From Washington, DC

• Per a Senate press release,
  • “U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced [on August 12, 2024] the introduction of legislation to make it easier for workers without 4-year college degrees, including veterans, to get federal jobs, and to promote hiring based on workers’ skills rather than the degree they attain.
  • “The Federal Jobs for STARs Act would make federal jobs more accessible for non-degree-holders by taking steps to reduce or remove unnecessary educational requirements and making it easier for Ohioans to search on USAJOBS.com for jobs that match their experience and skills.

• Federal News Network lets us know,
  • “New instances of fraud in the government’s Flexible Spending Account program, FSAFEDS, are dwindling. But the investigation into the issue remains ongoing. In total, fraudulent activity in the Office of Personnel Management benefits program has now cost more than $1 million. OPM has been working with FSAFEDS vendor HealthEquity to secure impacted federal employee accounts and add security measures to the program. OPM’s inspector general office is also working with the FBI to look into the issue further. But OPM said there’s so far no evidence of the FSAFEDS systems being compromised.”

• Per a CMS press release,
  • “CMS is encouraging pharmacies and other affected parties to prepare now for the expected transition of coverage from Medicare Part D to Medicare Part B for Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) using antiretroviral drugs to prevent HIV. We expect to release the final National Coverage Determination (NCD) in late September 2024. Coverage under Part B will begin once we release the final NCD.
  • “Do you have questions about pharmacy enrollment?  We’re going to answer your questions so you can prepare your pharmacy for Part B coverage of PrEP for HIV during Pharmacy Enrollment Office Hours on Thursday August 22 from 3:30-4:30 pm ET. 
  • “Register for this webinar. After you register, you’ll receive a confirmation email with information about joining the webinar.”

• The American Hospital Association News informs us,
  • “The AHA Aug. 13 commented to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission in anticipation of the commission’s 2024-2025 cycle. The AHA urged MedPAC to carefully consider the negative consequences for beneficiaries, providers and communities if Medicare payments to 340B hospitals are cut; reconsider its pursuit of inpatient rehabilitation facility-skilled nursing facility site-neutral payment policy; support updates to physician reimbursement that more adequately account for inflation; and recommend repealing in-person visit requirements for tele-behavioral health services.

From the public health and medical research front,

• The New York Times delves into
  • “Should You Get Another Covid Shot Now? The virus is spreading, but new vaccines coming this fall could offer better protection. We asked experts about the right time for a booster.“
• and
  • “How to Protect Your Mail-Order Prescriptions from Extreme Heat. High temperatures and humidity can alter the components in many home-delivery medications, rendering them less effective.” 

• MedCity News tells us,
  • “There are more than 123 million people in the U.S. living with obesity, and this prevalence is largely due to a lack of access to care, environmental factors, stigma and inadequate coverage, according to a new report. Tackling these issues will take a “multifaceted approach,” the report states.
  • “The publication was released last week in the American Journal of Managed Care and was funded by the Diabetes Leadership Council, a nonprofit patient advocacy organization. The researchers conducted an internet search of relevant studies and government reports.
  • “Our goal is to ensure that people are getting the right treatment at the right time for them. And we understand that this looks differently for everybody … and not everyone fits the same mold,” said Erin Callahan, chief operating officer of Diabetes Leadership Council and Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition, in an interview. “So our goal is to ensure that people are well cared for and have equitable access to the things they need along any part of their medical journey.”

• Cardiovascular Business notes,
  • “Over the past few decades, research has clearly shown that there are distinct characteristics of ischemic heart disease in women that are not seen in men. While women often need tailored diagnostic approaches for diagnosis and treatment, the one-size-fits-all approach using the male heart disease presentations as the standard of care has likely impacted female mortality in terms of cardiac deaths, which is the No. 1 killer in the world for both men and women.
  • “Emily Lau, MD, director of the Cardiometabolic Health and Hormones Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital and assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, shed light on the critical issue of gender differences in chest pain imaging evaluations in sessions at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) 2024 meeting earlier this year. She spoke with Cardiovascular Business about her presentation.
  • “Women are more likely to present with non-obstructive coronary disease,” Lau explained. “This means they may not have significant blockages in their arteries, but they still experience symptoms of heart disease.”

• Beckers Hospital Review points out,
  • “Adverse drug reactions [affecting the skin] are a known risk of antibiotic use, but it has been unclear which drug classes carry the highest risk — until now. 
  • “To crack at this mystery, researchers in Toronto analyzed two decades worth of data on hospitalizations and emergency department visits for serious skin reactions in older adults, according to a study published Aug. 8 in JAMA. They compared the results for each drug class to macrolides. 
  • “Among the 21,758 older adults, the antibiotics most strongly associated with serious skin conditions were sulfonamides, cephalosporins, nitrofurantoin, penicillins and fluoroquinolones. 
  • For the 2,852 hospitalized patients, the average length of stay was six days, 9.6% required transfer to a critical care unit and 5.3% died in the hospital. 
  • “When clinically appropriate, the researchers recommended prescribers use lower-risk antibiotics.”

