About Covid-19
Biden Administration Announces Operational Plan for COVID-19 Vaccinations for Children Under 5 “The Biden Administration’s plan includes:
—Securing vaccine supply for our nation’s children. The Administration has procured a significant supply of vaccines for this age group, with 10 million doses available initially and millions more available in the coming weeks…
—Making vaccinations available in convenient places parents and families know and trust. Working with states, localities, Tribes and territories, the Administration will make vaccinations for our nation’s youngest children widely available at thousands of trusted, accessible sites across the country—with 85 percent of children under the age of five living within five miles of a potential vaccination site…
—Leveraging federal programs to reach parents and families with information and advance equity. As with prior vaccination efforts, the Administration will leverage existing federal programs and capabilities to ensure that we are reaching parents and families with the information they need…
—Supporting education and engagement efforts to build trust among parents and families…To ensure that parents and families have answers to their questions and information from sources that they trust, HHS will work with a broad range of national organizations to launch a national public education campaign that reaches parents, guardians, and families with facts and information that they need to make informed choices for both their youngest and their older children…”
Effect of Molnupiravir on Biomarkers, Respiratory Interventions, and Medical Services in COVID-19 “Molnupiravir-treated participants had a decreased need for respiratory interventions versus placebo-treated participants (relative risk reduction [RRR], 34.3%…), with similar findings in participants who were hospitalized after randomization (RRR, 21.3%…). Hospitalized participants who received molnupiravir were discharged a median of 3 days before those who received placebo. Acute care visits (7.2% vs. 10.6%; RRR, 32.1%…) and COVID-19–related acute care visits (6.6% vs. 10.0%; RRR, 33.8%…) were less frequent in molnupiravir- versus placebo-treated participants.”
About health insurance
CMS: Payers that cut or reduce agent commissions are violating the ACA “Payers that reduce or eliminate compensation for insurance agents and brokers who help enroll people in ACA plans during a special enrollment period are in violation of the ACA, according to a FAQ published by CMS on June 7.
The move comes after reports of Bright Healthcare, Oscar Health, Molina Healthcare and some Blue Cross companies cutting or limiting agents' commissions after record ACA enrollment earlier this year.”
Medicare FFS Claims: 2% Payment Adjustment (Sequestration) Changes A reminder that at the end of the month, the sequester goes back up to 2%. Here is a recent history:
The Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act impacts payments for all Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) claims:
No payment adjustment through March 31, 2022
1% payment adjustment April 1 – June 30, 2022
2% payment adjustment beginning July 1, 2022
Pharmaceutical company to pay $12.9M to settle Texas Medicaid fraud claim Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, an “India-based multinational pharmaceutical manufacturer has agreed to pay $12.9 million to settle claims it reported inflated prices to the Texas Medicaid program, the Texas attorney general said June 8.”
The “alleged inflated price-reporting began in October 2003, according to the settlement agreement.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Two hospitals are being fined for disobeying price transparency rules After a grace period, CMS is finally enforcing this requirement. “The agency sent letters, dated Tuesday, to both hospitals detailing the alleged violations and the fines. (Hospital officials didn’t respond to a request for comment as of publication time.) Here's what CMS wrote in letters quietly posted online Wednesday:
Neither hospital posted a comprehensive list of standard charges.
For Northside Hospital Cherokee, agency officials couldn’t find a consumer-friendly list of 300 shoppable services.
Northside Atlanta Hospital told CMS that patients should call or email for price estimates.”
