About Covid-19
FDA authorizes Pfizer’s Covid omicron booster as fourth shot for kids under 5 “KEY POINTS
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizer’s omicron booster shot for kids younger than five who were previously vaccinated with three doses of the company’s original vaccine.
Children six months through four years old who completed their three-dose primary series with Pfizer and BioNTech’s monovalent shots more than two months ago are now eligible to receive a single booster dose of the updated shot.”
COVID-19 rebound not linked to Paxlovid, FDA says “The FDA reviewed Pfizer's mid-to-late stage clinical trials of Paxlovid and found "no evidence of a higher rate of symptom rebound or moderate symptom rebound."
About health insurance/insurers
Medicaid Redetermination Coverage Transitions “Overall, our modeling finds that in nearly all states, the majority of individuals will transition to employer-provided coverage (EPC). Variation across states ranges from the lowest proportion (48.9%) in Georgia, to the highest proportion (57.1%) in Delaware, enrolling in EPC.
Notably, approximately 3.8 million (or 21.2%) of people who lose Medicaid coverage during redetermination are estimated to become uninsured. Variation ranges from 17.7% in Massachusetts to 26.2% in South Dakota.”
The first line above highlights how expensive EPC is— these individuals would rather accept the limitations of Medicaid rather than enroll in their workplace plan.
March 2023 Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy From MedPAC. Read (or scan) the 25- page executive summary, it touches on all aspects of Medicare payments. Remember, MedPAC’s recommendations are only advisory. It is also important to note that: “Because of standard data lags, the most recent complete data we have for most payment adequacyindicators are from 2021.”
Association of Participation in a Value-Based Insurance Design [VBID] Program With Health Care Spending and Utilization “This retrospective cohort study included 94 127 enrollees in commercial health plans. The VBID cohort was associated with significantly higher spending on or use of primary care physicians and immunizations, lower inpatient admissions and surgical procedures, and similar changes in overall spending compared with a non-VBID cohort in 2019 or 2020.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
The Estimated Value of Tax Exemption for Nonprofit Hospitals Was Nearly $28 Billion in 2020 “The total estimated value of tax exemption for nonprofit hospitals was nearly $28 billion in 2020 (Figure 1). This represented over two-fifths (43%) of net income (i.e., revenues minus expenses) earned by nonprofit facilities in that year. To put the value of tax exemption in perspective, our estimate is similar to the total value of Medicare and Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments in the same year ($31.9 billion in fiscal year 2020)…”
17 called-off hospital deals FYI
About pharma
Factors Associated With Public Trust in Pharmaceutical Manufacturers This cross-sectional study used a nationally representative survey of 2867 individuals at risk of cardiovascular disease (mean [SD] age, 54 [7] years; 1324 women [46%] and 2119 White individuals [74%]). A total of 1145 individuals (40%) considered pharmaceutical manufacturers to be sometimes (1036 [36%]) or always (109 [4%]) trustworthy….
Excellent health (OR, 1.70 [95% CI, 1.05-2.75]; P = .03) and having a regular source of care (OR, 1.19 [95% CI, 1.01-1.40]; P = .03) were associated with higher trust in pharmaceutical manufacturers…Individuals with Democratic (OR, 1.35 [95% CI, 1.15-1.61]; P < .001) or Republican party affiliation (OR, 1.27 [95% CI, 1.09-1.49]; P = .003) had higher trust relative to those with Independent affiliation. Relative to the west, individuals in the northeast had higher trust (OR, 1.43 [95% C, 1.16-1.77]; P = .001). There were no differences across gender, race and ethnicity, age, income, or educational level.”
Check the tables in the article.
FACT SHEET: Seniors Across the Country Are Saving Millions of Dollars in Health Care Costs Because of President Biden’s Prescription Drug Law This Whitehouse statement, stripped of the political rhetoric, lists 27 drugs whose prices rose faster than inflation and whose manufacturers are subject to fines.
