In commemoration of the President’s Day holiday tomorrow, Congress is on a local work break this week and will be back in session on February 28.
From the Omicron front, the New York Times offers an interactive article seeking to uncover the mysteries of “Long Covid.”
The accuracy of Bloomberg’s welcome report on the growing availability of Pfizer’s Paxlovid and Merck’s molnupiravir Covid pills is evidenced by the Wall Street Journal’s report that pharmacists are demanding more money to dispense those pills. Why?
Pharmacists say Paxlovid and molnupiravir prescriptions typically take more than 30 minutes to fill, longer than other drugs. They say they must often gather the medical history of new customers and then make sure they aren’t taking any other drugs that the Covid-19 pills can’t be used with safely.
Pharmacists also say they have to spend substantial time counseling patients on taking the pills.
Here’s where it stands.
The National Community Pharmacists Association trade group has urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to recommend a fee similar to the $40 that Medicare pays pharmacies administering Covid-19 vaccines.
The National Association of Chain Drug Stores, which represents pharmacies including Kroger Co. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., also supports a CMS recommendation, though it isn’t specifying an amount. The figure could help pressure all commercial and government health plans to increase how much they are paying, said Sara Roszak, senior vice president for health and wellness strategy and policy for the industry group.
Benefit managers will likely revise fees, but are looking for the government to provide more direction on what the fees should be, said JC Scott, chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, the trade group for pharmacy-benefit managers.
U.S. health regulators are looking at potentially authorizing a fourth dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in the fall, according to people familiar with the matter.
The planning is still in early stages, and authorization would depend on ongoing studies establishing that a fourth dose would shore up people’s molecular defenses that waned after their first booster and reduce their risk of symptomatic and severe disease, the people said.
The Food and Drug Administration, however, has begun reviewing data so it can make a decision, the people said.
The thinking among regulators is that the agency would look at authorizing a second booster dose of the messenger RNA vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE and from Moderna Inc., one of the people said.
Among the issues that need to be resolved, the person said, are whether the second booster should be authorized for all adults or particular age groups, and whether it should target the Omicron variant or be formulated differently. Whether the fourth booster could ultimately be the start of an annual Covid-19 vaccination is also under consideration.
It strikes the FEHBlog that this would be a good occasion for the Centers for Disease Control to position this evaluation as part of their effort to refocus Covid from pandemic to endemic status. An epidemiologist writing in STAT News explains
I’m not confident about how the pandemic endgame will play out. While I do think the most likely future scenario for SARS-CoV-2 is that it will become endemic, the other more worrisome scenarios I describe here are within the realm of possibility: a mutant that produces a different disease, a new recombinant virus, or a variant that exploits immunity. And these scenarios are not mutually exclusive. A new SARS-CoV-2 recombinant virus containing animal coronavirus genes might well cause altered disease.
After two years, why not position the country for the most likely scenario?
From Capitol Hill, Govexec reports that “The Senate on Thursday cleared 65-27 a three-week stopgap bill to avoid a government shutdown, sending the measure to President Biden with just one day before the deadline.”
From the Omicron front, the American Hospital Association provides us with its most recent Covid snapshot
From the Covid treatment front, The American Medical Association reports
Efforts to boost production of [Covid] therapeutics are underway, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official said during an episode of the AMA-sponsored webinar series, “COVID-19: What Physicians Need to Know.”
Recommended usage in therapeutics is an important step in counseling patients and providing the most timely and relevant information about defeating this virus, said AMA President Gerald E. Harmon, MD, who moderated the webinar. Physicians facing supply issues of hard-to-get antivirals such as Paxlovid (PDF) also want to know about the timeline of any new antivirals or antibody treatments, he said.
For doctors and other health professionals, “it’s been a very difficult winter and it’s not over yet,” acknowledged John Farley, MD, MPH, director of FDA’s Office of Infectious Diseases in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research’s Office of New Drugs. Monitoring the situation with these drugs is a complex process that involves FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and several branches of government, he added.
Distribution of therapeutics should improve over time. However, at least for the combination of antiviral nirmatrelvir and ritonavir tablets marketed as Paxlovid, “we have a period of continued short supply ahead,” said Dr. Farley, who joined two other FDA experts to discuss the efficacy of the treatments.
In the FEHBlog’s view, Pfizer’s Paxlovid appears to offer the best opportunity for lowering Covid hospital admissions which have been a major cost for health plans over the past year which has seen three major Covid surges.
The next generation of mRNA vaccines, as well as treatments for type 2 diabetes and postpartum depression are among the innovations that earned spots on the Cleveland Clinic’s Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2022.
The list of breakthrough technologies, chosen by a committee of Clinic experts, was announced Wednesday.
These medical advancements have the potential to transform healthcare in the coming year, the Clinic said. The committee considered technologies developed by the Clinic as well as other research centers.
From the Federal Trade Commission front, Healthcare Dive reports
The Federal Trade Commission will not launch a study into pharmacy benefit managers’ pricing and contractual practices after a 2-2 vote at a Thursday meeting. The measure needed a simple majority to commence the investigation, which would have compelled large PBMs to turn over information and documents to the agency.
