About Covid-19
Newer, fitter descendants of Omicron variant begin to drive their own coronavirus waves Average daily hospitalizations are up about 10% since last week, according to data collected by the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The culprit this time appears to be a spinoff of Omicron's BA.2 subvariant called BA.2.12.1, which was first flagged by New York state health officials in April.
BA.2.12.1, which is growing about 25% faster than its parent virus, BA.2, accounts for nearly 37% all Covid-19 cases across the US, according to new estimates from the CDC.
BA.2 caused an estimated 62% of all Covid-19 cases last week, down from 70% the week before.”
Pfizer Says Patients Who Relapse After Covid Pill Can Repeat Treatment “The Food and Drug Administration didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on how the antiviral should be prescribed to Covid-19 patients who experience the rebound in viral load. While Paxlovid is available under emergency use authorization, it hasn’t yet gained full approval. Prescribing directions suggest that the drug is ‘not authorized for use for longer than 5 consecutive days.’”
HHS extends risk adjustment for COVID-19 telehealth, telephone-only services “In response to the ongoing pandemic and need to use telehealth and virtual care options, the Department of Health and Human Services will continue to include certain telehealth and telephone-only services in its risk adjustment program for qualified health plans in plan year 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced…”
Hospitals on Edge as States Scrap Covid Emergency Declarations “Governors and legislators in states including Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, Oregon, Virginia, and Wyoming have rescinded their emergency declarations in the past two months, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy. More are set to expire in the coming months unless renewed. Disaster declarations in other states ended as long as a year ago, while about a third of states are holding onto their emergency measures.”
CDC reiterates importance of masks on airplanes, public transportation “Federal health officials on Tuesday repeated their recommendation that masks be worn on airplanes, buses and in other public transportation settings where large numbers of people congregate.
Despite a federal judge’s order last month striking down the federal transportation mask mandate, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said masks continue to be an important tool for stopping the spread of the coronavirus.”
About health insurance
CVS Health hits 44M unique digital customers in Q1 “CVS Health reported $2.3 billion in profit for the first quarter, which exceeded Wall Street's expectations.
The healthcare giant also beat the Street on revenue, posting $76.8 billion for the first quarter. Both figures are up from the first quarter of 2021, where the company reported $69.1 billion in revenue and $2.2 billion in profit.
That's a revenue increase of 11.2% year over year, according to CVS' earnings report filed Wednesday morning.”
Bright Health reports major enrollment boost, $180M loss in Q1 “Bright Health Group reported massive enrollment growth across its commercial, Medicare Advantage and value-based lines, but recorded a net loss of more than $180 million in the quarter ending March 31, according to its first-quarter earnings report…”
Oregon, Kentucky dust off an Obama-era policy to expand health insurance
Oregon and Kentucky are pursuing an Obama-era policy that uses federal dollars to establish a health insurance plan for people who make too much money to qualify for their state’s Medicaid programs…
While the policy, known as the basic health program, was included in the Affordable Care Act, only Minnesota and New York took advantage, and it has been six years since a new one was created…
A basic health program offers low-cost insurance for people who make up to twice the federal poverty level – about $55,000 for a family of four – and do not qualify for Medicaid. New York and Minnesota offer plans with little or no premiums, co-pays or deductibles, a key selling point for proponents.”
About pharma
Vaxxinity Receives FDA Fast Track Designation for UB-311 for Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease “Vaxxinity, Inc… . announced that UB-311, an anti-amyloid beta immunotherapeutic vaccine, has been granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease….
UB-311 is an immunotherapeutic vaccine candidate targeting toxic forms of aggregated amyloid beta in the brain to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Phase 1, Phase 2a, and Phase 2a Long Term Extension trials have shown UB-311 to be well tolerated in mild-to-moderate AD patients over three years of repeat dosing, with a safety profile comparable to placebo and no cases of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities-edema (“ARIA-E”) in the main study. UB-311 also elicited robust and durable anti-amyloid beta antibody responses in patients. A Phase 2b trial is expected to be initiated in late 2022.”
Perhaps before the company does its pricing it can take a lesson from Aduhelm.
Washington Reaches $518M Settlement With Opioid Distributors “The agreement still requires approval from a judge and from dozens of Washington cities that pursued their own cases against the distributors — McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health Inc. and AmerisourceBergen Corp.
