About Covid-19
Government nearly exhausts monoclonal COVID treatment funding with new purchase “Eli Lilly has announced the U.S. government is buying an additional 150,000 courses of the only monoclonal antibody therapy left that still holds up against all COVID-19 variants of concern, including BA.2.
The new purchase of the therapy, called bebtelovimab, is costing the government roughly $275 million…
This new purchase was paid for out of the $10 billion in COVID funding, which the White House diverted earlier this month to pay for more vaccines and treatments.
Officials said at the time they were left with ‘no choice’ but to shift those dollars, since Congress has not yet approved additional funding.”
Omicron-based coronavirus booster shots will roll out this fall “This fall, vaccine makers will begin rolling out coronavirus booster vaccines better tailored to fight the current phase of the pandemic.
Two days after outside experts voted in favor of a new vaccine adapted to protect against omicron, the Food and Drug Administration announced that the fall shots would include a component from BA.4 and BA.5, the omicron subvariants gaining ground in the United States.”
About health insurance
Hospitals have to post their prices. Now, health insurers and employers have to publish what they pay “The federal government’s latest push for more health care price transparency starts July 1, and it is focused on those who are writing the checks: Health insurance companies and employers that directly pay for their workers’ medical care will have to start posting data on what they pay hospitals, doctors, and other providers.”
Medicaid:State Directed Payments in Managed Care From the GAO: “As of February 2022, Medicaid approved 79 proposals just for payments starting on or after July 1, 2021—totaling $20 billion in estimated payments.
Medicaid is trying to improve oversight, but there are still unknowns. For example, states only have to report estimated payments, so Medicaid won't know how much of that $20 billion is paid out.”
The GAO recommends that states report actual payment amounts.
Brookings: Zero-dollar premiums could improve coverage on ACA exchanges compared to those paying small amount “Completely eliminating premiums for low-income Affordable Care Act exchange customers that pay a very small amount a month could boost coverage by 48,000 this year, a new analysis finds.”
However, no mention is made of the zero premium’s effect on out of pocket expenses, which, in many cases, is the real affordability issue.
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Senators quietly kill plan to overhaul VA healthcare system “A bipartisan group of 12 senators is rejecting the Department of Veterans Affairs' plan to close or overhaul hospitals that no longer meet the healthcare needs of U.S. veterans, according to a June 29 report by The Washington Post.
The senators, led by Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester, D-Mont., said they would not approve the nine nominees up for confirmation to establish the Asset and Infrastructure Review Commission.”
for obvious political reasons, members of Congress are always reluctant to vote to shut down underused facilities in their districts- no matter the monetary cost.
Updated Guidance for Nursing Home Resident Health and Safety From CMS, FYI.
About pharma
Democrats forge ahead on drug pricing, eyeing wider deal with Manchin “Democratic leaders have finalized a revised proposal to lower prescription drug prices for seniors, part of a broader scramble to satisfy Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and resurrect a long-stalled economic package that they hope to advance as soon as this summer…
Under the proposal, the drug negotiations are set to begin in 2023, according to details obtained by The Washington Post. Democrats also have preserved plans to cap seniors’ drug costs under Medicare at $2,000 each year, while penalizing companies that raise prescription prices faster than inflation.”
Sanofi caps out-of-pocket insulin cost at $35 for uninsured U.S. patients “French drugmaker Sanofi said on Wednesday uninsured diabetes patients in the United States will pay no more than $35 for 30-day supply of insulin, in the wake of heightened public scrutiny over soaring prices of the life-saving drug.
Sanofi said the new price, down from the prior out-of-pocket cost of $99, will be effective from July 1.”
About the public’s health
Judge says Florida's 15-week abortion law is unconstitutional “In a setback for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican lawmakers, a Florida judge has ruled that a new state law banning abortions at 15 weeks is unconstitutional and he intends to block it from taking effect on Friday.
