Check today’s KFF Health News. Especially note:
NPR: Trump Administration Terminates CDC Flu Vaccine Campaign:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is stopping a successful flu vaccination campaign that juxtaposed images of wild animals, such as a lion, with cute counterparts, like a kitten, as an analogy for how immunization can help tame the flu. The news was shared with staff during a meeting on Wednesday, according to two CDC staffers who spoke with NPR on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, and a recording reviewed by NPR.
Meeting of key CDC vaccine advisory panel, under scrutiny by RFK Jr., is postponed: A committee of experts that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine policy — a group believed to be in the crosshairs of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — will not meet for its regularly scheduled February meeting, a senior HHS official confirmed Thursday.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was to meet from Feb. 26 to 28, its first gathering since the Trump administration took office. That will not happen, Andrew Nixon, the HHS director of communications, told STAT in an email. Later on Thursday, a notice of the postponement was posted on the ACIP’s homepage.
In other news:
Patients as Consumers: New Research Report Shows A New Era of Expectations in Healthcare:
Key findings include:
AI Adoption: Over one-third of consumers use AI for healthcare-related purposes like researching treatments and looking up physicians, but 75% expect transparency when AI is involved in patient communications.
Friction Costs Loyalty: Nearly half (48.4%) of consumers face appointment barriers—and these types of patient friction leading to a 13.1-point drop in “likelihood to recommend” scores.
Online Reviews Matter: 59% rely on online search and would delay appointments if high-quality reviews from former patients are lacking.
Accuracy Is Non-Negotiable: 9-in-10 consumers consider accurate information online about their clinicians as a top priority; nearly half will walk away if details are outdated or missing.
Online Scheduling Drives Choice: 80% consider it essential, yet only 25% rate current experiences as “excellent.”
Comment: These opinions are all on the access to care theme.
About health insurance/insurers
Trump administration backs ACA preventive coverage mandate: The Trump administration plans to defend the ACA requirement that requires insurers to fully cover certain preventive services for their members.
On Feb. 18, the Justice Department filed a brief with the Supreme Court, arguing in favor of maintaining the Biden administration's stance regarding the landmark case that centers on whether employers can exclude covered services on religious grounds. Specifically, the case addresses the authority of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in mandating coverage for preventive services, including medications such as PrEP for HIV prevention.
UnitedHealth Group offers buyouts to eligible employees: reports : UnitedHealth Group is offering a voluntary separation package to thousands of employees, anonymous workers are posting on social media and layoff forums.
Employees said they left departmentwide meetings Feb. 17 where they were offered a severance plan. The workers estimate around 30,000 employees are eligible for the severance option.
These reports were confirmed by Health Payer Specialist. The company’s benefits operations unit is one of the divisions offered the buyout, CNBC reported.
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Newsweek: US Warned Of 2032 Hospital Crisis:
U.S. hospitals are on track for a crisis come 2032 that may lead to hundreds of thousands of additional deaths each year. This is the warning of a study by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), who found that hospitals are not only fuller now than they were before the COVID-19 pandemic—but are on track to exceed the critical threshold of 85 percent hospital occupancy within just seven years.
CommonSpirit Health logs $135M Q2 operating gain on higher volumes, checked labor spend:CommonSpirit Health reported an operating gain of $135 million (1.3% operating margin) for its second financial quarter ended Dec. 31, turning around the prior year’s loss with higher volumes, faster churn and more efficient labor spending.
The results, announced Friday, come as the massive nonprofit grapples with “considerable challenges” surrounding inflationary expenses and securing adequate payments from insurers, it said.
Mass General Brigham opens FY25 with $54M operating loss; expects layoffs to save over $200M annually: Shortly after disclosing a wave of ongoing layoffs, nonprofit Mass General Brigham has reported a $53.8 million operating loss (-1% operating margin) but a $281.7 million net gain for the quarter ended Dec. 31.
Despite an 11% increase in total operating revenues largely driven by patient care, it’s a downturn over the same quarter the year before when the system logged a $32 million operating loss (-0.7% operating margin, excluding $114 million of certain prior year revenue) and $579.4 million excess of revenues over expenses.
Across the full 2024 fiscal year ended Sept. 30, MGB had reported a $72 million operating loss (-0.4% operating margin, again excluding prior year revenue).
About pharma
Pharma in the crosshairs as Trump floats 25% tariff on drug imports: n remarks to reporters Tuesday, Trump said the new duties would be around 25% and "go very substantially higher over a course of a year," but companies that establish domestic facilities would avoid the penalties. "When they come back into the United States and they have their plant or factory here, there is no tariff," Trump said.
It remains unclear if and when such tariffs on pharma products would be imposed, but Trump indicated that he wants to allow producers to expand their manufacturing capacity in the US, "so we want to give them a little bit of a chance."
The US imported close to $176.7 billion worth of pharmaceutical products in 2023, according to data from the US International Trade Commission. The country has become increasingly reliant on drug imports since the 1990s, with an estimated 80% of active pharmaceutical ingredients used in US prescription drugs being produced abroad, mostly in China and India.
Baxter IV plant restores pre-hurricane production : Baxter's North Cove manufacturing facility in Marion, N.C., has returned to pre-hurricane production levels following extensive flooding from Hurricane Helene, which halted operations and triggered a nationwide IV-fluid shortage.
Comment: This lengthy time-to-restoration indicates how precarious our supply chain is— particularly if we slow down imports through tariffs.
About the public’s health
New York accuses popular vape brands of fueling public health crisis: New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a sweeping lawsuit Thursday against several major e-cigarette companies, arguing that the distributors and manufacturers have caused a public health crisis by strategically marketing their products to young people.
The companies promoted “deceptive and misleading” messages about e-cigarettes’ safety despite knowing that their products post health risks to users, the lawsuit alleges. It also accuses the firms of flouting a 2020 state law banning flavored vapes, which studies have shown young people prefer.
About healthcare IT
Accelerating scientific breakthroughs with an AI co-scientist Google is developing AI software to help scientists develop study hypotheses.