About Covid-19
Excess Death Rates for Republican and Democratic Registered Voters in Florida and Ohio During the COVID-19 Pandemic “Findings In this cohort study evaluating 538 159 deaths in individuals aged 25 years and older in Florida and Ohio between March 2020 and December 2021, excess mortality was significantly higher for Republican voters than Democratic voters after COVID-19 vaccines were available to all adults, but not before. These differences were concentrated in counties with lower vaccination rates, and primarily noted in voters residing in Ohio.”
About health insurance/insurers
Cigna Sued Over Algorithm Allegedly Used To Deny Coverage To Hundreds Of Thousands Of Patients “Cigna, the healthcare and insurance giant, was hit with a lawsuit on Monday that alleges the company systematically rejects claims in a matter of seconds, thanks to an algorithmic system put in place to help automate the process—further raising questions about how technology could harm patients as more healthcare organizations look to embrace AI and other new tools.
The suit, which was filed in California and is seeking class action status, was brought forth by a pair of plaintiffs who were denied coverage by Cigna.”
UNNECESSARY HEALTHCARE SERVICES COST COLORADO PATIENTS AND INSURERS $134M IN 2021 “KEY TAKEAWAYS
—The Center for Improving Value in Health Care checked out Colorado claims and found unnecessary healthcare services cost patients and health insurers $134 million in 2021.
—The top five services in terms of spending were inappropriate opioid prescribing, screening for Vitamin D, prostate cancer screening, imaging test for eye disease, and coronary angiographies.
—Among payers, Medicaid and Child Health Plan Plus have the highest percent of spending on low value care, while top services by spending vary across payer type…
—Researchers examined claims from the Colorado All Payer Claims Database from 2017 to 2021 and used Milliman's MedInsight Health Waste Calculator to evaluate potentially low value services.”
About pharma
After consumer split, Johnson & Johnson plans to drop 80% of Kenvue stake through exchange offer “Leveraging a stock exchange offer—also known as a split-off—J&J aims to reduce its stake in Kenvue by roughly 80%, the company said Monday. Under the exchange offer, which is expected to be tax-free, J&J shareholders may exchange all, some or none of their common stock for Kenvue shares, J&J said.”
FDA: No ‘immediate significant impacts’ expected on supply due to Pfizer plant damage “The Pfizer pharmaceutical plant severely damaged by a tornado this week in North Carolina will have no “immediate significant impacts” on drug supply chains, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Friday.”
FTC votes to withdraw previous guidance around PBMs as probe continues “As it continues a broad probe into the operations of pharmacy benefit managers, the Federal Trade Commission has voted to rescind longstanding advocacy statements on this sector.
The commission voted 3-0 to pull the historical advocacy statements, according to an announcement from the agency, on the pretense that these previous positions no longer reflect the state of the market. The FTC said that rescinding these statements is in direct response to PBMs' reliance on them to push back against transparency or disclosure requirements.”
About the public’s health
About 1 in 10 young adults are vaping regularly, CDC report finds “A new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report released Friday — based on 2021 data from a National Health Interview Survey — found that 11% of 18- to 24-year-olds define themselves as current e-cigarette users, more than any other age group of adults.
The report also found that White non-Hispanic Americans between 18 and 24 vape more than Latino, Asian or Black youth in the same age group.
Overall, the survey found that 4.5% of adults ages 18 and over vape. The survey defined current e-cigarette use as respondents who say they vape ‘every day’ or ‘some days.’”
About healthcare IT
Healthcare data breaches now average nearly $11M “The cost of a healthcare data breach is averaging nearly $11 million as hackers realize the value of the information stored by hospitals and health systems, a July 24 IBM report found.
Breach costs for healthcare have increased 53.3 percent since 2020 and now average $10.93 million each, nearly double the second most costly industry (financial), according to the study. Those costs surpassed $10 million for the first time in 2022, when they stood at $10.1 million.”