The two commissioners appointed by former President Donald Trump, Noah Phillips and Christine Wilson, voted against the study after raising concerns about its design and whether the current draft asks the proper questions for the answers the agency is seeking. Phillips also complained about receiving a “substantially revised” draft from staff “just hours” before the meeting.
FTC Chair Lina Khan said she was disappointed with Thursday’s vote, and said this is an area the agency has “a real moral imperative” to act upon.
From the Rx coverage front, Fierce Healthcare informs us
Optum has launched a new solution for specialty drugs that aims to lower costs and improve care management for people with complex conditions.
Specialty Fusion arms payers and providers with real-time insights into which specialty therapies are the most effective for the patient at the lowest cost. The platform leads to quicker treatment approvals for patients as well as a similar experience for providers at the point of care, Optum said in an announcement.
Internal analysis of the solution suggests it can drive cost savings of 17%.
From the healthcare business front, Healthcare Dive notes
Pharmacy giant Walgreens and value-based medical network VillageMD are on pace to open more than 200 co-branded primary care practices by the end of the year.
On Wednesday, the companies opened their first clinic in a new Florida market, Jacksonville, bringing their total markets in the state up to three, including Orlando and Tampa. Walgreens and VillageMD plan to open five new Village Medical at Walgreens primary care practices in total in the Jacksonville area through this summer.
With the Jacksonville openings, Walgreens and VillageMD have now opened more than 80 primary care practices across 12 markets in Arizona, Florida, Texas, Kentucky and Indiana.
Last but not least FedWeek explains how to guard against losing FEHB coverage in retirement.
Today, the Senate invoked cloture on the resolution to continue funding the federal government until March 11 by unanimous consent. Consequently, the new resolution should be approved by Congress tomorrow, which is the day before funding expires under the current resolution.
The House of Representatives has returned the correct version of the Postal Reform Act, H.R. 3076, to the Senate, and the Senate has had the correct version read twice. We will have to wait and see if anything happens with the bill tomorrow.
In the meantime, check out the Congressional Research Service’s February 11, 2022, report on the Postal Reform bill approved by the House, H.R. 3076. In the FEHBlog’s view, a unique feature of the House version compared to earlier versions is that the bill destined to become law creates a transitional Open Season. The Transitional Open Season will auto-enroll those Postal employees and annuitants who failed to transfer over to the PSHBP in the 2024 Open Season for the 2025 plan year. The receiving PSHBP plan will be the lowest premium nationwide PSHBP plan that is not a high deductible plan and does not require dues payments. Also, the House version makes the Postal Service financially responsible for the late Medicare Part B enrollment fees otherwise owed by the Postal annuitants with Part A only who take advantage of a special Part B enrollment period in 2024.
Following up on Robert Califf’s second confirmation as Food and Drug Administrator yesterday, STAT News identified the six major drug approval decisions awaiting him, including Pfizer’s toddler COVID vaccine, the Novovax Covid vaccine, and Alzheimer’s Disease treatments. Good luck, Mr. Califf.
Also among those drug approval decisions awaiting Mr. Califf is a Covid treatment discussed in Bloomberg
After omicron weakened some of the defenses that doctors have against Covid, an experimental treatment being developed by Novartis and a small Swiss biotech partner holds some promise as a new therapy.
Last week, Novartis sought emergency approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an intravenous drug, called ensovibep, that’s similar in some ways to monoclonal antibody treatments. However, the way it works is significantly different, which might allow it to succeed where antibody therapies fail against omicron.
The compound uses tiny proteins to attack the coronavirus’s spike protein in not just one, but multiple places. That appears to give it a leg up in fighting the virus even as it mutates.
In other federal leadership changes, STAT News adds
President Joe Biden is replacing a top science adviser who resigned under a cloud with two individuals who will split his duties on an interim basis.
Biden is tapping [Alondra Nelson, ]a deputy in the White House science and technology office along with [Dr. Francis Collins] the recently retired director of the National Institutes of Health, according to a personal familiar with the president’s plans.
From the Omicron front, Beckers Hospital Review tells us
The COVID-19 omicron subvariant BA.2, dubbed “stealth omicron,” has spread to at least 74 countries and 47 states across the U.S., according to data from outbreak.info.
Four more updates:
1. BA.2 is most prevalent in HHS’ region 3, which includes Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland, according to CDC data.
2. Region 7, which includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, had the lowest percentage of BA.2 cases last week, according to CDC data.
3. BA.2 currently accounts for 3.9 percent of total COVID-19 cases in the U.S., with omicron subvariant BA.1.1 accounting for 73.2 percent of cases, CDC data shows.
4. A South African study analyzing nearly 100,000 COVID-19 cases found that BA.2 doesn’t cause significantly more severe illness than the original omicron variant, Bloomberg reported Feb. 16.
