About Covid-19
Evaluation of Waning of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine–Induced Immunity “This systematic review and meta-analysis of secondary data from 40 studies found that the estimated vaccine effectiveness against both laboratory-confirmed Omicron infection and symptomatic disease was lower than 20% at 6 months from the administration of the primary vaccination cycle and less than 30% at 9 months from the administration of a booster dose. Compared with the Delta variant, a more prominent and quicker waning of protection was found.”
About health insurance/insurers
The Health Coverage of Noncitizens in the United States, 2024 “Key Findings
The uninsurance rate among nonelderly people who are not citizens will be nearly four times higher than it is for the entire nonelderly U.S. population in 2024 (39.2% vs. 9.8%).
More than 80 percent of uninsured people who are not citizens live in families that include at least one employed worker, but many work in industries that do not offer employer-sponsored coverage. More than 1 in 3 (36.0%) people who are not citizens have employer coverage, compared to 54.4 percent of all nonelderly people in the United States.
People who are not citizens are less likely to have public health coverage, with many facing federal and/or state eligibility restrictions.
Only 16.5 percent of uninsured people who are not citizens are eligible for Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or subsidized Marketplace coverage.
Two-thirds of uninsured noncitizen adults are ineligible for public health coverage based solely on their immigration status.”
Medicare Improperly Paid Providers for Some Psychotherapy Services, Including Those Provided via Telehealth, During the First Year of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency From the HHS OIG: “Based on our sample results, we estimated that of the $1 billion that Medicare paid for psychotherapy services, providers received $580 million in improper payments for services that did not comply with Medicare requirements, consisting of $348 million for telehealth services and $232 million for non-telehealth services…
We recommend that CMS: (1) work with Medicare contractors to recover $35,560 in improper payments for the sampled enrollee days, (2) implement system edits for psychotherapy services to prevent payments for incorrectly billed services, and (3) strengthen educational efforts to make providers aware of educational materials on meeting requirements and guidance for psychotherapy services. The report contains three other recommendations.”
Kaiser posts $233M operating profit in Q1, health plan adds 120,000 members “Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente reported $233 million in operating income for the first quarter, up from a $72 million operating loss in the first quarter of 2022. Its operating margin grew from -0.3 percent in the first quarter of 2022 to 0.9 percent in the first quarter of this year.”
Blue Shield of California posts $910M loss in 2022 “Blue Shield of California lost $910 million in 2022 as medical costs rose, according to the company's 2022 annual report.
Medical benefits cost the company $22.1 billion in 2022, up from $20.1 billion in 2021 and $18 billion in 2020…”
Benchmarking Changes And Selective Participation In The Medicare Shared Savings Program “In contrast to earlier participation patterns, the composition of the MSSP after 2017 increasingly shifted to providers with lower preexisting levels of spending relative to their region, consistent with a selection response. Changes occurred through the entry of new ACOs with lower baseline spending, the exit of higher-spending ACOs, and the reconfiguration of participant lists favoring lower-spending practices within continuing ACOs.”
Comment: Those who tout the success of the MSSP should study this article. Self-selection is skewing the results.
About pharma
Paul Girolami, businessman, 1926-2023 This FT obituary is well worthy reading.
“Sir Paul Girolami was one of Britain’s outstanding postwar business leaders. As chief executive and later chair of Glaxo in the 1980s, Girolami, who has died aged 97, transformed a minor player in the pharmaceutical industry into a world leader. That Glaxo, now GSK, still holds that position is due in no small measure to the decisions taken by Girolami during his period at the helm.”
About healthcare personnel
Nursing School Enrollment Drops After 20-Year Rise, Worsening Shortage “For the first time in two decades, the number of students enrolled in entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs declined, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nurses (AACN) latest enrollment data. The 1.4% drop in students training to be registered nurses (RNs) last year hampers ongoing efforts to fill the nursing pipeline during a national nursing shortage. The number of applications to nursing schools also has decreased…
Despite the recent drop in enrollment, AACN reported that nursing schools turned away thousands of qualified applicants last year because of a shortage of faculty and clinical training sites. Last year, more than 78,000 qualified applications were turned away from nursing schools nationwide, AACN reported. The majority of those were in the entry-level bachelor's programs.”
About healthcare finance
Baxter breaks off biopharma solutions segment in $4.25B private equity deal “In a deal announced Monday, the medtech giant is set to separate out its biopharma solutions business, which offers drugmakers support in the form of products like injectable delivery systems and services that include regulatory resources, help with drug formulation and development, and packaging capabilities.
Private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Advent International are snapping up the segment. They’ll pay Baxter $4.25 billion in cash, which the devicemaker said will translate into net proceeds of about $3.4 billion after taxes. The deal is set to close sometime in the second half of this year.
The biopharma solutions business is among Baxter’s smallest. In 2022, it brought in $644 million in sales—a decline of 4% year over year—representing just 4% of the company’s $15.1 billion in total sales for the year.”
How Low Can It Go? Health Care Leads With Nearly $5.7B Invested In Bummer Month For Global Venture Funding “Global funding reached $21 billion, down 56% from $47.8 billion in a year-over-year comparison. This is the second-lowest amount recorded in a single month since July 2022 when venture capital started to scale below $30 billion.
The slowdown has impacted all funding stages. Seed was down more than 50% year over year, while early-stage funding dropped 48%. Late-stage funding was down the most at 62%…
Health care was the sector that raised the largest amounts with close to $5.7 billion invested. Companies that raised large rounds at the early stages include RNA-based medicine provider Orbital Therapeutics, medical robotics company Noah Medical and drugs from plants developer Enveda Biosciences.”