Under the settlement, the state would have to spend $476 million of the total to address the opioid crisis, including on substance abuse treatment; expanding access to overdose-reversal drugs; and providing housing, job placement and other services for those struggling with addiction. The rest of the money would go toward litigation costs.”
Teva cuts sales guidance amid competitive pressures, currency exchange woes “The Israeli generics giant reaped revenues of $3.66 billion, down 8% from $3.98 billion during the same period last year. After the performance, the drugmaker cut its revenue guidance for the full year.”
GSK to Acquire Sierra Oncology and Its Promising Blood Cancer Drug for $1.9 Billion “GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has prevailed over six other bidders with its $1.9 billion offer to purchase Sierra Oncology, gaining the Canadian company’s promising investigational Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor, momelotinib, for the treatment of the rare blood cancer myelofibrosis.”
About the public’s health
Why US Cervical Cancer Survival Rates Haven’t Improved for Decade “Although screening has been on the frontlines of the battle against cervical cancer for more than 60 years, the disease’s survival rate has barely budged since the 1970s. That’s in stark contrast with the overall cancer mortality rate in the US, which the American Cancer Society (ACS) reported has decreased by 32% since 1991.”
Read this interesting article for reasons for this lack of progress.
HHS Awards Nearly $25 Million to Expand Access to School-Based Health Services “…Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded nearly $25 million to improve and strengthen access to school-based health services in communities across the country. Awards will support local partnerships between schools and health centers to provide children and youth the comprehensive physical and mental health care they need.”
Relationship Between Ambient Air Pollution And Incidence Of Head And Neck Cancers In Illinois “Diesel particulate matter levels were found to be associated with oral/pharyngeal cancer incidence. Greater ambient air pollution exposure may be a factor that increases pre-disposition to developing certain head and neck cancers.”
Sex-Specific Risk Factors Associated With First Acute Myocardial Infarction in Young Adults “In this case-control study, 7 risk factors (diabetes, depression, hypertension, current smoking, family history of premature MI, low household income, hypercholesterolemia) accounted for 85% of the risk of first AMI in young men and women. We further found that risk factors accounted for different risk of AMI in women compared with men, and that some of the significant factors varied by sex. Risk factors also varied by subtype of AMI, with traditional cardiovascular risk factors having higher prevalence and stronger associations for type 1 AMI compared with other types of AMI not resulting from acute plaque rupture.”
Cannabinoid receptor 1 antagonist genistein attenuates marijuana-induced vascular inflammation “A UK Biobank analysis found that cannabis was an risk factor for CVD. We found that marijuana smoking activated inflammatory cytokines implicated in CVD.”
About healthcare IT
Athenahealth adds Nuance to its digital marketplace “The Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience, which includes API integration with athenaClinicals and Athenahealth's EHR system, automates administrative tasks during virtual and in-person visits…”
About healthcare personnel
agilon health and United Physicians form Long-term Partnership to Provide a Value-Based Care Model for Medicare Advantage in Southeast Michigan “Through the partnership, United Physicians will work with agilon health to transform its primary care delivery system for Medicare Advantage patients to a sustainable, full-risk value-based care model that will improve quality outcomes within Southeast Michigan’s healthcare system….
Today, agilon health is partnering with 16 of the nation’s best physician groups including Answer Health, Western Michigan’s largest physician organization. agilon is accelerating at scale the transition to a value-based Total Care Model for senior patients through its aligned partnerships, purpose-built platform, and peer network of like-minded physicians. Following the announcement of its partnership with MaineHealth and United Physicians, as well as the expected announcements of five additional partners for 2023, agilon health will have 23 physician partners across 12 states and 25 diverse geographies, and more than 2,200 primary care physicians in its peer network.”
Physician Flash Report: April 2022 “For the first time in two years, the median Investment/Subsidy per Physician FTE surpassed levels seen during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The metric was up 1.5% compared Q1 2020 at $288,227 in Q1 2022.
Other key findings from the first quarter compared to Q1 2021 include:
Physician wRVUs per FTE increased 15%
Physician Compensation per FTE rose 7% to $349,072
Net Revenue per Physician FTE was up 10% to $636,674
Total Direct Expense per Physician FTE rose 11% to $946,602”