About the public’s health
2023’s Most Overweight and Obese Cities in the U.S. FYI
Many Americans Are Likely to Skip Preventive Care if ACA Coverage Falls Through In September, [Judge Reed] O’Connor ruled that it is unconstitutional to require insurers to cover preventive services, with no cost-sharing for patients, that are recommended by an independent adviser. The judge did not issue a remedy at the time of the ruling, however, and still has yet to release one…
At least 2 in 5 U.S. adults said they are not willing to pay for 11 of the 12 preventive services currently covered by the ACA, according to a new Morning Consult survey. Furthermore, at least half said they would not pay out of pocket for preventive services such as tobacco cessation or screenings for HIV, depression and unhealthy drug use.”
Incidence of Aggressive End-of-Life Care Among Older Adults With Metastatic Cancer Living in Nursing Homes and Community Settings “Question Is receipt of aggressive end-of-life (EOL) care for older adults with metastatic cancer more common among nursing home (NH) residents or their community-dwelling counterparts?
Findings This cohort study of 146 329 older adults found that aggressive EOL care was more common for NH residents than for community-dwelling residents (64% vs 58%). The key markers associated with the higher prevalence of aggressive EOL care were more than 1 hospital admission in the last 30 days of life and in-hospital death.”
West Nile, Lyme, and other diseases are on the rise with climate change. Experts warn the U.S. is not prepared “Tick-borne diseases comprise the largest share of vector-borne diseases by far — over 80% of reported cases are caused by ticks. Longer summers, rising temperatures, and the expanding ranges of tick species such as Ixodes scapularis, the black-legged tick, and Amblyomma americanum, the lone star tick, are leading to an increased chance of human exposure to pathogens over a larger geographic area.
Remote Cardiovascular Hypertension Program Enhanced Blood Pressure Control During the COVID‐19 Pandemic “A remote clinical management program was successfully adapted and delivered significant improvements in BP control and increased home BP monitoring despite a nationally observed disruption of traditional hypertension care. Such programs have the potential to transform hypertension management and care delivery.”
From the patient perspective, the remote technology improves cost, quality and access. However, from the provider standpoint, there needs to be a business model for such care, e.g., telemedicine charges or capitation.
About healthcare IT
Associations Between Natural Language Processing–Enriched Social Determinants of Health and Suicide Death Among US Veterans “Question Are social determinants of health (SDOHs), extracted from both structured and unstructured clinical data, associated with an increased risk of suicide death among US veterans?
Findings In this case-control study of 8821 cases and 35 284 matched controls, SDOHs from both structured data and unstructured data (extracted using a natural language processing system) were associated with an increased risk of suicide death.
Meaning The findings of this study suggest that SDOHs are risk factors for suicide among the US veterans and that natural language processing can be leveraged to extract SDOH information from unstructured data.”
2023’s Largest Health Data Breach So Far Brings Legal Flurry “Regal Medical Group disclosed last month that over 3.3 million patients had their personal and health information exposed in a December 2022 ransomware cyberattack. The US Department of Health and Human Services says the breach is currently the biggest reported to it in 2023. The agency’s Office for Civil Rights is also investigating it.
At least 11 lawsuits, all in California, were filed in the three weeks following Regal’s February disclosure, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis of court dockets. They seek monetary damages ranging between $100 and $3,000 per class member, and several want Regal and its affiliates to ensure they will prevent similar incidents from happening again.”
Google launches Open Health Stack for app developers, unveils new AI partnerships
Yesterday, Google “unveiled new AI partnerships focused on cancer screenings and maternal health and efforts to give Fitbit users easier access to health and wellness data from their devices…
The company also announced that it’s making it easier for people to find affordable healthcare centers near them. Consumers will be able to see providers that identify as community health centers offering free or low-cost care…”
About health technology
Poll Says American Consumers Want FDA Regulation of Medical Device Repair “According to a new poll, 77 percent of American consumers think that the FDA should regulate medical device service and repair conducted by either original equipment manufacturers or independent third-party companies.”
Never thought about the fact that an FDA-approved device can malfunction and be “fixed” by someone with questionable skills.
PerkinElmer completes $2.45B spinoff to create new diagnostics, life sciences company “PerkinElmer has completed the split it announced last August, selling off its applied science, food and enterprise services businesses to private equity firm New Mountain Capital and combining the remaining life sciences and diagnostics businesses into a new, standalone company.
While the businesses sold to New Mountain will retain the PerkinElmer name, the newly formed medtech supplier will go by a different moniker—though its name, logo and ticker symbol have yet to be announced.