About Covid-19
MODERNA ANNOUNCES OMICRON-CONTAINING BIVALENT BOOSTER CANDIDATE MRNA-1273.214 DEMONSTRATES SUPERIOR ANTIBODY RESPONSE AGAINST OMICRON The headline is the story. Read the article for specifics of the vaccine’s performance. “Moderna is planning to submit the interim analysis and data to regulators for review in the coming weeks.”
The Association Between COVID-19 Mortality And The County-Level Partisan Divide In The United States “Majority Republican counties experienced 72.9 additional deaths per 100,000 people relative to majority Democratic counties during the study period, and COVID-19 vaccine uptake explains approximately 10 percent of the difference. Our findings suggest that county-level voting behavior may act as a proxy for compliance with and support of public health measures that would protect residents from COVID-19.”
White House shifts pandemic money to vaccines, cutting other programs “The Biden administration is shifting dwindling federal coronavirus funds toward securing another round of vaccines and treatments — rationing money and cutting back on other critical public health programs as Congress remains at odds over whether to spend more to battle the pandemic.
The U.S. government plans to redirect about $5 billion in existing funds so it can purchase any new, updated versions of the vaccines if they become available, according to an administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the deliberations. The government also intends to repurpose another $5 billion in previously authorized aid so it can secure access to therapeutics, including the pill Paxlovid, the aide said.”
About health insurance
An Out-Of-Pocket Spending Cap Would Make Medicare More Affordable For Millions “More than 4.5 million Medicare enrollees (12 percent) will incur over $5,000 in cost-sharing expenditures next year. A $5,000 out-of-pocket spending cap for traditional Medicare would:
Save beneficiaries an average of $5,500 a year, for those individuals whose annual out-of-pockets exceed $5,000.
Decrease out-of-pocket costs for high spending enrollees by 51 percent; reduce supplementary plan spending by about 51 percent; and lower Medicaid spending by about 58 percent.
Increase Medicare spending by $38.8 billion in 2023 relative to current law.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
About pharma
FTC Launches Inquiry Into Prescription Drug Middlemen Industry “The Federal Trade Commission announced today that it will launch an inquiry into the prescription drug middleman industry, requiring the six largest pharmacy benefit managers to provide information and records regarding their business practices. The agency’s inquiry will scrutinize the impact of vertically integrated pharmacy benefit managers on the access and affordability of prescription drugs. As part of this inquiry, the FTC will send compulsory orders to CVS Caremark; Express Scripts, Inc.; OptumRx, Inc.; Humana Inc.; Prime Therapeutics LLC; and MedImpact Healthcare Systems, Inc.”
Trends in Prescription Drug Launch Prices, 2008-2021 “From 2008 to 2021, launch prices for new drugs increased exponentially by 20% per year. In 2020-2021, 47% of new drugs were initially priced above $150 000 per year. Prices increased by 11% per year even after adjusting for estimated manufacturer discounts and changes in certain drug characteristics, such as more oncology and specialty drugs (eg, injectables, biologics) introduced in recent years. The study was limited to drugs sold by public companies…
The trend in prices for new drugs outpaces growth in prices for other health care services. Even after drugs are marketed, manufacturers routinely increase prices over time; in another analysis, net prices increased by 4.5% per year from 2007 to 2018. In response to the current trends, the US could stop allowing drug manufacturers to freely set prices and follow the example of other industrialized countries that negotiate drug prices at launch.”
About the public’s health
Coffee Consumption May Mitigate the Risk for Acute Kidney Injury [AKI]: Results From the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study “Higher coffee intake was associated with a lower risk of incident AKI and could present an opportunity for cardiorenal protection through diet. Further evaluation of the physiological mechanisms underlying the cardiorenal protective effects of coffee consumption is necessary.”
About healthcare IT
Oracle closes $28B deal to buy EHR giant Cerner “Software maker Oracle has closed its deal to acquire health IT company Cerner, effective Wednesday.
Austin-based Oracle finalized a stock tender offer on Monday with 69.2% of all Cerner shares being tendered to the acquiring company.
The all-cash deal values Cerner at $95 a share.”
Apple Watch's 'AFib History' feature ripens with new FDA clearance “The AFib History feature will be able to estimate how frequently an Apple Watch wearer shows signs of the irregular and often extremely rapid heartbeat. The software received 510(k) clearance from the FDA at the beginning of this month, allowing it to be used by people aged 22 and older who have already been diagnosed with afib…
Previous versions of the Apple Watch’s operating system have been able to track how many hours of sleep a wearer gets each night and their respiratory rate throughout. The OS 9 update builds on that, using the device’s accelerometer, heart rate sensor and built-in machine learning algorithms to detect when a user is in REM, core or deep sleep…
Another new addition to the software offers a module to Apple Watch and iPhone users to help track their medications.”
Interstate telehealth visits in jeopardy as pandemic licensure waivers expire “In March 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) allowed individual states to waive within-state licensure requirements for Medicare beneficiaries obtaining telehealth services. Around this time, all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., passed licensure waivers, which permitted patients to access telehealth visits with out-of-state providers. Now, the authors noted, this provision remains active in only 15 states.”
About healthcare personnel
Why PAs aren't using the term 'physician associate' yet “The American Academy of Physician Assistants has officially changed its name to the American Academy of Physician Associates as part of a larger rebranding effort for the profession, but the association is not advising PAs to use the new term in a professional capacity yet…
News of the rebranding was met with opposition from several medical groups, including the American Medical Association and American Osteopathic Association. The groups argued that the new term would confuse patients, undermine the physician-led care team model and violate state laws regarding truth in advertising.
While AAPA has officially rebranded, the organization is not recommending PAs use the term in clinical practice yet, per guidance from its legal counsel.”
About health technology
About healthcare finance