From the Covid vaccine front, The American Medical Association reports
The New York Times (2/15, Anthes) reports infants born to mothers who “received two doses of an mRNA coronavirus vaccine during pregnancy are less likely to be admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 in the first six months of life, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” The study found that “overall, maternal vaccination was 61% effective at preventing infant hospitalization.”
Reuters (2/15, Mishra, Steenhuysen) reports, “That protection rose to 80% when the mothers were vaccinated 21 weeks through 14 days before delivery.” Meanwhile, the “effectiveness fell to 32% for the babies whose mothers were inoculated earlier during pregnancy.”
The Hill (2/15, Sullivan) reports the study used data “from 20 pediatric hospitals in 17 states, from July 2021 to January 2022.”
Anthem has launched a new pilot that aims to offer a digital concierge care experience to members recovering from COVID-19.
Through COVID Concierge Care, eligible members can access an app and fill out a questionnaire that tracks their symptoms on a daily basis. They can connect with a clinician via secure, two-way text-based messages in the app or via text or email.
In addition, based on their reported symptoms, members can access evidence-based educational tools and wellness content to help them self-manage their conditions. For example, members can connect with breathing exercise guides to manage stress or health articles about their symptoms.
From the Covid vaccine mandate front, Federal News Network tells us
The Postal Service is laying the groundwork to track the vaccination and testing status of its workforce amid the COVID-19 pandemic, or any future public health emergency.
USPS, however, says it’s only giving notice as it prepares for “potential future contingencies,” and is not, at this time, updating its COVID-19 vaccine or testing requirements, nor is it seeking to collect data on the vaccination status of its workforce.
In healthcare business news, Healthcare Dive informs us
The Department of Justice is preparing a lawsuit to block UnitedHealth from purchasing Change Healthcare, according to a new report, as regulators take a more aggressive stance on checking consolidation in the healthcare industry.
According to Dealreporter, which cited sources familiar with the matter, UnitedHealth and Change are expected to meet with the DOJ soon for a “last rites” meeting on the proposed deal, first announced early last year. Despite UnitedHealth and Change exploring divestitures to assuage antitrust concerns, the DOJ has not found any that would make the deal acceptable, according to Dealreporter’s sourcing.
From the health savings account front, Health Payer Intelligence offers nine best practices for high deductible health plan design based on a recent report from the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC) and Gallagher.
From the antibiotic overutilization front, AHIP lets us know
A study published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found 41% of antibiotic prescriptions for Medicare Part D beneficiaries in 2019 were written by just 10% of prescribers. Researchers found nearly half of these high-volume prescribers practiced in southern states, and they had a median antibiotic prescribing rate of 680 per 1,000 beneficiaries, compared with 426 per 1,000 beneficiaries among low-volume prescribers.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn lifted a hold on a stopgap bill needed to avoid a partial government shutdown this weekend after she won a commitment from the Biden administration that it wouldn’t fund pipes for smoking illicit substances through a substance-abuse program. * * *
[Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch] McConnell said Tuesday that he expected there to be some amendment votes in conjunction with the vote on the so-called continuing resolution. “I think it will all be worked out,” he said. “There’s no danger of a government shutdown.”
The House of Representatives held a pro forma, the four-minute-long session this morning at which
[The] Clerk notified the House that she had received the following message from the Secretary of the Senate on February 14, 2022, at 6:30 p.m.: That the Senate agreed to return the papers to the House of Representatives at their request for H.R. 3076 [the Postal Reform Act of 2022] * * *.
The House is not scheduled to resume floor voting until February 28 and the Senate will be on a State work period next week so Congressional passage of this bill may not occur until next month.
The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Robert Califf to lead the Food and Drug Administration, 50-46, a much narrower vote than when he previously held the position during the Obama administration, though many thought the latest vote could be even closer.
Califf’s confirmation means the Biden administration has a permanent FDA commissioner during the COVID-19 pandemic after 13 months with longtime agency official Janet Woodcock acting as its leader.
Califf needed bipartisan support to cross the finish line. Retiring Sens. Patrick J. Toomeyof Pennsylvania and Roy Blunt of Missouri joined four Republicans who sit on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to confirm Califf.
From the Omicron front, the Wall Street Journal offers interesting commentary from Dr. Marc Siegal about the Novovax vaccine which is the subject of an emergency use authorization at the Food and Drug Administration.
The Novavax vaccine is based on tried and true technology. It involves growing the virus’s spike protein in moth cells and then combining it with an adjuvant, a chemical that amplifies the protein’s effect on the immune system. Whereas the mRNA vaccines signal human cells to make part of the protein, Novavax injects it directly as a “nanoparticle,” which induces a robust immune response (antibodies and T-cells). Side effects appear to be minimal: flulike symptoms, headache, temporary fatigue and pain at the injection site.
