Medical cost trend: Behind the numbers 2022: “PwC's Health Research Institute (HRI) is projecting a 6.5% medical cost trend in 2022, slightly lower than the 7% medical cost trend in 2021 and slightly higher than it was between 2016 and 2020. Healthcare spending is expected to return to pre-pandemic baselines with some adjustments to account for the pandemic’s persistent effects.”
About the public’s health
Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS: Ending Inequalities and Getting on Track to End AIDS by 2030: From UNAIDS: “The political declaration calls on countries to provide 95% of all people at risk of acquiring HIV within all epidemiologically relevant groups, age groups and geographic settings with access to people-centred and effective HIV combination prevention options. It also calls on countries to ensure that 95% of people living with HIV know their HIV status, 95% of people who know their status to be on HIV treatment and 95% of people on HIV treatment to be virally suppressed.”
Women Now Drink As Much As Men - Not So Much For Pleasure, But To Cope: “For nearly a century, women have been closing the gender gap in alcohol consumption, binge-drinking and alcohol use disorder. What was previously a 3-1 ratio for risky drinking habits in men versus women is closer
to 1-to-1 globally, a 2016 analysis of several dozen studies suggested.
And the latest U.S. data from 2019 shows that women in their teens and early 20s reported drinking and getting drunk at higher rates than their male peers — in some cases for the first time since researchers began measuring such behavior.
This trend parallels the rise in mental health concerns among young women, and researchers worry that the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic could amplify both patterns.”
About pharma
Walmart launching drug discount offering in membership program: “Walmart is rolling out a new prescription savings offering as part of its membership program, Walmart+.
Walmart+ is the retail giant's equivalent to Amazon Prime, for a $98 annual fee members can gain access to free shipping for delivery orders as well as gas discounts and other benefits. Now, members can look up their medications to secure discounts, with thousands of drug products at $0 or up to 85% off.
The program works in lieu of insurance. If a member would save more on the medication through the Walmart+ discount card, they will instead pay that price, according to the announcement. Eligible prescriptions can also be submitted electronically by providers, Walmart said.”
FDA okays Pfizer's Prevnar 20 pneumococcal conjugate vaccine:FYI
AbbVie's Botox rolls out the red carpet for real people in new documentary-style ads: Look at the video ads in the article; do you think they are effective?
About Covid-19
Pfizer to test Covid vaccine in larger group of children below 12: “Pfizer said on Tuesday it will begin testing its Covid-19 vaccine in a bigger group of children under age 12 after selecting a lower dose of the shot in an earlier stage of the trial.
The study will enroll up to 4,500 children at more than 90 clinical sites in the United States, Finland, Poland and Spain, the company said.”
Lives and Costs Saved by Expanding and Expediting COVID-19 Vaccination: “When achieving a given vaccination coverage in 270 days (70% vaccine efficacy), every 1% increase in coverage can avert an average of 876,800 (217,000–2,398,000) cases, varying with the number of people already vaccinated. For example, each 1% increase between 40%-50% coverage can prevent 1.5million cases, 56,240 hospitalizations, 6,660 deaths, gain 77,590 QALYs, save $602.8 million in direct medical costs and $1.3 billion in productivity losses .”
Pentagon closing majority of COVID-19 mass vaccination sites:”The Pentagon by the end of Tuesday will shutter all but five of the COVID-19 mass vaccination sites it opened alongside the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as the demand for the shot slows, according to the Department of Defense’s (DOD) top spokesman.
Earlier this year, as many as 35 mass vaccination sites were operated by thousands of active-duty and National Guard troops, but the number has since dropped to eight, with three of those locations to close by Tuesday’s end, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters.“
About healthcare IT
Datavant, Ciox Health ink $7B deal for wide-ranging access to medical research data: “With the goal of making data a facet of every healthcare decision—and spinning that information back into life science research—Datavant and the medical records platform developer Ciox Health, plus their VC backers, have agreed to lay out $7 billion to combine their enterprises.
The deal promises to expand Datavant's reach to thousands of U.S. clinics. The resulting company plans to offer a joint technology ecosystem that brings disparate health records together and allow for secure, anonymous exchanges among patients, providers and biopharma companies alike.
It's the largest transaction by far among recent deals in the space, which focuses in part on de-identifying patient data so researchers can easily—and legally—use it.”
Here are summaries of the large number of deals that took place in this sector last month.
Humana sued over wrongful records access data breach: 7 details: “Louisville, Ky.-based Humana is being sued over a data breach last fall that exposed the personal information of about 65,000 of its health plan members, according to court documents.”
Top 20 smart hospitals in the world, ranked by Newsweek: Mayo Clinic leads the list.