About Covid-19
How many Americans still haven't caught COVID-19? CDC publishes final 2022 estimates “Virtually every American ages 16 and older — 96.7% — had antibodies either from getting vaccinated, surviving the virus or some combination of the two by December, the CDC now estimates. The study found 77.5% had at least some of their immunity from a prior infection.
Of all age groups, seniors have the smallest share of Americans with at least one prior infection, at 56.5% of people ages 65 and over. Young adults and teens had the largest proportion of people with a prior infection, at 87.1% of people ages 16 to 29.”
About health insurance/insurers
CMS proposes $375M cut to home health Medicare payments in 2024 “The Biden administration issued a proposal Friday to cut reimbursements to home health providers by 2.2% next year, or an estimated $375 million less than 2023 payment levels.”
Healthcare billing fraud: 11 recent cases FYI
National Health Expenditure Projections, 2022–31: Growth To Stabilize Once The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Ends “National health expenditures are projected to grow 5.4 percent, on average, over the course of 2022–31 and to account for roughly 20 percent of the economy by the end of that period. The insured share of the population is anticipated to exceed 92 percent through 2023, in part as a result of record-high Medicaid enrollment, and then decline toward 90 percent as coverage requirements related to the COVID-19 public health emergency expire. The prescription drug provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 are anticipated to lower out-of-pocket spending for Medicare Part D enrollees beginning in 2024 and to result in savings to Medicare beginning in 2031.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Some Hospitals That Spent Big on Nurses During Pandemic Are Now Short on Cash “Hospitals have disclosed some kind of repayment difficulty for more than $10 billion in municipal bonds in the past 12 months, according to Municipal Market Analytics. Overall, about $12 billion in hospital bonds is impaired—nearly 4% of all hospital muni debt outstanding. That is the most in the past 15 years, including during the 2008-09 financial crisis.”
About pharma
Pfizer taps Samsung Biologics in manufacturing deals worth $897 million “Pfizer has finalised a pair of deals worth a combined $897 million for Samsung Biologics to manufacture products for the pharmaceutical company. Samsung Biologics made the disclosures on Tuesday, saying the arrangements would see it produce biosimilar products at its new Plant 4 facility in South Korea.”
Moderna strikes deal worth up to $1B to develop, produce mRNA drugs in China: reports “In a deal that could be worth up to $1 billion, Massachusetts-based Moderna inked a memorandum of understanding, plus a land collaboration agreement, to identify opportunities to research, develop and manufacture mRNA medicines in China, Yicai Global, Reuters and others have reported.”
Psychedelic Drugs: Considerations for Clinical Investigations Guidance for Industry FYI from the FDA
About the public’s health
Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels in Adults With Coronary Artery Disease in the US, January 2015 to March 2020 “Achievement of guideline-directed targets for LDL-C among adults with reported CAD was low, with almost 3 in 4 participants not meeting ACC/AHA guideline targets and 9 in 10 not meeting ESC guideline targets. Rates of statin use in adults with reported CAD were suboptimal.
Even among adults receiving statins, rates of achieving guideline goals for LDL-C were low. This is concerning because evidence suggests LDL-C levels are improving in the overall population. Factors contributing to low rates of attaining guideline goals may include inadequate statin treatment intensification, insufficient add-on therapy use (eg, ezetimibe), and low use of novel therapies (monoclonal antibody PCSK-9 inhibitors, inclisiran, and bempedoic acid). Low rates of statin use and intensification may relate to prescriber or patient hesitation.”
A Blood Test Predicts Pre-eclampsia in Pregnant Women “The Food and Drug Administration has approved a blood test that can identify pregnant women who are at imminent risk of developing a severe form of high blood pressure called pre-eclampsia, a leading cause of disability and death among childbearing women…
The new blood test, made by Thermo Fisher Scientific, has been available in Europe for several years. It is intended for pregnant women who are hospitalized for a blood pressure disorder in the 23rd to 35th weeks of gestation.
The test can tell, with up to 96 percent accuracy, who will not develop pre-eclampsia within the next two weeks and so can safely be discharged from the hospital. Two-thirds of the women who get a positive result, on the other hand, will progress to severe pre-eclampsia in that time, and their babies may need to be delivered early.”
About healthcare IT
Need to Get Plan B or an HIV Test Online? Facebook May Know About It “An investigation by The Markup and KFF Health News found trackers on CVS.com telling some of the biggest social media and advertising platforms the products customers viewed.
And CVS is not the only pharmacy sharing this kind of sensitive data.
We found trackers collecting browsing- and purchase-related data on websites of 12 of the U.S.’ biggest drugstores, including grocery store chains with pharmacies, and sharing the sensitive information with companies like Meta (formerly Facebook); Google, through its advertising and analytics products; and Microsoft, through its search engine, Bing.”
About health technology
Illumina faces record European Union fine over Grail deal next week - report “Illumina faces a record fine from the European Union as early as next week after completing its purchase of cancer-screening company Grail without the antitrust regulator's approval.
The fine may be as much as $453 million, or 10% of the company's revenue…”
Abbott reels in FDA approval for dual-chamber leadless pacemaker “Just a few weeks after Abbott presented the successful results of a trial of its Aveir DR dual-chamber leadless pacemaker system—data that it said had been promptly submitted for regulatory review—the company has secured FDA approval for the technology.”
Medtronic finds hacking risk in heart device data management system “Medtronic has identified a vulnerability that could potentially allow hackers to access the cardiac device data stored in its Paceart Optima data workflow systems.
The technology is used by healthcare providers as a single place to compile the health data of patients using heart devices. It accepts transmissions from implants, programmers and remote monitoring devices made by both Medtronic and competitors like Boston Scientific and Abbott, including data gathered in the clinic and at a patient’s own home.”