Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade 6-3, ending constitutional protections for abortion “The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Friday morning to remove constitutional protections for abortion in a much-anticipated opinion overruling landmark abortion cases Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
‘The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey must be overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion must be returned to the people and their elected representatives,’ Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion for Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.”
Most responses to this ruling are predictable and non-actionable. The following one, however, is noteworthy: Merrick Garland, U.S. Attorney General
“‘The Justice Department strongly disagrees with the Court’s decision. ... We stand ready to work with other arms of the federal government that seek to use their lawful authorities to protect and preserve access to reproductive care. In particular, the FDA has approved the use of the medication Mifepristone. States may not ban Mifepristone based on disagreement with the FDA’s expert judgment about its safety and efficacy.
Furthermore, federal agencies may continue to provide reproductive health services to the extent authorized by federal law. And federal employees who carry out their duties by providing such services must be allowed to do so free from the threat of liability. ... The Justice Department will use every tool at our disposal to protect reproductive freedom.’”
Congress passes most significant gun reform bill in decades, sends it to Biden Following Senate passage late Thursday, the House passed the bipartisan bill that takes steps to restrict gun access for the youngest buyers, domestic violence offenders and others who could pose a risk to their communities. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act also would fund school safety and mental health programs.
The House approved it by a 234-193 margin, as 14 Republicans joined all Democrats. The legislation heads to President Joe Biden, who is expected to quickly sign it into law.”
About Covid-19
Advisers to the C.D.C. recommend Moderna’s vaccine for children and teens aged 6 through 17. “Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday voted unanimously to recommend Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine for children and adolescents aged 6 through 17 years.
Their endorsement was neither a surprise, nor urgently anticipated. The Food and Drug Administration authorized the Moderna vaccine for that age group late last week, and the decisions of the two agencies have rarely been at odds.”
About health insurance
CMS approves first-ever public option plan for Colorado's ACA exchange “Colorado can now create its own state-specific public option Affordable Care Act plan starting next year after getting key approval from the Biden administration.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) granted a Section 1332 state innovation waiver to create the state-specific health plan. It is the first state to get approval for a public option plan…
The plan will be sold on the ACA’s exchanges and is expected to lower premiums by an average of 22%, or approximately $132 per person a month.
Colorado’s plan must cover all essential health benefits required by the ACA and establish premium reduction targets. Any county that has an ACA insurer offering a plan on the individual or small group market must also offer the Colorado Option plan.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Supreme Court backs HHS approach to Medicare payments for hospitals serving low-income patients “The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the approach taken by the Department of Health and Human Services in calculating certain Medicare payments for hospitals that serve a large number of low-income patients.
The legal challenge targeted HHS’ interpretation of the formula used to calculate Medicare’s disproportionate share hospital adjustments, known as DSH payments.
The high court said that the agency did not misinterpret the law with a policy it rolled out in the mid-2000s that dictated the payments hospitals received for treating a disproportionate share of low-income patients.
‘Today, we approve HHS’s understanding of the Medicare fraction,’ Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the 5-4 majority, adding that ‘HHS’s regulation correctly construes the statutory language at issue.’”
About pharma
FDA Stopped Record Number of Drug Shortages Last Year “The FDA claims it prevented a total of 317 drug shortages in 2021 — marking the highest number of potential shortages avoided since the agency began reporting them to Congress in 2012.”
About healthcare finance
Pharmaceutical & life sciences: Deals 2022 midyear outlook From PWC: “Increased scrutiny from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) around larger deals could mean that 2022 will be a year of bolt-on transactions in the $5 to $15 billion range as pharma companies take multiple shots on goal in order to make up for revenues lost to generic competition in the remainder of the decade…
Expect to see big pharma picking up earlier stage companies to try and fill the pipeline gaps that are likely to start in 2024. While market conditions suggest bargain prices for biotech are possible, recent transactions indicate that pharma companies are still paying significantly above current trading prices (ranging from approximately 50 to 100% of current trading), but below the peak valuations of recent memory.
In the first few months of the year, semi-annualized deal value was down 58% from the same period last year, with companies investing just $61.7 billion so far. Only 137 deals were announced during that time, compared to 204 in the year-prior period.”