Reimagining Primary Health Care after COVID-19 (A monograph from the World Bank Group)
Most countries (with the notable exception of the U.S.) build their healthcare systems around the provision of primary care. But even those countries have not lived up to the promises of such a design. Here is a summary of this extensive document:
”In this report, we argue that a robust and reimagined primary health care (PHC) agenda, as part of a broader reinvigoration of UHC [universal health coverage], must be part of the post-COVID-19 story—both to dig the world out of the COVID-19 ditch and to prevent similar catastrophes in the future. To be clear, we do not claim that the COVID-19 crisis was entirely or mostly the result of weak or nonfunctional PHC services. Yet PHC was often the weakest link in the national and community responses, despite its critical importance as a backstop to ‘flatten the curve’ and prevent hospital saturation. Core PHC functions such as surveillance, testing, and contact tracing first fell through the cracks and then were ultimately assumed by newly created teams or by hospitals. Now we will again need PHC to close the COVID-19 chapter and make up for lost time—by administering vaccines against COVID-19; recouping losses to reproductive health, preventive care, and mental health; and building back better to meet the evolving needs of the global population.
[The report] builds on the vast literature on PHC, revisiting the concept, its underpinnings, country experiences, and lessons learned. The report also is fully aligned with the 2018 Declaration of Astana on PHC as the main pillar of universal health coverage and the health-related Sustainable Development Goals… its emphasis is on the ‘how’—what it takes to build a fit-for-purpose primary health care service delivery platform—and it spells out how countries could reimagine it…”
About pharma
Generic drugmakers win one, lose one in sweeping price-fixing case involving 49 states, 20 companies “On Tuesday, a federal district court judge in Pennsylvania ruled (PDF) that states were not entitled to a cut of the profits generics manufacturers allegedly made from their scheme.
Judge Cynthia Rufe said that disgorgement was not an available avenue for the states to pursue under federal antitrust laws.
But it wasn’t a complete victory for the drugmakers. Rufe also rejected the companies’ attempt to dismiss the states’ effort to score injunctive relief, which would allow the court to intervene in their operations…
Most of the world’s prolific makers of generics are named in the case including Teva, Sandoz, Par Pharmaceuticals and Mylan (now Viatris).”
About the public’s health
STATNEWS reviewed highlights from the just-concluded American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting.
More than 1,000 monkeypox cases reported to WHO - briefing “WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk of monkeypox becoming established in these non-endemic countries was real but preventable at this point.
Twenty-nine countries have reported cases in the current outbreak, which began in May. None have reported deaths.
At a media briefing in Geneva, Tedros also said there had been more than 1,400 suspected cases of monkeypox this year in Africa and 66 deaths…
Rosamund Lewis, WHO technical lead on monkeypox, said that "interpersonal close contact" was the main way monkeypox spreads, although she added that the risk of aerosol transmission was not yet fully known. Health workers caring for monkeypox patients should wear a mask, she said.”
About healthcare personnel
Use of a Real-Time Locating System [RTLS] to Assess Internal Medicine Resident Location and Movement in the Hospital “In this cross-sectional study, 43 internal medicine interns wore an RTLS badge during the 2018-2019 academic year with usable data. Interns spent only 13.4% of their time in patient rooms; there was significant interindividual variation in bedside time and significant interservice differences in time spent in patient rooms during rounds, with most time spent in the hallway or the workroom…
By some estimates, time at the bedside has decreased by almost half since the 1990s. A number of factors contribute to less time at the bedside, including operational constraints, duty hour requirements, a focus on patient throughput, and electronic health record workflows. This shift away from time with patients coincides with a decline in clinical skills and an increase in burnout, particularly among trainees.”
The next step is to minimize non-productive work.
UnitedHealth to invest $100M in diversifying healthcare workforce “The United Health Foundation, the philanthropic arm of UnitedHealth Group, will invest $100 million over the next decade to drive a more diverse healthcare workforce…
The investment is the single largest contribution ever made by United Health Foundation and will provide scholarships and support to 10,000 clinicians from underrepresented communities. The program will back 5,000 new students, with a focus on primary care, as well as support 5,000 clinics that want to progress careers in medicine, nursing, midwifery, mental health and other specialties.”
About health technology
Wearables Market Sees First Decline at Beginning of 2022 as Demand Normalizes, According to IDC A good summary of the latest updates on the industry’s leading companies.