About Covid-19
Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count As of the week closed 11/30:
Cases:45,21914 +15%
Test positivity:10% +26%
Hospitalized: 32,445 +16%
In I.C.Us: 3,794 +16%
Deaths: 262 (-7%)
Medical Masks Versus N95 Respirators for Preventing COVID-19 Among Health Care Workers This article has been quoted widely in the press with the conclusion that medical masks are just as good as N95 Respirators in preventing COVID-19. However, the results varied greatly among the countries where the study was carried out. N95s are still the safest choice for prevention.
Long Covid may be ‘the next public health disaster’ — with a $3.7 trillion economic impact rivaling the Great Recession “Long Covid has affected as many as 23 million Americans. It may cost the U.S. economy $3.7 trillion, roughly that of the Great Recession, according to one estimate.”
About health insurance/insurers
Highmark posts $268M loss across three quarters as investments, labor issues ding finances “Highmark Health posted a $268 million net loss through the first nine months of 2022 as multiple headwinds drag its finances.
Highmark reported $19.5 billion in revenue, up 22% year-over-year, and $594 million in operating gain. The performance of its equity investment portfolio is a key challenge facing the integrated system, as its financial report includes $670 million in unrealized investment impact driven by a decline in the portfolio…
Other major headwinds include ongoing supply chain issues, inflation and high labor costs, particularly at its Allegheny Health Network health system. Strong performance at its health plan arm is helping to bolster AHN as it weathers these challenges that providers nationwide are staring down.”
UnitedHealthcare loses to TeamHealth — again — over alleged underpayments “A three-judge arbitration panel in Florida ruled that UnitedHealthcare must award $10.8 million to a TeamHealth clinician group for underpayments from 2017 to 2020.
The verdict is the latest in a contentious legal history between the payer and the Knoxville, Tenn.-based physician staffing company. A jury ruled in December 2021 that UnitedHealthcare must pay $60 million in punitive damages after losing a Nevada lawsuit against TeamHealth over thousands of provider underpayments for emergency services. TeamHealth medical groups have eight additional lawsuits pending across the country challenging the payer's alleged underpayment practices, according to a Nov. 30 TeamHealth news release.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
National Hospital Flash Report, November 2022 “Key Takeaways”
Margins remain negative in October.
October represented another month of negative operating margins for hospitals, with a slight downturn from September. As the year comes to a close, compounding months of poor performance could signal continued difficulties for hospitals in the near future.Expense pressures drive poor performance.
Hospitals continue to face the significant weight of high expenses outpacing revenues, particularly when it comes to the cost of labor. Additionally, hospitals are turning to external sources for services like IT and human resources support, instead of keeping them in house at a lower cost. Finally, the high cost of materials due to inflation has not abated.Hospitals struggle to discharge patients.
Hospitals struggled to discharge patients in October due to internal labor shortages and shortages in post-acute settings. The struggle to discharge patients led to a slight increase in length of stay. However, longer stays did not translate to additional revenue for hospitals.Emergency department visits and operating room minutes increase slightly.
Hospitals experienced slight increases in both categories from September to October. However, the increase in emergency department (ED) visits put further strain on hospitals as many were unable to admit patients needing in-patient care due to staffing shortages. Many hospitals were forced to board patients in the ED leading to increased pressure on ED staff.”
Mayo Clinic, Intermountain, HCA post quarterly incomes when many systems see losses “Labor challenges, rising costs, inflation and declining inpatient volumes are some of the key factors leading to many hospitals and health systems reporting third-quarter losses. However, Mayo Clinic, HCA Healthcare and Intermountain Healthcare are three systems that have bucked that trend.
While income did slip for these health systems, according to recent financial reports, the drops were not as significant as other healthcare organizations, with all three still reporting an income over a loss for the quarter.”
About the public’s health
Drug Overdose Deaths in Adults Aged 65 and Over: United States, 2000–2020
“Between 2000 and 2020, age-adjusted rates of drug overdose deaths for adults aged 65 and over increased from 2.4 to 8.8 deaths per 100,000 standard population.
For men aged 65–74 and 75 and over, rates of drug overdose deaths were higher among non-Hispanic Black men compared with Hispanic and non-Hispanic White men.
For women aged 65–74, drug overdose death rates were higher for non-Hispanic Black women compared with Hispanic and non-Hispanic White women, but for women aged 75 and over, non-Hispanic White women had the highest rates.
The age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone (such as fentanyl) for adults aged 65 and over increased by 53% between 2019 (1.9) and 2020 (2.9).”
CDC expands wastewater testing for polio to Michigan and Pennsylvania “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expanding efforts to test wastewater to detect the polio virus in Philadelphia and the Detroit area, targeting communities at highest risk for the life-threatening and potentially disabling illness, officials said Wednesday.
The expansion of wastewater monitoring for polio comes amid pressure to increase efforts to fight the disease after the first U.S. polio case in nearly a decade was discovered in New York’s Rockland County in July.”
Is Spreading Medical Misinformation a Doctor’s Free Speech Right? “When Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that would punish California doctors for spreading false information about Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, he pledged that it would apply only in the most “egregious instances” of misleading patients.
It may never have the chance.
|Even before the law, the nation’s first of its kind, takes effect on Jan. 1, it faces two legal challenges seeking to declare it an unconstitutional infringement of free speech. The plaintiffs include doctors who have spoken out against government and expert recommendations during the pandemic, as well as legal organizations from both sides of the political spectrum.”
About health technology
U.S. FDA gives first-ever approval to fecal transplant therapy “The U.S. health regulator on Wednesday approved Switzerland-based Ferring Pharmaceuticals' fecal transplant-based therapy to reduce the recurrence of a bacterial infection, making it the first therapy of its kind to be cleared in the United States.
The therapy, Rebyota, targets Clostridium difficile, or C. difficile – a superbug responsible for infections that can cause serious and life-threatening diarrhea. In the United States, the infection is associated with 15,000-30,000 deaths annually.”
About healthcare finance
GE board approves GE healthcare spinoff “GE said Nov. 30 its board approved the planned spin-off of its healthcare business, GE Healthcare.
GE announced June 26, 2018, that it would spin off its healthcare business into a standalone enterprise as part of its plan to split into three public companies. Under the spinoff, shareholders will receive one share of the new company for every three GE shares they hold on Dec. 16, according to a press release from GE.
The new company is also expected to begin trading on Nasdaq Jan. 4, under the symbol GEHC.”