About health insurance
Alignment Healthcare plans expansion into 16 new markets for 2022: “Startup Medicare Advantage insurer Alignment Healthcare is expanding into 16 new markets for the 2022 plan year, nearly doubling its footprint.
Alignment's plans will be available in 38 markets across Arizona, California, Nevada and North Carolina next year, reaching 6.9 million potential beneficiaries. The expansion is pending regulatory approvals.”
HHS sued over insurance price transparency rule: “The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and an affiliate are suing HHS to block the enforcement of a regulation that aims to increase insurance plan price transparency, according to court documents.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce allege that HHS exceeded its authority by adopting provisions that they claim will reduce competition, raise costs to consumers and cost millions to implement.”
Kansas paid $1.3M to Medicaid contractors to care for dead people: “In the same release, the state inspector general said an audit also discovered over $1.6 million had been used to pay for claims for beneficiaries who exceeded the 12-month lifetime eligibility limit. These payments occurred between 2018 and 2021.”
About Covid-19
Randomized Trial of a Third Dose of mRNA-1273 Vaccine in Transplant Recipients: “We conclude that a third-dose booster Covid-19 vaccine should be considered, in conjunction with regulatory approval, for transplant recipients who have received two doses of mRNA-1273.”
A majority of Americans in highly vaccinated counties now live in covid hot spots, Post analysis finds: “Two-thirds of Americans in highly vaccinated counties now live in coronavirus hot spots, according to an analysis by The Washington Post, as outbreaks of the highly transmissible delta variant — once concentrated in poorly vaccinated pockets — ignite in more populated and immunized areas still short of herd immunity…
Living in a hot spot while vaccinated today is much safer than living in a hot spot while unvaccinated last summer. High-vaccination states have one-third the number of new cases per capita as low-vaccination states.
Hospitalization rates in states with less than 40 percent of their population fully vaccinated are four times higher than states that are at least 54 percent vaccinated, The Post found.”
The graphic maps are highly explanatory.
Breakthrough COVID-19 infection risk may differ with vaccine type, early Mayo Clinic research suggests: “People who received the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine may be less likely to experience a breakthrough infection compared to Pfizer vaccine recipients, findings published Aug. 8 in preprint server medRxiv suggest.”
Supreme Court won’t block Indiana University vaccine mandate as Justice Barrett rejects student plea: “Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Thursday rejected a plea from a group of Indiana University students to stop the university’s requirement that all students be vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Barrett, who received the request because she is the Supreme Court justice tasked with appeals from that region of the country, did not give a reason.”
About pharma
U.S. Veterans Health Administration turns down Biogen Alzheimer's drug: “The U.S. Veterans Health Administration (VHA) will not include Aduhelm, the $56,000-a-year Alzheimer's drug made by Biogen Inc and Eisai Co Ltd, on its list of approved drugs due to a lack of evidence that it is effective as well as safety concerns, the agency said on Wednesday.”
Affordable naloxone is running out, creating a perfect storm for more overdose deaths, activists say: “After a manufacturing issue halted Pfizer’s production of the single-dose injectable naloxone in April, groups that distribute a significant amount of the lifesaving medicine say they are facing an unprecedented obstacle to reverse drug overdoses as they reach an all-time high. Organizers say the insufficient supply has been felt unequally across the country.”
Pfizer halted Chantix distribution then recalled a dozen batches. Now, a generic's here to help fill the shortage: “Trying to fill a recent shortage for Pfizer’s smoking med caused by safety concerns, the FDA has approved Par Pharmaceuticals’ copycat version, also known as varenicline, “well ahead” of its expected review date, the agency said a statementon Wednesday.
Though Pfizer’s generic rival Par Pharmaceuticals received the FDA’s special expedited treatment, impending copycat competition wasn’t unexpected given Chantix lost its main patent in November last year.”
About healthcare IT