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

• Per Healthcare Dive,
  • “Kaiser Permanente reported a $2.1 billion net gain in the second quarter, representing a solid end to the nonprofit hospital and health plan’s financial performance in the first half of its fiscal year, according to an analyst.
  • “Kaiser’s operating margin rose to 3.1%, up from 2.9% the same time last year. The Oakland, California-based health system reported an operating income of $908 million as revenues grew at a faster clip than expenses.
  • “The second quarter marked the first time Geisinger Health’s financial performance was fully integrated into Kaiser’s earnings. While Kaiser did not break out Geisinger’s results, one analyst estimated the system contributed up to $2 billion in revenue during the quarter.”
• and
  • “Orthopedics device company Stryker said Monday it has reached an agreement to acquire Care.ai, a company that offers artificial intelligence-based tools for hospitals. The Orlando, Florida-based startup makes patient monitoring, virtual rounding and AI-assisted decision support tools based on a network of sensors. 
  • “Stryker did not immediately respond to questions about the price or timing of the acquisition.
  • “The acquisition comes about two weeks after Stryker CEO Kevin Lobo forecast a “very active deal pipeline” for the second half of the year.”

• Per Fierce Healthcare,
  • “Steward Health Care has agreed to sell its physicians network, Stewardship Health, to Rural Healthcare Group, which is owned by a private equity group.
  • “The embattled health system signed a definitive agreement to sell Stewardship, one of the largest primary care provider organizations in the country, for a proposed purchase price of $245 million, according to court documents filed in federal bankruptcy court Aug. 12. The court documents (document 1953 and 1954) can be found on an online portal set up for court filings and other restructuring information about Steward Health Care.
  • “RHG, an affiliate of PE firm Kinderhook Industries, will buy Stewardship through Brady Health Buyer, a company set up by Kinderhook to complete the transaction, according to court documents.
  • “Kinderhook offered $245 million in cash for Stewardship, according to court documents.
  • “The sale is subject to bankruptcy court and regulatory approval.”

• Per BioPharma Dive,
  • “Galderma on Tuesday said the Food and Drug Administration has approved its antibody drug Nemluvio for adults with prurigo nodularis, a chronic skin condition characterized by intense itch.
  • “A subcutaneous injection, Nemluvio works by blocking cellular signaling via a cytokine called IL-31. Results from two Phase 3 clinical trials showed treatment helped to reduce itch intensity, clear skin and improve sleep, compared to a placebo.
  • “In an email, Galderma declined to disclose the price it plans to charge for Nemluvio. The company said the drug will be available in the coming weeks.” 

• Per MedTech Dive,
  • “Medtronic said Monday it received Food and Drug Administration approval for deep brain stimulation (DBS) technology that is implanted while the patient is under general anesthetic.
  • “Surgeons traditionally perform DBS procedures, a treatment for medical conditions like epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, while the patient is awake. However, a series of studies have shown there may be benefits to putting the patient to sleep for the procedure.
  • “Medtronic said it is the first company to receive FDA approval to offer DBS surgery while a patient is asleep or awake. U.S. surgeons have used DBS devices off-label in asleep patients for years.”
• and
  • “Baxter has agreed to sell its Vantive kidney care business to private equity firm Carlyle Group for $3.8 billion, the companies said Tuesday. Carlyle is partnering with Atmas Health in the investment. 
  • “Carlyle formed Atmas Health in 2022 with healthcare executives Kieran Gallahue, Jim Hinrichs and Jim Prutow to focus on acquiring assets in the medical technology, life science tools and diagnostics sectors. Gallahue will become chairman of Vantive, working with Vantive CEO Chris Toth.
  • “Baxter will target annual operational sales growth of 4% to 5% after the Vantive transaction is complete.”

• Per Stat News,
  • “The unwinding of Illumina’s ill-fated acquisition of Grail earlier this year left investors and the genomics community with a pressing question: What kind of company is Illumina going to be going forward?
  • “CEO Jacob Thaysen on Tuesday made clear that the sequencing firm, which controls about 80% of the current DNA-sequencer market, is essentially returning to its traditional role of creating instruments for researchers in academia, the biopharma industry, and health care settings.”

• The Wall Street Journal examines the state of the hospital at home business. “Institutions say it is safe and opens hospital beds, but policymakers fear it’s too pricey and lacks strict standards.”

• Risk & Insurance alerts us that “Employers are expanding comprehensive wellbeing programs to meet employee needs, while adopting varied cost management strategies amid rising health and drug costs, a Gallagher benchmarking report finds. * * * View the complete benchmark report, including breakouts by region and employer size, on Gallagher’s website.”