DAMAGE: How Big Tobacco’s predatory marketing harms the health of women and girls: The title explains the article’s exposition of this problem. Most striking are the actual ads.
About Covid-19
HRSA to give nearly $5B to fund COVID-19 tests for uninsured: “The federal government will give a nearly $5 billion boost to a program that reimburses providers for testing uninsured individuals for COVID-19.
The program administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration will get $4.8 billion from the American Rescue Plan, the Department of Health and Human Services announced on Tuesday.”
U.S. to spend $4.8 billion to cover COVID-19 tests for uninsured Americans: “The Department of Health and Human Services announced Tuesday that it will spend an additional $4.8 billion so uninsured Americans will have more access to COVID-19 testing.
Money from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan will go to pay for the additional testing.”
Surveys of Trust in the U.S. Health Care System [post-Covid-19]: “The American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation commissioned NORC to conduct surveys of trust in the U.S. health care system…
Key Findings:
Trust in clinicians is greater than in the health care system as a whole
Physician trust decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic; rebuilding trust is needed
Physicians understand the importance of building trust with patients, but they do not always perform trust-building behaviors”
The entire report is worth reading.
C.D.C. Will Not Investigate Mild Infections in Vaccinated Americans: “The agency will carry out vaccine effectiveness studies that include data on breakthrough cases, but only in limited populations, such as health care workers and essential workers, older adults, and residents at long-term care facilities, a spokeswoman said.
Some scientists support the decision to focus on the illnesses that cause deaths, tax hospitals and overwhelm the health care system. Still, the move has been controversial.”
Effectiveness of Tocilizumab in Patients Hospitalized With COVID-19: “This follow-up analysis suggests that tocilizumab may be considered for treating patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19–associated pneumonia and high CRP levels. Further studies will help determine which patients with COVID-19–associated pneumonia would benefit the most from a combination of tocilizumab and dexamethasone.”
About health insurance
Emory University Sues HHS Over Medicare Supplemental Pay Ruling: “Emory University and three other hospitals sued HHS in federal court in Washington to invalidate a policy that, they say, effectively ends their right to contest the amount of supplemental Medicare payments they get for treating poor people.
The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia involves Medicare disproportionate share hospital payments, which providers receive to offset costs of treating people who can’t pay their share of the bills.”
About pharma
UK regulator probes $39bn AstraZeneca tie-up with Alexion: “Biotech acquisition has been approved in 10 countries including the US…
The Competition and Markets Authority on Tuesday said it was investigating the deal signed in December when AstraZeneca — a key Covid-19 vaccine producer — agreed to buy US company Alexion, a biotech specialising in treatments for rare diseases. The UK regulator said the deal had met its test for a relevant merger — meaning there was a risk that the two companies would cease to be distinct, and had met the threshold for the CMA to investigate. The CMA has set a deadline of June 3 to receive views from interested parties and has until July 21 to decide whether to launch a more in-depth investigation.”
Insurers accuse CVS of overcharging for generic drugs: “Seven health insurers with businesses that span the nation have sued CVS Health Corp., alleging the Woonsocket, R.I.-based retail giant schemed with pharmacy benefit managers to overcharge health plans for generic drugs.
These insurers’ federal class-action complaint, filed in Rhode Island district court, represents just one lawsuit accusing CVS of fraudulently hiding the real cost of medications, leaving insured customers paying more for drugs than those without insurance.”
Drugmakers Sue HHS Over Medicaid Drug Rebate Rule: “Drugmakers are suing the federal government over a new CMS rule that requires them to include the discounts they offer to patients when calculating the ‘best price’ for drugs under Medicaid’s drug rebate program, according to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said in its complaint that CMS didn’t have the power to issue the rule and seemingly reversed course on the agency’s longstanding interpretation of the law.”
Colorado Lawmakers Wage Multifront Assault on High Drug Costs: “Unable to set prices or change patent protections, the state is exploring creative legislative and administrative approaches to lower out-of-pocket costs on medications.
While none of the efforts alone would result in broad-based, deep cuts, state officials estimate the combined impact of the various measures could save Coloradans between 20% and 40% in out-of-pocket costs…
One bill would create a prescription drug affordability board, which could review prices of medications sold in the state to consumers and set payment limits. The legislation, backed by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, has already passed the Colorado Senate and is making its way through the House. The board would be charged with ensuring those savings are passed on to consumers.”
Amazon considering building brick-and-mortar pharmacies, report says: “Amazon reportedly is considering delving deeper into the prescription drug business by either opening standalone retail pharmacies or adding pharmacies to its Whole Foods stores, Business Insider reported.
The discussions are still in the exploratory stage, and if the company decides to move forward, it could take more than a year for it to start opening pharmacies, according to the article.”
Pharma and healthcare in merger buzz as two £1bn deals agreed: “The UK pharmaceuticals and healthcare sector was buzzing with merger activity on Wednesday as two £1bn deals were agreed by company executives. Ramsay Health Care swooped for Spire Healthcare that would create the UK’s largest private hospital group, while private equity’s Carlyle snapped up London-listed inhaler specialist Vectura.”
About healthcare IT
Google, HCA partner for health algorithms: 7 things to know: “HCA Healthcare inked a multi-year collaboration with Google Cloud focused on building a health data analytics platform to support the Nashville, Tenn.-based system's clinical and operational workflows, the organizations announced May 26... Under the partnership, HCA will use Google Cloud's healthcare data offerings, including the Google Cloud Healthcare application programming interface and BigQuery, a database that supports healthcare dating sharing standards Health Level Seven and Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
The antitrust fallacy:Why busting up big health systems won't bring down hospital prices: A very thoughtful piece from Merrill Goozner, former editor of Modern Healthcare.