About Covid-19
The Great Grift: More than $200 billion in COVID-19 aid may have been stolen, federal watchdog says “The numbers issued Tuesday by the U.S. Small Business Administration inspector general are much greater than the office’s previous projections and underscore how vulnerable the Paycheck Protection and COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs were to fraudsters, particularly during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
The inspector general’s report said ‘at least 17 percent of all COVID-EIDL and PPP funds were disbursed to potentially fraudulent actors.’ The fraud estimate for the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan program is more than $136 billion, which represents 33 percent of the total money spent on that program, according to the report. The Paycheck Protection fraud estimate is $64 billion, the inspector general said.”
About health insurance/insurers
CMS's Oversight of Medicare Payments for the Highest Paid Molecular Pathology Genetic Test Was Not Adequate To Reduce the Risk of up to $888 Million in Improper Payments The headline is the story.
Push to tie Medicaid to work is making a comeback. Georgia is at forefront. Rather than requiring Medicaid recipients to work, this program allows “impoverished adults in the state who had never qualified for Medicaid to join — but only if they prove every month they meet the same kind of requirements.”
About pharma
Walgreens slashes financial outlook, ramps up efforts to drive profitability in healthcare unit “For the latest quarter, Walgreens brought in a net profit of $118 million, or 14 cents per share unadjusted, down 59% from a net profit of $289 million…
The company's healthcare segment [primary care provider VillageMD; Summit Health/CityMD, a provider of primary, specialty and urgent care; CareCentrix, a post-acute and home care provider; specialty pharmacy Shields Health; and Walgreens Health]…took an adjusted EBITDA loss of $113 million in the quarter, reflecting new clinic expansions at VillageMD and fewer patient visits at CityMD clinics.”
Addressing Pharmacy Benefit Management Misalignment See, particularly page 5, headed: “Economics and Conflicts of Pharmacy Benefit Management” The entire document is a great review of PBMs.
About the public’s health
Pickleball Injuries May Cost Americans Nearly $400 Million This Year, According to UBS The headline is the story. Research shows that “pickleball players go to emergency departments at a rate of about 0.27%, with the majority of injuries occurring among those 60 years or older. Not surprisingly, the most common injuries are strains, sprains, and fractures, with the wrest and lower leg the areas most likely to be injured.”
Pregnant workers may get longer breaks, more time off and other accommodations as new law takes effect “Millions of pregnant and postpartum workers across the country could be legally entitled to longer breaks, shorter hours and time off for medical appointments and recovery from childbirth beginning Tuesday, when the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act takes effect.
The new law mandates that employers with at least 15 employees provide "reasonable accommodations" to workers who need them due to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is tasked with enforcing the law.”
About healthcare IT
CBO: Bipartisan telehealth bill will cost $5B over next decade “Bipartisan legislation that would give people with high-deductible health plans permanent access to telehealth services without having to meet a minimum deductible will cost $5 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The Telehealth Expansion Act, led by Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), would make permanent a provision from the pandemic-era CARES Act of 2020.
The provision allowed employers and health plans to cover telehealth visits for individuals with high-deductible health plans coupled with health savings accounts, without the individuals needing to meet a deductible first.”
About health technology
MCED Test Can Aid Cancer Diagnosis in Symptomatic Patients A methylation-based multicancer early detection (MCED) test can aid cancer diagnosis in patients who present with non-specific symptoms, according to a study published in The Lancet Oncology…
The researchers used the MCED test in 5461 patients with non-specific symptoms or symptoms potentially due to gynecologic, lung, or gastrointestinal cancers. The median age of patients was 61.9 years, and 66.1% were women. The most common symptoms in these patients were unexpected weight loss (24.1%), change in bowel habits (22.0%), post-menopausal bleeding (16.0%), rectal bleeding (15.7%), abdominal pain (14.5%), and pain (10.6%)…
Cancer diagnoses were recorded in 368 patients (6.7%). The most common diagnoses were colorectal (37.2%), lung (22.0%), uterine (8.2%) and esophago-gastric (6.0%) cancers. About half (53%) of cancers were diagnosed as stage III or IV.
The MCED test detected a cancer signal in 323 patients, and 244 of those patients had a cancer diagnosis. The test had a sensitivity of 66.3% and a specificity of 98.4%. The test had its highest sensitivity (80.4%) and negative predictive value (99.1%) in patients with symptoms requiring investigation for upper gastrointestinal cancer.
The sensitivity of the MCED test increased with increasing age and cancer stage, except in upper gastrointestinal cancer. Overall, the sensitivity of the MCED test was 24.2% with stage I cancer and increased to 95.3% with stage IV disease.”
GSK receives US FDA Fast Track designation for investigational vaccine against gonorrhoea “Fast Track designation accelerates the vaccine candidate’s path to US FDA submission for the prevention of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection…
Currently there are no vaccines approved anywhere in the world for gonorrhoea, and antimicrobial resistance to existing treatments is increasing"