About Covid-19
Symptoms and risk factors for long COVID in non-hospitalized adults “A total of 62 symptoms were significantly associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection after 12 weeks. The largest aHRs [adjusted hazard rates] were for anosmia (aHR 6.49, 95% CI 5.02–8.39), hair loss (3.99, 3.63–4.39), sneezing (2.77, 1.40–5.50), ejaculation difficulty (2.63, 1.61–4.28) and reduced libido (2.36, 1.61–3.47). Among the cohort of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, risk factors for long COVID included female sex, belonging to an ethnic minority, socioeconomic deprivation, smoking, obesity and a wide range of comorbidities. The risk of developing long COVID was also found to be increased along a gradient of decreasing age. SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with a plethora of symptoms that are associated with a range of sociodemographic and clinical risk factors.”
Interferon resistance of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants “Here, we compared the potency of 17 different human interferons against multiple viral lineages sampled during the course of the global outbreak, including ancestral and five major variants of concern that include the B.1.1.7 (alpha), B.1.351 (beta), P.1 (gamma), B.1.617.2 (delta), and B.1.1.529 (omicron) lineages. Our data reveal that relative to ancestral isolates, SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern exhibited increased interferon resistance, suggesting that evasion of innate immunity may be a significant, ongoing driving force for SARS-CoV-2 evolution. These findings have implications for the increased transmissibility and/or lethality of emerging variants and highlight the interferon subtypes that may be most successful in the treatment of early infections.”
KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: July 2022 Lots of good information in this report, but see Figure 1.”More Than Four In Ten Parents Of Children Under 5 Eligible For The Vaccine Say They Will "Definitely Not" Vaccinate Their Child For COVID-19.” Disturbing!
About health insurance
Medical Device Manufacturer Biotronik Inc. Agrees To Pay $12.95 Million To Settle Allegations of Improper Payments to Physicians “Biotronik Inc. (Biotronik), a medical device manufacturer based in Oregon, has agreed to pay $12.95 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by causing the submission of false claims to Medicare and Medicaid by paying kickbacks to physicians to induce their use of Biotronik’s implantable cardiac devices, such as pacemakers and defibrillators.”
Former Texas health system CEO charged in $1.2B fraud crackdown “The former CEO of Little River Healthcare was among 36 defendants across the U.S. charged in criminal cases for their alleged involvement in fraudulent telemedicine, durable medical equipment and cardiovascular and cancer genetic testing fraud.”
Health Disparities in Employer-Sponsored Insurance July 2022 From MorganHealth and NORC. Although the data source spans several years there are no trends presented. The updated figures are interesting but no new findings.
Most workers say they are satisfied with their employer’ health benefits “The survey showed that although 54% of the 1,000 adults surveyed said they are satisfied with the current health system overall, 67% said they were satisfied with the coverage they receive through their employer.
What makes someone satisfied with their coverage? The top three reasons given were:
Affordability – 45%
Comprehensive coverage – 45%
Choice of providers – 44%
Other factors that rounded out the list of reasons for being satisfied included: free preventive services, consistency, customer service, the ability to receive care locally, wellness incentives and innovation…
It is more important for employer-provided coverage to be comprehensive than it is for it to be affordable, survey respondents said. This was especially true of those 55 years old and older, with 77% of that age group saying it is more important that their health insurance covers every service they need.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
America's Best Hospitals: the 2022-2023 Honor Roll and Overview From US News.
Big Hospitals Provide Skimpy Charity Care—Despite Billions in Tax Breaks This article is an investigative piece that appears today on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. The article is well-worth reading if you can access it. One major finding: “These charitable organizations, which comprise the majority of hospitals in the U.S., wrote off in aggregate 2.3% of their patient revenue on financial aid for patients’ medical bills. Their for-profit competitors, a category including publicly traded giants such as HCA Healthcare Inc., wrote off 3.4%, the Journal found in an analysis of the most-recent annual reports hospitals file with the federal government…
The value of nonprofit hospitals’ subsidy from avoiding taxes is more than $60 billion a year, according to estimates by Johns Hopkins University professor Gerard Anderson.”
