About Covid-19
Moderna wins full approval for its Covid-19 vaccine, as Novavax seeks authorization for its version: “The ever-evolving landscape of Covid-19 vaccines shifted again on Monday, with Moderna winning full approval for its jab from the Food and Drug Administration, and Novavax submitting a long-awaited application to the agency for an emergency use authorization for its vaccine.
The approval of Moderna’s vaccine, Spikevax, makes it the country’s second fully licensed vaccine to protect against SARS-CoV-2. It’s also the first product the Cambridge, Mass., biotech has brought through licensure in the United States.”
Nurses made $1.5 million selling fake vaccination cards, prosecutors say: “For years, Julie DeVuono has offered to help people avoid vaccination. In 2017 and 2018, the nurse’s pediatric practice advertised ‘vaccine exemption workshops’ that it said would detail tips for ‘the best chance of acceptance.’
Now DeVuono and an employee are accused of selling fake coronavirus vaccination cards and entering them into a state database. Authorities say the pair from Long Island left behind a ledger recording profits of more than $1.5 million in less than three months.”
Covid Data Tracker Weekly Report: From the CDC: “As of January 26, 2022, the current 7-day moving average of daily new cases (596,860) decreased 19.9% compared with the previous 7-day moving average (744,806). A total of 72,874,041 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the United States as of January 26, 2022.”
The omicron subvariant, known as BA.2, is 1.5 times more transmissible than the original omicron strain, according to Danish scientists.
The U.K. Health Security Agency on Friday said BA.2 has a “substantial” growth advantage over the original omicron, known as BA.1.
Nearly half of U.S. states have confirmed the presence of BA.2 with at least 127 known cases nationwide as of Friday.”
Merck and Ridgeback’s Molnupiravir, an Investigational Oral Antiviral COVID-19 Medicine, Demonstrated Activity Against Omicron Variant in In Vitro Studies: “The in vitro studies were independently conducted by researchers from institutions in six countries including Belgium, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and the United States. The studies used established cell-based assays to evaluate the antiviral activity of molnupiravir and other COVID-19 antiviral agents against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, including Omicron. Molnupiravir has yet to be studied against Omicron in clinical studies.”
Empowered Diagnostics lands FDA Class I recall tag for 286K unauthorized COVID tests: “The recall was initiated at the end of December and given a Class I rating—the FDA’s most serious—last week. It comprises at least 284,575 CovClear rapid antigen tests and 2,100 ImmunoPass rapid antibody tests that were distributed between Jan. 1 and Nov. 11 of last year.”
Promising COVID-19 antiviral pill, Paxlovid, in scarce supply, as doctors, patients compete for access: “According to an ABC News analysis of federal data on Paxlovid in more than 3,100 U.S. counties, three-quarters didn't have any of the drug on hand as of Jan. 27, and about three-fifths had no access to a provider offering Paxlovid.”
About health insurance
Former South Florida Pharmacy Executive Pleads Guilty to $88 Million Health Care Fraud Conspiracy Targeting Military Health Care Programs: “As part of his guilty plea, 58-year-old Matthew Smith admitted his role in fraudulently billing Tricare and CHAMPVA for expensive, medically unnecessary compound drugs from a Broward pharmacy…
Smith—then executive vice-president of the pharmacy—and his co-conspirators paid approximately $40 million in kickbacks to patients, patient recruiters and doctors in exchange for their ordering expensive pain creams, scar creams and vitamins without regard to the beneficiaries’ actual medical needs. The drugs were formulated to maximize profit without legitimate therapeutic value. The reimbursement rates sometimes reached $15,000 for a one-month supply. In addition, the pharmacy did not charge beneficiaries the mandatory copayments, something that the co-conspirators concealed. The fraudulent billings caused a loss to the programs of approximately $88 million.”