There are several reasons to think that Novavax may give a more powerful boost than a third or fourth mRNA shot. For one thing, the nanoparticle includes the whole spike protein, which could provoke a more complete immunity. So could the glycosylation of the spike—the addition of a sugar molecule in insect cells, which isn’t what the virus is expecting. Perhaps most important, the adjuvant (known as Matrix-M1), which comes from the inner bark of a Chilean soapbark tree, is very high in quality and has been used to make a malaria vaccine effective.
From the health equity front, Health Payer Intelligence discusses a Northeast Business Group on Health report on strategies for making progress on resolving inequities created by social determinants of health. Check it out.
In a similar vein, the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality blog post on integrating patient-generated health data into electronic health records.
The 63-year-old patient has hypertension. With encouragement from his family, he checks his blood pressure daily using a digital blood pressure monitor. And thanks to advances in digital technology, he saves each reading on a mobile application whether he’s at home, at work, or on vacation.
What is the reward for his persistence? With his health data easily integrated into his electronic health record, his primary care doctor has a fuller picture of his health—one that is not limited to the traditional snapshot taken in an exam room. Using that data, he and his physician can have more informed conversations about treatment options and next steps.
While this scenario accurately recognizes that today’s patients can easily collect their own health data outside of the clinical setting, many ambulatory care practices lack the technical infrastructure, functional workflows, workforce capacity, and training to support the intake and use of patient-generated health data (PGHD).
With those challenges in mind, AHRQ has released a new guide on increasing the use of PGHD, one that provides practical tools for ambulatory care practices to implement PGHD programs and improve patient outcomes. It includes tips, ideas, and learning activities to let users tailor solutions to their needs. To our knowledge, this is the first practical guide that includes detailed considerations and steps for implementing a PGHD program.
The AHRQ guide may be helpful to health plan case managers, too.
From the tidbits department
Roll Call and Fierce Healthcare offer different takes on the public comments submitted on the Centers for Medicare Services controversial proposed national coverage deterimination on Biogen’s Alzheimers Disease drug Aduhelm. A final decision is expected in April.
The CDC encourages people with pre-diabetes to become heart health role models.
The platform is now available to all Evernorth clients and to Cigna members in employer plans or Affordable Care Act marketplace plans in 20 states.
Monument offers an evidence-based, virtual treatment program for alcohol use disorder. Evernorth said in the announcement that alcohol use has been on the rise for the past several decades, and that some 60% of people have reported higher alcohol intake under the pandemic.
From Capitol Hill we are presented with some surprising developments —
Govexec tells us
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., blocked the Senate from moving forward with the bipartisan 2021 Postal Reform Act, which won overwhelming support last week in the House. Lawmakers in both parties have attempted for years to eliminate much of the agency’s debt and restructure some of its operations and the efforts appeared to finally reach a breakthrough with the successful vote in the lower chamber. The bill has the backing of 14 Republican senators, indicating broad support and votes that will ultimately clear the 60-member support threshold with ease.
When the House sent the bill to the Senate last week, however, it passed along the wrong version that did not include the most up-to-date text. The House on Friday quickly corrected the error by unanimously approving a measure to send over the correct version. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had already started the process of approving the incorrect bill last week and was hoping to move the House-backed technical correction on Monday with unanimous consent, allowing the chamber to resume consideration of the full bill.
That is when Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., objected, sending the process into chaos. The Senate is slated to recess on Friday and will likely not have time to pass the bill until after it returns in March. * * *
Scott said on the floor he was concerned the measure had not gone through the committee process on the Senate side and about the funding for a potential increase in Medicare costs. The Congressional Budget Office said in a recent score the measure would save the government $1.5 billion over the next 10 years. Lawmakers have estimated it will save the Postal Service $50 billion over the same period.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) said that she will hold up a bill to keep the government funded until the Biden administration responds to her questions about whether a program intended to help people with substance-abuse disorders could be used for pipes to smoke illicit substances.
Her position injects uncertainty into the government’s ability to avoid a partial shutdown later this week. While a single senator can’t stop legislation, he or she can slow down the process by declining to consent to cutting out procedural hurdles.
The Senate is aiming to pass a three-week government funding bill by Feb. 18, when a current funding bill expires, in order to provide breathing room for negotiators to reach a deal funding the full fiscal year. A Senate Democratic aide said that there isn’t enough time to go through each step in the process with the maximum amount of debate time and still avoid a temporary shutdown.
“All we want to know is how much money they are using for safe-smoking kits? What is in the kits? Where is this money going?” Ms. Blackburn said in an interview. “Once I get an answer, I will lift my hold. I’m just waiting for an answer.”
The Biden administration’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, Robert Califf, survived a Senate procedural vote, 49-45, on Monday evening with the help of five Republicans.
A confirmation vote on the Senate floor is expected to take place Tuesday, and it’ll likely be a close one. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Mitt Romney, R-Utah; Richard M. Burr, R-N.C.; and Roy Blunt, R-Mo., joined Democrats to help shut off debate on Califf’s nomination.
Califf faced controversy throughout his nomination process from both parties. The former FDA commissioner had to cut deals with multiple lawmakers ahead of the floor vote, trading policy promises for votes. Several Senate Democrats opposed Califf’s nomination, due to his past ties to the pharmaceutical industry and handling of the opioid crisis when he led the FDA during the tail end of the Obama administration.
