From the Omicron and siblings front —
MedPage Today brings us up to date on the whereabouts of Omicron BA 2.12.1.
“What we’re seeing right now is a version of the virus that is much more transmissible than previous versions of the virus, perhaps, but also less likely to cause severe disease,” Perry Halkitis, PhD, MPH, dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health, told MedPage Today.
The FEHBlog heard a fascinating talk about the Long Covid or PASC on the second and final day of the 2022 OPM AHIP Carrier Conference. Dr. Micheal Brode explained that PASC usually is evidenced by fatigue, brain fog, or exertional fatigue more than 12 weeks after the first symptoms of Covid. People afflicted by PASC typically, but not always, were hospitalized when Covid was in its acute opening phase. Covid vaccinations reduce the risk of contracting PASC by at least 50%, but they don’t prevent PASC. Although it’s premature for evidenced-based treatment guidelines to exist, Dr. Brode complimented the work of the PASC Collaborative to get to that point expeditiously. Most PASC patients recover slowly with medical care, although some PASC patients have permanent disabilities. Dr. Brode reminded the audience that Covid is a multi-system disease, not only a lung disease. PASC’s recently added ICD-10 code is U09.9.
The American Hospital Association adds, “Moderna today asked the Food and Drug Administration to authorize for emergency use its COVID-19 vaccine in children aged six months through 5 years, citing previously released data estimating the vaccine’s efficacy against the omicron variant in this age group was similar to that in adults, with a favorable safety profile.”
From the Affordable Care Act front, the ACA regulators released the final 2023 notice of benefit and payment parameters and the Final 2023 Actuarial Value Calculator and Methodology. Fierce Healthcare highlights the significant changes facing ACA qualified health plans in 2023.
From the healthcare business front —
Humana has released its 1st Quarter 2022 earnings. Fierce Healthcare provides background on the favorable report.
Fierce Healthcare informs us, “Walmart’s telehealth provider, MeMD, is rolling out the virtual diabetes program as a standalone service or as part of a comprehensive medical and behavioral telehealth program for enterprise customers and health plans. The retail giant collaborated with the American Diabetes Association on the virtual program, which was developed to help employees and members close gaps in diabetes management through early intervention, Walmart Health executives said.”
From the drug research front, BioPharma Dive tells us
Eli Lilly’s experimental diabetes shot tirzepatide helped obese people who have an underlying medical condition lose more than 15% of their body weight in a late-stage clinical trial. At the highest dose tested, patients receiving the weekly injection lost, on average, 21% of their body weight, Lilly said in a press release Thursday.
The data suggests tirzepatide could challenge similar drugs marketed by Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, which earned about $1.2 billion when prescribed for obesity in 2021. Novo’s weekly weight-loss shot Wegovy helped patients with medical complications lose an average of 15% of their body weight in clinical testing.
Wall Street analysts forecast swift growth for obesity drugs in coming years as patients, doctors and insurers acknowledge the effectiveness of newer agents like Wegovy and tirzepatide. Wegovy sales alone are expected to reach $5.5 billion in 2026, according to consensus estimates highlighted by Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Louise Chen in January.
From the federal employment front —
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released government-wide results of the 2021 OPM Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (OPM FEVS). Federal News Network summarizes the results as follows:
Change is the biggest constant for the federal workforce after two years in a pandemic that capsized government operations. Despite the upheaval, employee engagement remained relatively steady over the last year, dropping just one point between 2020 and 2021, from 72% down to 71%.
But other factors, like employees’ job and pay satisfaction, declined in 2021 compared to 2020. The overall index points for global satisfaction dropped as well, from 69% down to 64%.
Govexec notes
As part of his fiscal 2023 budget proposal, [President] Biden proposed an average pay increase of 4.6% for civilian federal workers and members of the military, which, if implemented, would mark the biggest raise the federal workforce has seen in 20 years. Although it is unclear how that raise would be broken up between across-the-board increases to basic pay and an average boost to locality pay, traditionally, 0.5% of the pay raise has been set aside for locality pay increases.
In a letter, [62] House Democrats led by Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., pressed the leadership of the House Appropriations Committee to go further than the president and endorse a 5.1% average pay increase for feds, reflecting legislation introduced by Connolly and Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, that would grant federal employees a 4.1% across-the-board boost to basic pay and a 1.0% average increase in locality pay.
And don’t forget that this Saturday, April 30, is National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.