About Covid-19
CDC endorses coronavirus vaccines for children under 5 “CDC Director Rochelle Walensky endorsed the agency’s advisory panel’s unanimous recommendation to vaccinate all children as young as 6 months old with one of two vaccines — one by Moderna and the other by Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech…
Doses began shipping Friday following the authorization by the Food and Drug Administration, which found both vaccines to be safe and effective.”
And in a related article: Comparing the Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines for young children
Florida providers now able to order COVID-19 vaccines for young kids “After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state would not employ any resources to support the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5, the White House announced pediatricians, children's hospitals and other healthcare providers in Florida will be able to order the shots directly from the federal government…”
About health insurance
CMS proposes payment decrease of $810M for home health in 2023 “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is proposing a 2.9% home health payment update ($560 million) for calendar year 2023. This update is expected to lead to a 4.2% decrease ($810 million) in Medicare payments…
The update equates to an estimated 6.9% decrease that reflects the ‘effects of the proposed prospective, permanent behavioral assumption adjustment of -7.69% ($1.33 billion decrease), and an estimated 0.2% decrease that reflects the effects of a proposed update to the fixed-dollar loss ratio (FDL) used in determining outlier payments ($40 million decrease),’ CMS said.
CMS also is proposing a 5% cap on negative wage index changes, regardless of the underlying reason for the decrease, for home health agencies.”
About pharma
Pfizer to buy 8.1 percent stake in French vaccines company Valneva “U.S. healthcare giant Pfizer has agreed to invest 90.5 million euros ($95.24 million) to buy an 8.1% percent stake in French vaccines company, as the companies announced developments in their partnership to tackle the Lyme disease.”
FTC to Ramp Up Enforcement Against Any Illegal Rebate Schemes, Bribes to Prescription Drug Middleman That Block Cheaper Drugs “The Federal Trade Commission announced that it will ramp up enforcement against any illegal bribes and rebate schemes that block patients’ access to competing lower-cost drugs. The enforcement policy statement issued today puts drug companies and prescription drug middlemen on notice that paying rebates and fees to exclude competitors offering lower-cost drug alternatives can violate competition and consumer protection laws. The agency will use its full range of legal authorities to combat illegal prescription drug practices that foreclose competition and harm patients.”
About the public’s health
Political environment and mortality rates in the United States, 2001-19: population based cross sectional analysis “What this study adds
Between 2001 and 2019, mortality rates decreased by 22% in Democratic counties but by only 11% in Republican counties
Male and female residents of Democratic counties experienced both lower mortality rates and twice the relative decrease in mortality rates than did those in Republican counties. Black Americans experienced largely similar improvement in age adjusted mortality rates in both Democratic and Republican counties. However, the mortality gap between white residents in Democratic versus Republican counties increased fourfold
Rural Republican counties experienced the highest mortality rates and the least improvement. All trends were similar when comparing counties that did not switch political environment throughout the period, and when governor election results were used
The greatest contributors to the rising mortality gap between Republican and Democratic counties were heart disease, cancer, chronic lower respiratory tract diseases, unintentional injuries, and suicide”