From the Omicron front, STAT News explains why the COVID vaccines are a “freaking miracle.”
Two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s easy to lament all that has come to pass. The devastating losses. The upending of what we regarded as normal ways of life. The sheer relentlessness of it all.
But let’s stop for a moment and consider something else that may have escaped you: You have witnessed — and you are a beneficiary of — a freaking miracle.
That miracle is the development, testing, manufacturing, and global distribution of Covid vaccines.
How freaking true. It’s worth a read.
From the telehealth front, STAT New also delves into what we know and don’t know about whether telehealth can cut costs. This article gives the FEHBlog an opportunity to express his opinion that hub and spoke telehealth services, like Teladoc, can save costs by offering mental healthcare therapy on a long-term basis. Teletherapy is more accessible than in person therapy and all hub and spoke teletherapists are in-network. What’s not to like?
From the consumer driven health care front, Health Payer Intelligence considers the pros and cons of CDHP products in 2022. There are lots of FEHB CDHP offerings.
The House of Representatives will engage in limited Committee business this week while the Senate will convene for Committee business and floor voting. Indeed, tomorrow the Senate will resumes consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R.3076, Postal Service Reform Act of 2022.
The Wall Street Journal observes that Congress has passed several bills on a bipartisan basis since the President’s Build Back Better plan stalled on Capitol Hill.
Already, bills to make the U.S. Postal Service more financially viable, boost U.S. competitiveness with China and ban mandatory arbitration in cases of sexual assault and harassment have picked up steam in Congress. Senators passed the arbitration bill by voice vote, sending it to the president’s desk without a single member of either party demanding a roll call to record yeas and nays.
Legislators also announced an agreement on a framework for legislation to fund the federal government through fiscal year 2022, and a deal to reauthorize a landmark domestic-violence bill, which lapsed in 2019.
Pretty, pretty good.
From the national health emergency front, Vox tells us the latest about the second Omicron variant, and The New York Times’ Morning column reviewed the disgraceful course of our country’s opioid epidemic. The article concludes
“The solutions are costly. A plan that President Biden released on the campaign trail, which experts praised, would total $125 billion over ten years. That’s far more than Congress has committed to the crisis. Lawmakers haven’t taken up Biden’s plan, and the White House hasn’t pushed for it, so far embracing smaller steps.
“But inaction carries a price, too. Overdose deaths cost the economy $1 trillion a year in health expenses, reduced productivity and other losses, a new report concluded — equivalent to nearly half of America’s economic growth last year.”
While the FEHBlog has not read the President’s plan, he does believe that a solution is desperately needed.
From the healthcare business front, Fierce Healthcare reviews the fourth quarter of 2021 financial results of significant health payers. At the top of the head were United Health Group and CVS Health /Aetna. “Both healthcare giants expect to top $300 billion in revenue this year, according to their forecasts.”
From the compliance front, Healthcare Dive reports
An analysis of 1,000 U.S. hospitals found that only 14.3% were complying with federal price transparency rulesand about 38% of hospitals posted a “sufficient amount of negotiated rates” on their websites.
The PatientRightsAdvocate.org analysis follows a report in July 2021 that showed only 5.6% of 500 random hospitals were in compliance with the rules that were introduced at the start of 2021.
“The largest hospital systems are effectively ignoring the law with no consequences,” the 61-page report said, noting that only two hospitals of 361 at three of the largest hospital systems were in compliance.
The FEHBlog wonders whether compliance would be higher if the compliance deadline (January 1, 2021) had not been at the height of a COVID surge in the ongoing pandemic.
From the preventive care front, the FEHBlog noticed in Health Payer Intelligence a Medicare national coverage determination on lung cancer screening that aligned Medicare coverage with a 2021 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force B graded recommendation.
This in turn reminded the FEHBlog that FEHB plans must cover all 21 USPSTF A and B graded recommendations made in 2021 with no member cost-sharing when delivered in-network beginning January 1, 2023. The FEHBlog counted a dozen such 2021 recommendations in the USPSTF list. Standing alone, those are a lot of changes to include in the 2023 benefit and rate proposals at the end of May 2022.
From the general healthcare front, NPR explains that the surprising details of the 65-year-old actor and comedian Bob Saget disclosed last week illustrate the importance of seeking immediate medical attention if you suffer a blow to your head.
According to his family, [Mr. Saget] “accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it and went to sleep.” No drugs or alcohol were involved, according to a coroner’s report.
Saget had “fractures to the back of his head and around his eyes” at the time of his death, according to an autopsy report from the Orange County, Fla., medical examiner obtained by People. Saget was also COVID-19 positive at the time of his death, the autopsy noted.
While details of how exactly Saget hit his head were not released, doctors stress the importance of seeking medical care immediately if you sustain a head or brain injury.
