Friday Stats and More

David Ermer–CDC, Congress, COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccine, Medicare, U.S. Healthcare–

Based on the CDC’s Cases in the U.S. website, here is the FEHBlog’s chart of new weekly COVID-19 cases and deaths over the 20th through 37th weeks of this year (beginning May 14 and ending September 16; using Thursday as the first day of the week in order to facilitate this weekly update):

and here is the CDC’s latest overall weekly hospitalization rate chart for COVID-19:

Because the FEHBlog does look at his charts which are intended to show trends, he realized that new deaths chart is flat because new cases greatly exceed new deaths. Accordingly here is a chart of new COVID-19 deaths over the same period (May 14 through September 16 (basically four months).

In other COVID-19 news:

  • The Wall Street Journal reports “

U.S. hospitals expect to be better prepared if a second wave of Covid-19 cases hits in coming months, doctors and administrators say, after gaining a better understanding how to triage patients, which drugs to use and what supplies are needed. When the new coronavirus first struck, beds filled up at record speed, ventilators were in short supply and proven treatments were scant. Since then, doctors say, they have developed a better understanding of who needs a ventilator and how quickly a patient can be discharged, and studies have pointed to a few drugs like the antiviral remdesivir and the steroid dexamethasone that can help

The FEHBlog heartily agrees that the country is better prepared but he believes that the Journal is assuming facts not in evidence when it speaks about a second wave because we really are still in the first wave.

  • Medscape offers an MD’s perspective on the leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
  • The Wall Street Journal reports that the Centers for Disease Control withdrew last month’s highly criticized advice that people who had contact with asymptomatic COVID-19 patients don’t need a COVID-19 test. “The Sept. 18 updated recommendation now says that close contacts of a person with a confirmed Covid-19 infection need a test even in the absence of symptoms. The changes were described as a clarification, rather than a revision, on the CDC website.”
  • Speaking of COVID-19 testing, Mercer Consulting offers advice on how to cover COVID-19 testing which Congress made unnecessarily complicated.

In other news,

  • Govexec.com reports that “House Democrats are preparing to vote [next week] on a six-week stopgap spending bill that would keep agencies open through Dec. 11, according to Democratic aide.” From reading the article, it looks like the continuing resolution which is not fully backed will be enacted thereby avoiding what would be the craziest government shutdown in American history.
  • Speaking of criticism, Fierce Healthcare reports that “the American Academy of Family Physicians, which represents about 135,000 physicians, said the recommendations miss the mark and skew toward virtual-only telehealth vendors and large medical systems with established telehealth infrastructure. The task force’s report doesn’t address the needs of independent practices that need guidance, support and payment advocacy, wrote Stephanie Quinn, AAFP senior vice president of advocacy, practice advancement and policy in a blog post Tuesday.” The most encouraging tele heath acceleration that the FEHBlog witnessed during the great hunker down is patients holding telehealth visits with their own doctors. That FEHBlog agrees with AAFP that this trend that should be strongly encouraged.
  • Healthcare Dive reports that “Privately insured patients pay 247% more at hospitals on average than Medicare patients for the same care, according to a new study by nonprofit think tank RAND. The study, based on 2018 data, shows the gap is increasing from 2017 and 2016, which saw disparities of 230% and 224%, respectively. If private payers had paid Medicare rates over the three-year study period, they would have saved $19.7 billion, RAND determined. The study could provide fodder for proponents of a government-run public option, a key tenet of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s healthcare agenda, which — like Medicare — would negotiate prices with hospitals and other providers.

Hey, Healthcare Dive, in contrast to health plans which do negotiate with healthcare providers Medicare imposes prices on providers. Government price fixing leads to disparities like this and it’s far from a good thing.