About Covid-19
More than 1 in 2 Americans now live in an area where CDC urges indoor masking to curb COVID-19 surges “Fifty-five percent of the country's population now live in areas of "high" COVID-19 Community Levels, up from 32% last week, according to the CDC's weekly update. Another 30% are living in counties deemed to be ‘medium’risk.”
About health insurance
Some Medicare Part D Beneficiaries Pay Full Price for Generic Drugs “In this new assessment, Avalere finds that the share of patients paying the full cost of a generic medication placed on a preferred brand tier has increased over time. In 2020, 63% of beneficiaries across all Part D plans paid the full cost of a generic at least once, an increase of 18 percentage points from 2017 to 2020…”
UnitedHealth Group's 13% revenue growth in Q2: 11 things to know “UnitedHealth Group saw double-digit revenue growth over the last three months driven by continued member growth under UnitedHealthcare and value-based arrangements at Optum Health, according to the company's second quarter 2022 earnings report released July 15.
UnitedHealthcare also said it would be getting rid out-of-pocket costs for some prescription drugs under fully insured group plans. Medications that will have a $0 cost-share include insulin, epinephrine, glucagon, naloxone and albuterol. Pending regulatory approvals, the policy could be in place by Jan. 1.”
Feds approve 'reinsurance' plan extension to control premiums on MNsure policies “The federal government has approved a five-year extension to Minnesota's "reinsurance" program to control premiums on health plans sold through the MNsure exchange.
In its approval application, the state Commerce Department said the program between 2018 and 2022 met its goal of a 15 to 20% average statewide reduction in premiums from what they would have been without reinsurance.
The Minnesota Premium Security Plan works by giving health insurers state-funded reimbursement for claims ranging from $50,000 to $250,000, which can stem from high-cost cases such as cancer treatments, intensive care, premature babies and severe cases of COVID-19.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
How Geisinger's refund program is faring amid patient experience crisis “In late 2015, the Danville, Pa.-based system rolled out the ProvenExperience program, which gives every patient the option to claim a full refund, no questions asked. The program works on a sliding scale, allowing patients to determine how much of their copay they'd like back if their service or experience expectations weren't met…
ProvenExperience refunded $320,141 in financial year 2016. In 2020, Dr. Burke said Geisinger refunded about $84,000, and the program refunded $40,000 in 2021 — a surprising trend, given a national drop in patient experience satisfaction measures throughout the pandemic. Findings from a Press Ganey survey in November 2021 found patients' overall rating of hospital care fell 4 percentage points, and the likelihood of recommending their hospital fell 4.5 percentage points.”
HCA shares hit 1-year low “Shares of Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare fell to a 52-week low of $164.47 in trading on July 14, according to a report from Seeking Alpha. Shares are down 24 percent over the last year and 34 percent year to date.”
About pharma
Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly poised to divvy up obesity market that could be worth $50B in 2030: analysts “While reimbursement and education challenges persist, drugmakers like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are poised to unlock a global obesity market that could be worth more than $50 billion by the end of the decade, analysts at Morgan Stanley Research wrote in a note to clients Friday.
Novo’s latest semaglutide med, Wegovy, scored its landmark obesity nod last summer. And Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide, recently approved as Mounjaro, has big weight loss ambitions beyond its initial diabetes green light.”
About the public’s health
The national suicide hotline is changing to 988 starting Saturday “The nationwide hotline for mental health emergencies switches to a simple 988 number on Saturday, a transition that is expected to bring millions more calls, chats and texts into a system where readiness to handle the surge varies from place to place.”
Associations Between Prenatal Urinary Biomarkers of Phthalate Exposure and Preterm Birth “In this pooled analysis of 16 studies in the US including 6045 pregnant individuals, phthalate metabolites were quantified in urine samples collected during pregnancy. Higher urinary metabolite concentrations for several prevalent phthalates were associated with greater odds of delivering preterm, and hypothetical interventions to reduce phthalate exposure levels were associated with fewer preterm births…
Phthalates are synthetic chemicals used in everyday consumer products such as personal care items and food processing or packaging. Exposure can occur through many sources, including household dust, diet, and personal care products like cosmetics.”
Texas sues Biden over new abortion guidance as conservative groups mull more challenges “The Texas attorney general filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging new abortion guidance the Biden administration released this week — arguing that it violates the rights of doctors not to participate in terminating a pregnancy and steps on the state’s right to regulate the procedure within its borders.
The suit against the Biden administration’s top health officials only targets one of the two main actions the federal government has taken in response to the fall of Roe v. Wade — a memo to hospitals and doctors across the country on Monday arguing that federal law requires them to provide abortions in emergency circumstances regardless of whatever bans their state imposes…
The Texas case will go before Judge James Hendrix, an appointee of President Donald Trump, and if appealed would go to the right-leaning 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and then up to the Supreme Court.”
Monkeypox patients should not be left to suffer when an FDA-approved drug could help “More than one million doses of tecovirimat are currently sitting in the National Strategic Stockpile, with only a few doses having been released to health departments for use, even as monkeypox cases continue to rise.”
Read the article for a fascinating story about this medication.
Meanwhile: US government orders 2.5M more monkeypox vaccine doses from Bavarian Nordic via CMO
About health technology
DOJ files False Claims Act case against dialysis giant Fresenius alleging unnecessary vascular procedures “The whistleblower complaint alleges that from about January 1, 2012 through June 30, 2018, Fresenius routinely performed certain procedures on patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD) who were receiving dialysis, without sufficient clinical indication that the patients needed the procedures. Fresenius knowingly subjected ESRD patients—who included elderly, disadvantaged minority, and low-income individuals—to these procedures to increase its revenues, the DOJ complaint states.”