If you are concerned that you may have a head injury, consider getting yourself checked out,” said Dr. Amit Sachdev, medical director in the department of neurology at Michigan State University.
“Unfortunately, it’s all too common and we in neurology see it quite frequently that head injuries lead to bleeding,” said Sachdev.
From the Postal Reform front, health benefits expert Robert Moffitt, whose work the FEHBlog admires, wrote a column titled “It’s a bad idea to use the Medicare to bail out the Postal Service.” On this occasion, the FEHBlog finds himself in disagreement with Mr. Moffitt.
Medicare is not bailing out the Postal Service. Since 1984, the Postal Service and its employees has paid and continues to pay Medicare taxes for its employees until they retire. At that point, Medicare becomes primary to FEHB and other group health coverage by law.
Every other business in America that provides health benefits coverage to its retirees essentially follows the same approach as the Postal Service will be authorized to do by this bill.
The Postal reform bill is unique in that it creates a special Part B enrollment period for current annuitants as of January 1, 2024, who have Part A but declined to enroll for Part B, an option which OPM encourages. Under the bill that that House passed this week, the Postal Service will bear the cost of the late enrollment penalties associated with this special enrollment period.
Mr. Moffitt suggests that Postal Service Health Benefit Program (PSHBP) Medicare annuitants may find it necessary to purchase Medicare supplement insurance. However, we know from experience that PSHBP plans will follow the practice of existing FEHB plans and wrap their benefits around Medicare to fill those Medicare gaps. The PSHBP coverage is the Medicare supplemental coverage available to Medicare annuitants in FEHB and the PSHBP, and more tightly integrating PSHBP and Medicare coverage will result in lower premiums for all PSHBP enrollees.
Bear in mind that studies have shown the group health plans subsidize Medicare by making payments to healthcare providers that substantially exceed Medicare’s low reimbursements.
From the No Surprises Act (“NSA”) front —
CMS issued more FAQs on the federal independent dispute resolution (“IDR”) process today.
Consumer Reports identifies five healthcare scenarios which fall outside the scope of the No Surprises Act.
Fierce Healthcare brings us up to date on the healthcare provider association lawsuits challenging the federal government’s decision to treat the NSA’s qualifying payment amount as the lodestar in federal IDR arbitrations.
From the Omicron front, Medscape reports that “The U.S. government is planning to roll out COVID-19 shots for children under the age of 5 as soon as Feb. 21, according to a document from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. * * * Young children [beginning at six months] will receive a lower dose of the vaccine, if it is authorized. Pfizer/BioNTech tested a 3-microgram dose of the vaccine in the age group, compared with a 10-microgram dose in 5- to 11-year-olds and 30 micrograms for people aged 12 and older.”
Also, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that “the federal government has purchased 600,000 treatment courses of a new monoclonal antibody treatment that data shows works against the Omicron variant. The new monoclonal antibody treatment, bebtelovimab, is manufactured by Eli Lilly and Company, and if it receives emergency use authorization (EUA) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), HHS will make the treatment available to states free of charge.”
From the COVID vaccine mandate front, Govexec tells us
A federal appeals court has denied the Biden administration’s request to undo the pause on its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees, leaving in place a ban on agencies enforcing the requirement. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit opted not to weigh in on the Justice Department’s petition for immediate relief, meaning the mandate will likely remain enjoined for at least several months. The only path for quicker resolution would be for the administration to appeal further tNBo the Supreme Court, an option it has not yet said it will explore. A Justice spokeswoman declined to comment.
From the miscellany department
NIH News discusses advances in breast cancer screening and treatment.
The clipboard of paper forms that for decades has been a standard part of Americans’ doctor visits may soon be a thing of the past.
Federal authorities who oversee health technology have set a deadline for December for the health care industry to support smartphone apps, like Apple Health, that store records electronically.
Their goal is to have patients use their phones to electronically share records with a doctor’s office or hospital — without a pen and paper, if they choose.
“Patients ought to be able to use the app of their choice,” said Micky Tripathi, who’s helping to put the federal rules in place as the Biden administration’s national coordinator for health information technology.
“Every patient has the deep frustration of going to a hospital and they give you a clipboard and you have to fill out all the information, and then you go to another part of the same hospital and they give you the clipboard again,” Tripathi said.
The FEHBlog has been reading articles about the demise of the clipboard throughout this century. However, he thinks that this worthy idea may soon come to fruition.
House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders said Wednesday they have a deal on a “framework” that will allow them to start writing compromise spending bills for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., and House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., put out statements Wednesday afternoon announcing the pact. A spokeswoman for Senate Appropriations ranking member Richard C. Shelby confirmed Republicans also view what the Alabama senator described earlier in the day as “an understanding” as an official agreement.
Neither side revealed any details of what the framework entails.
A source familiar with the negotiations said the agreement is to have “parity,” or equal increases for defense and nondefense spending, and to start further negotiations leaving current law policy riders in place. All four committee leaders would have to agree to remove or add any other riders, the source said.