In a verbal ruling on Thursday, Second Judicial Circuit Court Judge John Cooper said he would be issuing a temporary statewide injunction that will go into effect once he signs the written order in the challenge brought by some Florida abortion providers…
In his ruling from the bench, Cooper said the ban ‘violates the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution.’”
Life’s Essential 8: Updating and Enhancing the American Heart Association’s Construct of Cardiovascular Health: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association From the American Heart Association: “The components of Life’s Essential 8 include diet (updated), physical activity, nicotine exposure (updated), sleep health (new), body mass index, blood lipids (updated), blood glucose (updated), and blood pressure. Each metric has a new scoring algorithm ranging from 0 to 100 points, allowing generation of a new composite cardiovascular health score (the unweighted average of all components) that also varies from 0 to 100 points. Methods for implementing cardiovascular health assessment and longitudinal monitoring are discussed, as are potential data sources and tools to promote widespread adoption in policy, public health, clinical, institutional, and community settings.”
About healthcare IT
HHS Issues Guidance to Protect Patient Privacy in Wake of Supreme Court Decision on Roe “Specifically, the guidance:
Reminds HIPAA covered entities and business associates that they can use and disclose PHI, without an individual’s signed authorization, only as expressly permitted or required by the Privacy Rule.
Explains the Privacy Rule’s restrictions on disclosures of PHI when required by law, for law enforcement purposes, and to avert a serious threat to health or safety…
Explains how to turn off the location services on Apple and Android devices.
Identifies best practices for selecting apps, browsers, and search engines that are recognized as supporting increased privacy and security.
In a related article: You scheduled an abortion. Planned Parenthood’s website could tell Facebook.”An investigation by Lockdown Privacy, the maker of an app that blocks online tracking, found that Planned Parenthood’s web scheduler can share information with a variety of third parties, including Google, Facebook, TikTok and Hotjar, a tracking tool that says it helps companies understand how customers behave. These outside companies receive data including IP addresses, approximate Zip codes and service selections, which privacy experts worry could be valuable to state governments looking to prosecute abortions…
Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Lauren Kokum said the organization uses trackers for its marketing efforts…
Facebook, Google and TikTok declined to comment on how precisely they would respond to governments’ requests for data surrounding abortion. Hotjar did not respond to a request for comment.”
Providers, payers need to move beyond compliance with FHIR interoperability, experts say. Here's why “By year-end 2022, most electronic health record (EHR) systems are required to update their software to support the Bulk FHIR API standard, which allows data to flow in batches at a population level.
But, experts caution, steps need to be taken to ensure the standard is not solely treated as a compliance requirement. To have a positive effect on outcomes, organizations should go further, committing to not only share health data but also contextualize them to drive better health outcomes.”
EHR Vendor athenahealth Launches Voice-Driven Tech to Cut Clinician Burnout “EHR vendor athenahealth has announced the release of athenaOne Voice Assistant Powered by Nuance, a voice-driven application that aims to alleviate clinician burnout and enhance the patient experience.
Voice Assistant is a natural command-based virtual assistant developed and built by athenahealth and powered by Nuance's Dragon Medical technology. Using the technology, providers can document exams, create draft orders, retrieve clinical data, and review their schedules.”
I wonder why it took so long for an EHR to integrate voice technology.
About healthcare finance
ARCH Venture Partners to invest nearly $3 billion in early-stage biotech firms “ARCH Venture Partners announced Wednesday that it raised nearly $3 billion to invest in early-stage biotechnology companies via its new ARCH Venture Fund XII. Early last year, the firm closed its ARCH Venture Fund XI with around $1.9 billion to support the creation and funding of biotech start-ups.
’Science doesn't care what markets are doing, and science moves forward,’ remarked Robert Nelsen, ARCH co-founder, adding ‘all the fundamental innovations in biotechnology are accelerating, with huge promise for new preventive, disease-modifying, and even curative treatments.’”