In calculating the charitable expenses, “The Journal analyzed annual cost reports filed by thousands of hospitals with Medicare for the most recent year available—typically fiscal 2020 or 2021—comparing hospitals’ charity-care costs and net revenue from patient care to gauge how much help they give to patients struggling with medical bills.” Recall that the Medicare cost report is based on a cost accounting system that maximizes charges attributable to Medicare patients.
Now that hospitals must publish their rates for all payers, perhaps a more accurate figure for charity care can be calculated.
Centene boosts guidance despite $172M loss in Q2 “Centene posted a $172 million loss in the second quarter, still beating the Street and slimming its losses compared to the prior-year quarter.
In the second quarter of 2021, Centene reported a loss of $535 million, according to its earnings report released Tuesday morning. Through the first six months of this year, the government insurance giant has brought in $677 million in profit, compared to $164 million through the first half of 2021.
The company brought in $35.9 billion in revenue for the quarter, up from $31 billion in the second quarter of 2021. In the first half of this year, revenues were $73.1 billion, according to the report, compared to $61 billion in the first half of 2021.”
About pharma
Pfizer loses U.S. appeal over co-pays for heart failure patientsA federal appeals court on Monday rejected Pfizer Inc's challenge to a U.S. anti-kickback law the drugmaker said prevented it from helping heart failure patients, many with low incomes, afford medicine that cost $225,000 per year.
A unanimous three-judge panel of the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Pfizer's effort to directly cover co-pays for patients taking its Vyndaqel and Vyndamax drugs.
Teva Reaches $5B National Opioid Deal “Lead attorneys for local governments, Native American tribes and states on Tuesday said they had reached a nearly $5 billion settlement in principle with drugmaker Teva, including about $3. 7 billion in cash, to end litigation over the nation's opioid crisis. The plaintiffs' executive committee said the $3. 7 billion includes about $650,000 earmarked for previously settled cases. The abatement funds will be spread out over 13 years, according to the committee, with legal fees and costs to be paid out over six years. Teva will also provide the option of donating $1. 2 billion of a generic version of its overdose drug Narcan…”
About the public’s health
Biden administration weighs declaring monkeypox a health emergency “The Biden administration is weighing whether to declare the nation’s monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency and also plans to name a White House coordinator to oversee the response as officials attempt to keep the virus from becoming entrenched in the United States.”
And in a related article: U.S. may need $7 billion for monkeypox, Biden administration estimates
HHS proposes restoring transgender health protections stripped by Trump-era rule “The Biden administration aims to restore nondiscrimination protections to transgender individuals that were stripped in a Trump-era rule.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a proposed rule Monday expanding Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, race, color, national origin, age and disability for certain health activities. The agency also wants to expand the purview of the rule to anyone that gets Medicare Part B.”
Behavioral Counseling Interventions to Promote a Healthy Diet and Physical Activity for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Adults Without Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors- US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement “The USPSTF recommends that clinicians individualize the decision to offer or refer adults without CVD risk factors to behavioral counseling interventions to promote a healthy diet and physical activity. (C recommendation)…
The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concludes with moderate certainty that behavioral counseling interventions have a small net benefit [emphasis in the original] on CVD risk in adults without CVD risk factors.”
About healthcare finance
3M to spin off $8.6B healthcare business to publicly traded company “Material science company 3M said it plans to spin off its healthcare ventures into two publicly traded companies, New 3M and Health Care, by the end of 2023.
‘The New 3M will remain a leading global material science innovator serving customers across a range of industrial and consumer end markets, and Health Care will be a leading global diversified healthcare technology company focused on wound care, healthcare IT, oral care and biopharma filtration,’ the conglomerate said in a July 26 news release…
The transaction is pending approval from the company's board of directors, the IRS and the Securities and Exchange Commission.”