That means the longstanding Hyde amendment barring federal funding for abortion in most cases will likely be in the final package, since Republicans would object to removing it as Democrats have proposed.
From the Omicron front, the Wall Street Journal reports
Hospitalizations continued tracking downward in the U.S., with the seven-day average of patients with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 falling to about 111,000, down 30% from a peak in January, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. * * *
U.S. deaths are holding steady, with the seven-day average standing at 2,531 on Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Though there is growing evidence that the Omicron variant is less likely to cause severe illness than earlier strains of the virus, particularly among people who have been fully vaccinated, the number of infections means that deaths—a lagging indicator—remain high, public-health experts say. Omicron’s rapid spread means it is reaching people with other illnesses, and Covid-19 wasn’t the cause of death in some of these cases.
From the plan design front —
Banner Health and Aetna announced that its joint venture
Banner|Aetna [has created] a strategic relationship with type 2 diabetes reversal leader Virta Health. The collaboration brings Virta’s innovative diabetes care approach to the insurer’s eligible members of fully insured and Administrative Services Only groups. Virta’s first-of-its-kind diabetes treatment helps people actually reverse their condition: combining personalized nutrition and virtual care, patients can achieve normal blood sugar without medications.
Anthem will make virtual primary care available to eligible members of its commercial health plans in 11 states, the insurer announced Tuesday.
The expansion will roll out the offering to fully insured plans and select large group administrative services clients in Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin, the company said. Eligible members can access a virtual care team that will conduct an initial health check-in and then craft a personalized care plan.
The insurer is expecting a significant number of its administrative services clients to adopt the platform over the course of this year.
From the healthcare business front, Healthcare Dive reports
Lower COVID-19 costs in CVS’s payer business coupled with a sharp increase in vaccine administration from booster shots that benefited its drugstores drove the Rhode Island-based healthcare behemoth to revenue of $76.6 billion in the fourth quarter, up more than 10% year over year. That helped drive CVS, which beat Wall Street expectations on both earnings and revenue in the quarter, to a profit of $1.3 billion, up 33% compared to the fourth quarter of last year.
Dallas-based hospital operator Tenet will continue its strategy of acquiring ambulatory surgery centers to drive long-term growth and plans to buy 30 more facilities from SurgCenter Development this year, the company said Tuesday. That’s in addition to 16 it has purchased so far this year, executives said on an earnings call Tuesday. Tenet and its subsidiary United Surgical Partners International last year completed a $1.1 billion acquisition of SCD, giving it an ownership stake in 86 surgery centers and related support services. That deal also gave USPI exclusivity on developing a minimum of 50 new centers with SCD during a five-year period.
The White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment yesterday publicly released its report detailing nearly 70 recommendations, approved by President Biden, that promote worker organizing and collective bargaining for public and private sector employees. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management is leading several of these recommendations, which focus on improving the ability of federal employees to exercise their right to organize and activate their labor rights.
Govexec reports that earlier today the House of Representatives passed the Postal Reform bill (HR 3706) by a bipartisan 342 to 92 vote. The bill now heads over the the Senate. Govexec adds “Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who chairs the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and authored the companion legislation in the Senate, sounded an optimistic note for the bill’s fate in his chamber. ”
The bill would create a Postal Service Health Benefits Program within the FEHB Program beginning in 2025. The PSHBP would feature tightly integrated coverage with Medicare for its annuitants over age 65.
The House passed a stopgap appropriations bill Tuesday evening to extend current federal agency funding rates through March 11 as Democrats and Republicans continue to trade offers on topline spending levels for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.
Both sides claim they’re “close” to a framework deal on the fiscal 2022 omnibus and predict this latest continuing resolution, the third one this fiscal year, will be the last stopgap. The previous CR is set to expire Feb. 18.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said in floor remarks Tuesday morning that his chamber will take up the stopgap measure “quickly” after House passage, “in time before the Feb. 18 deadline.” The House vote was 272-162, indicating likely bipartisan support in the Senate as well.
A bipartisan group of senators is crafting a package that tackles several barriers to mental health access, with a major emphasis on pay parity between behavioral and physical health and furthering telehealth use.
The Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, announced the contours of the mental health legislative package during a hearing Tuesday on youth mental health. Wyden said the goal is to get together a bipartisan bill by the summer.
The anticipated bill would be a gold mine for lawyers unless Congress also simplifies the existing parity standards.
You’ve been exposed to Covid-19 more times than you can count. And yet somehow you’ve never tested positive. Could all these close encounters with Covid-19 be enhancing your immune response to it? The answer isn’t clear-cut, scientists say.
Your immune system probably benefits only if you get infected, many scientists say, because a near miss probably won’t have put enough virus in your body to meaningfully rev up your defenses. You can benefit from an asymptomatic infection that you didn’t realize you had, or a case that was too low-level to show up on a rapid test.
The only safe way to build immunity is vaccination, as any exposure to Covid-19 comes with a risk of serious illness, hospitalization or death. Avoiding infection is still important, but if you are exposed, there are circumstances where you might benefit if you already have antibodies, some scientists say.