Walmart and Health at Scale Launch Customized Provider Recommendations for Plan Participants: Health at Scale today announced a collaboration with Walmart to provide personalized provider recommendations to Walmart associates and their families who work in locations where Health at Scale is offered and are enrolled in the company's health plan. This technology will be incorporated into Walmart's health plan administrator's search engine and virtual care referrals for associates in select geographies, making it easier for plan participants to find providers that match to their unique health needs and care history. Through this initiative, Walmart and Health at Scale will establish a more personalized healthcare experience that focuses on the needs of each individual in the moment and leverages industry-leading machine intelligence to identify providers who have successfully treated patients with similar characteristics and care needs…
Health at Scale's Precision Navigation™ goes beyond non-personalized process-based star ratings, reputation rankings, and volume-based metrics and instead uses industry-leading AI and machine learning to model variations in provider outcomes across thousands of health factors. The service covers 25 different specialties as well as 34 procedures and imaging.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Safety net hospitals say pharma's 340B drug restrictions already endangering future services: “340B Health, an industry group representing these hospitals, said critical access hospitals (CAHs) report losing an average of 39% of the contract pharmacy savings they would have seen from the program, or $220,000 dollars per CAH. Ten percent of those smaller rural hospitals told the group they had lost at least $700,000 due to the drugmakers’ new policies.
Other, larger 340B hospitals such as disproportionate share hospitals, sole community hospitals and rural referral centers reported missing out on 23% of their community pharmacy savings, according to 340B Health’s survey. These facilities’ median reported loss landed at $1 million, with the top 10% tallying losses of $9 million or more.”
HCA to buy back $8B in stock: “The 182-hospital system plans to buy back up to $8 billion in outstanding stock, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The authorization allows the company to buy back the shares through the open market and privately negotiated transactions.”
About pharma
Drugmakers Raised Prices by 6.6% on Average Early This Year: “In all, about 150 drugmakers raised prices on 866 products in the U.S. through Jan. 20, according to an analysis from Rx Savings Solutions, which sells software to help employers and health plans choose the least-expensive medicines.
Price hikes on drugs rivaled the 7% overall consumer inflation rate, the highest in nearly four decades.”
About the public’s health
OSHA pursues new safety rule for health-care facilities after previous efforts faltered, expired: “After previous attempts expired or were knocked down in federal court, the Labor Department is now working to create a permanent set of coronavirus safety rules for health-care facilities, trying to establish the only enforceable workplace safety rules two years after the virus began spreading through the United States.
The agency’s effort, which is in an early stage, shows how much the Biden administration has struggled to stand up a set of policies aimed at protecting workers from an easily transmissible virus. Writing and implementing the rules could take months, or even years, because of pushback and court challenges. But White House officials believe the policies are important for safeguarding public health.”
U.S. EPA moves to advance mercury and air toxics rule: “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday revived an Obama administration-era legal finding that regulating hazardous air toxics and mercury from power plants is necessary, a key step before it can strengthen those air regulations.”
Factors Associated With Disparities in Hospital Readmission Rates Among US Adults Dually Eligible [DE] for Medicare and Medicaid: “Question To what extent are state- and community-level factors associated with within-hospital disparities in hospital readmission for dual-eligible Medicare patients?
Findings In this cohort study of 2.5 million US adults aged 65 years or older, within-hospital disparities in 30-day readmission for dual-eligible patients persisted after accounting for state- and community-level social and health service availability factors. There was no meaningful change in hospital ranking or between hospital variation in disparity performance when adjustments for community-level factors were included…
Conclusions In this cohort study, within-hospital disparities in 30-day readmission for DE patients were only moderately explained by differences in social risk measured at the community level. This suggests that hospital efforts to advance equity should focus on improving the quality of care transitions at discharge for hospitalized DE patients.”
About healthcare IT
BCBSA Invests In Digital Health Savings Account Startup: “Digital benefits startup First Dollar raised $14 million led by Blue Cross Blue Shield Association’s venture arm, with participation from Next Coast Ventures and Meridian Street Capital, the company announced on Thursday.
First Dollar…offers a digital wallet consumers can use to spend tax-advantaged cash like Health Savings Accounts…”
This investment shows the BCBSA’s interest in entering the health savings account business.