About Covid-19
Moderna submits authorisation application for coronavirus vaccine Spikevax XBB.1.5 “Moderna Switzerland GmbH has submitted an application to Swissmedic, the Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products, for authorisation of its updated monovalent COVID-19 vaccine. It encodes the spike protein for Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 of SARS-CoV-2.”
About health insurance/insurers
Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in California evaded $170 million in taxes, whistleblower says “Blue Shield of California evaded $111 million in taxes between 2016 and 2020, according to a complaint that was filed with the Internal Revenue Service on June 27. Elevance Health, the parent company of Anthem Blue Cross in California, evaded $60 million in taxes during the same time period, according to a separate complaint filed with the IRS.”
Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker “At least 2,181,000 Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled as of July 14, 2023, based on the most current data from 30 states and the District of Columbia. Overall, 37% of people with a completed renewal were disenrolled in reporting states while 63%, or 3.4 million enrollees, had their coverage renewed (four of the reporting states do not provide data on renewed enrollees). Because not all states have publicly available data on total disenrollments, the data reported here undercount the actual number of disenrollments.”
Obamacare Eligibility Match Program to Be Re-Established “Verification of eligibility to enroll in Obamacare plans and get subsidies will be re-established, the Department of Health and Human Services said Friday.
A ‘matching program’ between the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Social Security Administration will be re-established for an initial term of 18 months from Sept. 9 to March 8, 2025, and may be renewed for an additional year if no changes are made, the notice said. Comments may be submitted. The notice will be published in the July 17 Federal Register.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Changes in US Hospital Financial Performance During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency “Question How did the financial position of hospitals change during the COVID-19 public health emergency?
Findings In this national cohort study of 4423 hospitals, 3337 (75%) hospitals had a positive net operating income during 2020/2021, and 720 (16%) experienced new financial distress. Hospitals serving Hispanic populations were more likely to experience financial distress, even after receiving public health emergency funding; however, COVID-19 relief funding aided in hospital net operating margins reaching all-time highs.
Meaning Although the majority of US hospitals were financially healthy across 2020 and 2021, partly due to the provision of COVID-19 relief funds, the size of COVID-19 relief funds may have been larger than was necessary for many hospitals.”
CMS to raise hospital payments to buy N95 masks, proposes 2.7% pay hike for facilities “The Biden administration is proposing a 2.7% increase to outpatient payment rates for hospitals for 2023 and an enhanced payment if a facility buys domestically manufactured N95 respirator masks.”
Hospital M&A deal volume returns to pre-pandemic levels as systems seek out complementary services “Twenty new deals were announced from April to June, up from the 15 of the first quarter and squarely above the 14 announced in the second quarter of 2020 along with the 14 and 13 transactions announced in the second quartesr of 2021 and 2022, respectively, healthcare consultancy Kaufman Hall wrote in an analysis released Thursday. The most recent count is in line with the 21 deals tallied by the firm in the second quarter of 2018 and the 19 deals that were inked in the second quarter of 2019.
Deal size, on the other hand, remains elevated compared to the years leading up to the pandemic. Second-quarter average deal size, as measured by the smaller organization’s revenue, was $664 million—down from the second quarter of 2022’s $852 million average but still above every other year dating back at least to 2017, Kaufman Hall wrote.”
About pharma
A stroke of good luck for Sangamo: Biotech snags $1B+ biobucks deal with Lilly’s Prevail after layoffs, 2 other deals dissolve Prevail is set to pay Sangamo an undisclosed upfront payment for providing the capsids for evaluation. If the Lilly unit moves forward with certain capsids, it would take the lead on all further development, manufacturing and commercialization activities. If Prevail decides to exercise its option for all targets and a Prevail product is approved in the U.S. and Europe for each target, Sangamo could receive developmental milestones of up to $415 million and commercial payments of up to $775 million, plus tiered royalties.”
About the public’s health
First RSV antibody treatment to protect all infants approved in the U.S. “Federal regulators on Monday approved a shot to protect healthy babies and some vulnerable toddlers against the respiratory ailment RSV, the leading cause of hospitalization among young children in the United States.
The preventive shot, called Beyfortus, isn’t a vaccine, but it works in a similar way, delivering a temporary shield of protection that lasts for a single winter respiratory virus season. It is made up of laboratory-brewed antibodies that block the virus from entering cells.”
About health technology
They Lost Their Legs. Doctors and Health Care Giants Profited. This NY Times article is well-worth reading if you can get access. It combines the principles of the link between fincanial incentives and actions as well as the technological imperative.
About healthcare finance
FTC asks Pfizer, Seagen for more information on proposed $43B merger “The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has asked Pfizer and Seagen for more information on their proposed $43 billion merger, the Seattle biotech revealed(PDF) in a Securities and Exchange Comission (SEC) filing Friday.
This is the second round of documentation the antitrust regulator has requested from the companies since their deal was announced in March.”
Lilly to boost obesity drug portfolio with $1.93-billion Versanis buy “Eli Lilly announced Friday that it will acquire Versanis for potentially up to $1.93 billion in cash, gaining the latter's lead drug bimagrumab, which is under development for obesity.”