About Covid-19
Pfizer, BioNTech find updated COVID booster protects against Omicron in trial “In a joint statement on Thursday, the companies said data from roughly 80 adult patients showed the booster dose led to a substantial increase in neutralizing antibody levels against the BA.4/BA.5 variants after one week.”
Biden administration extends COVID public health emergency “The Biden administration said Thursday that the COVID-19 public health emergency will continue through Jan. 11…”
11.5M Americans have received updated COVID booster: CDC “About 11.5 million Americans have received the updated bivalent COVID-19 booster, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
About health insurance/insurers
UnitedHealth Group reports $5.3B in Q3 profit, revenues up 12% year over year “UnitedHealth Group said the boost in revenue reflects significant growth at both UnitedHealthcare and Optum. At UnitedHealthcare, revenues grew 11% year over year to $62 billion. The number of people served by UnitedHealthcare has grown by 850,000 over the first three quarters, including 185,000 new lives added in the third quarter.”
Medicare open enrollment starts Oct. 15. Here’s what’s new for 2023. “Lower premiums, insulin price caps, free shingles vaccines: There are some noteworthy changes to Medicare for 2023, and the annual open enrollment period is a good time to check them out.”
Lawsuit by KHN Prompts Government to Release Medicare Advantage Audits Federal health officials have agreed to make public 90 audits of private Medicare Advantage health plans for seniors that are expected to reveal hundreds of millions of dollars in overcharges to the government.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services agreed to release the records to settle a lawsuit filed by Kaiser Health News against the agency in September 2019 under the Freedom of Information Act'.”
About pharma
Walgreens aims to rapidly scale US healthcare business next year “Despite the rosy outlook, WBA's financial results lagged behind last year. The company's fourth quarter sales were down 5.3 percent to $32.4 billion, and net loss from continuing operations was $415 million, compared to $358 million net income for the same period last year. Sales from continuing operations were slightly up to $132.7 billion for the full year.
In the fourth quarter, U.S. digital sales were up 14 percent, and the company's myWalgreens membership topped 102 million members. It's continuing to roll out VillageMD with 342 total clinics — 82 opened in the last year — and 152 co-located clinics open. By the end of the calendar year, the company is on track to have 200 co-located clinics.”
2022 Biosimilar Trends Report An excellent review of the current state of the industry.
About healthcare IT
Samsung partners with HealthTap to bring virtual primary care to smart TVs “Through a new partnership with virtual primary care company HealthTap, Samsung Smart TV users can connect to the company's healthcare platform and visit with a doctor of their choice using the built-in camera on their television, according to the companies in a press release.
Consumers can review doctor bios, credentials and video interviews to select a doctor and easily schedule an appointment, often within the same week.
HealthTap developed its platform to provide members access to a long-term primary care doctor to address ongoing health conditions as well as preventive care and referrals. At a cost of $15 per month, consumers get access to free texting with their doctor, $39 video appointments and $59 visits for 24/7 urgent care with the first available clinic doctor. The platform also includes a network of 90,000 volunteer U.S. doctors across 147 specialties providing free informational answers to health questions from HealthTap members.
The company says it serves tens of millions of consumers online and provides many thousands of doctor visits each year. The company has raised $88 million to date, according to Crunchbase.”