Tuesday Tidbits

David Ermer–Congress, COVID-19, Rx coverage, U.S. Healthcare, Uncategorized–

The Wall Street Journal reports tonight that

The most severe surge of the Covid-19 pandemic in the U.S. has weakened significantly, according to key metrics, though public-health experts and epidemiologists urge caution, given the spread of highly contagious new variants.

Newly reported cases have dropped 56% over the past month, based on a seven-day average, marking a significantly steeper fall than the U.S. saw after the spring and summer surges. Hospitalizations have declined 38% since Jan 6. The seven-day average of Covid-19 tests returning positive fell over the past week to 6.93%, the lowest since Oct. 31.

“The concern right now is that while we’re seeing a decline in cases from the holiday surges, as we identify more transmission of the variants within the U.S., this could lead to another surge,” said Saskia Popescu, an assistant professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.

The American Medical Association reports

[A]s part of its “Understanding Coronavirus in America” study, researchers from the University of Southern California Center for Economic and Social Research recently analyzed data from 6,000 members drawn from its “Understanding America Study.” Data was collected between March 10, 2020, and Jan. 6, 2021, and found that 83% of adults surveyed view wearing a mask as an effective way to stay safe from COVID-19, but that their behavior is inconsistent.

The analysis found:

Two-thirds reported being within less than six feet of someone outside their household in early December, but only half mostly or always wore a mask while doing so.
White people were the least likely to consistently wear a mask when in close contact with people from other households, with 46% reporting wearing a mask compared to 67% of black people, 63% of Latinos and 65% of people of other races.
In rural areas, 42% reported always wearing a mask or wearing one most of the time when they were with people outside of their household. In suburban areas, the number jumped to 52% and it was highest in urban areas at 57%.
Among the 81% who said they went grocery shopping in early December, 90% reported wearing a mask.

This is why the vaccination campaign is so important.

On the Capitol Hill front

  • The Hill explains Sen. Ron Wyden’s plans as the new Chair of the Senate Finance Committee. The Senator has been a critic of high prescription drug prices.
  • The Hill also reports the House of Representatives is developing a COVID-19 relief budget reconciliation bill that would increase and expand the availability of Affordable Care Act subsidies as well as offer 85% subsidies for employer sponsored plan continuation coverage, i.e., COBRA and TCC, during 2021 and 2022.

On the Biden Administration transition front —

  • NPR discusses Office of Management and Budget Director nominee * Neera Tanden’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today. Ms Tanden has a second confirmation hearing scheduled before the Senate Budget Committee tomorrow morning.
  • Federal News Network informs us that President “Biden recently appointed Pam Coleman as OMB’s new associate director for performance management, the agency’s point person on federal workforce issues. * * * Coleman comes from the New Mexico state government, where she led the personnel office for the last two years. Coleman had multiple roles in the Obama administration, including as a leadership development team lead in the White House Presidential Personnel Office and as a liaison to DHS. The OMB associate director for performance management is usually the agency’s go-to on everything from federal pay and benefits to hiring and labor relations. Biden hasn’t yet nominated a new director for the Office of Personnel Management.”
  • STAT News compares the two leading contenders for Food and Drug Administration Dr. Janet Woodcock, the current acting commissioner, “and Josh Sharfstein, a vice dean at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who served as the FDA’s second-in-command during the Obama administration.” Dr. Woodcock is an FDA vet while Dean Sharfstein would be “only the second FDA commissioner in modern history to serve as a local public health official. While most FDA commissioners typically come from backgrounds in academic medicine or from other federal agencies, and thus tend to focus primarily on the regulation of drugs, Sharfstein has been far more outspoken about the FDA’s lesser known responsibilities, like regulating cigarettes and food.”

In other tidbits —

  • Beckers Hospital Review lists the HealthGrades top fifty U.S. hospitals for January 2021.
  • Govexec reports on the Postal Service’s latest quarterly financial report and a looming Postal Board of Governors power shift from Republicans to Democrats.
  • The Society for Human Resource Management seeks to keep us up to date on “evolving COVID-19 testing and safety guidelines [for employers] as the pandemic persists.”