People who have had COVID-19 have an increased risk for and 12-month burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) that is substantial and spans an array of cardiovascular disorders, a deep dive into federal data suggests.
“I went into this thinking that this is most likely happening in people to start with who have a higher risk of cardiovascular disorders, smokers, people with high BMI, diabetes, but what we found is something different,” Ziyad Al-Aly, MD, told theheart.org | Medscape Cardiology. “It’s evident in people at high risk, but it was also as clear as the sun even in people who have no cardiovascular risk whatsoever.”
Rates were increased in younger adults, never smokers, White and Black people, males and females, he said. “So the risk confirmed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus seems to spare almost no one.”
Ruh roh.
From the synthetic opioid epidemic front, AP reports
The U.S. needs a nimble, multipronged strategy and Cabinet-level leadership to counter its festering overdose epidemic, a bipartisan congressional commission advises.
With vastly powerful synthetic drugs like fentanyl driving record overdose deaths, the scourge of opioids awaits after the COVID-19 pandemic finally recedes, a shift that public health experts expect in the months ahead.
The report envisions a dynamic strategy. It would rely on law enforcement and diplomacy to shut down sources of chemicals used to make synthetic opioids. It would offer treatment and support for people who become addicted, creating pathways that can lead back to productive lives. And it would invest in research to better understand addiction’s grip on the human brain and to develop treatments for opioid use disorder.
Most [77%] infectious disease (ID) patients were open to using virtual care after they were informed about the toll in-person care took in terms of time, money, and travel, according to a survey conducted by Washington University and published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases.
Although patients are typically accustomed to the setting in which they receive care, information provided about virtual care can change their perspective, the new research shows.
The survey polled patients 18 years old and older who reside 25 or more miles away from their ID clinic. The goal was to acquire information regarding travel distance and time, money spent, and carbon dioxide emissions.
Beckers Hospital Review adds “Amazon Care’s virtual health services are now available nationwide, and its in-person services will be rolled out in more than 20 new cities in 2022, Amazon said Feb. 8 in a post on its website.” Amazon Care also offers in-person care in “Seattle, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C, Austin, Texas, and Arlington, Virginia. This year, the company plans to bring in-person care services to more than 20 additional cities including New York City, Chicago, Miami and San Francisco, according to the post.”
Becker’s Payer Issues reports on health insurer Centene’s positive 4th quarter 2021 results.
From the rankings department, Beckers Hospital Review notes
“Healthgrades has recognized 250 hospitals nationwide for exceptional care via its America’s Best Hospitals awards released Feb. 8. Three lists feature America’s 50, 100 and 250 best hospitals, which represent the top 1 percent, 2 percent and 5 percent of hospitals in the nation, respectively.”
Three companies dominate the pharmacy benefit manager market, accounting for 79 percent of all prescription claims in 2020, according to data from Health Industries Research Companies, an independent, non-partisan market research firm. A breakdown of PBM market share, by total adjusted prescription claims managed in 2020:
1. CVS Caremark: 34 percent
2. Express Scripts: 24 percent
3. OptumRx (UnitedHealth): 21 percent
4. Humana Pharmacy Solutions: 8 percent
5. Prime Therapeutics: 6 percent
6. MedImpact Healthcare Systems: 5 percent
7. All other PBMs: 3 percent
Finally, from the good news department, the Wall Street Journal reports
The [CDC’s] new births data, released Monday along with final data for 2020, show the pandemic has had a more muted impact on childbearing than expected. The economists Melissa Kearney and Phillip Levine in December released calculations showing the pandemic led to 60,000 missing births from October 2020 through February 2021. Earlier in the pandemic, they predicted the health crisis and economic uncertainty would lead to 300,000 to a half million fewer births last year.
House Democrats introduced a government funding stopgap Monday that would extend current spending levels through March 11 as appropriators continue to negotiate topline spending levels for a fiscal 2022 omnibus bill.
The move would buy Congress an extra three weeks to complete work on an overdue omnibus package for the fiscal year that began last October. The government is currently operating on a continuing resolution that expires on Feb. 18.
Per the Roll Call article, Congress expects to meet the March 11 deadline with a consolidated appropriations bill for the current government fiscal year.
Reuters reports that the House also will vote on the Postal Reform bill (HR 3706) tomorrow. Here is a link to the House Rules Committee website describing the actions that the Rules Committee took on HR 3706 today to line up a vote for tomorrow.
From the Omicron front —
According to the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker, as of today, 90 million out of 213 fully vaccinated Americans (42%) have received a Covid booster. In his New York Times column this morning, David Leonhardt writes that the relatively slow adoption of boosters is not a function purely of skepticism. Rather
The vaccinated-but-unboosted more closely resemble the country as a whole. Millions of Americans who have already received two vaccine shots — eagerly, in many cases — have not yet received a follow-up. The unboosted include many Republicans, Democrats and independents and span racial groups. * * *
The most urgent problem involves the unboosted elderly. (About 14 percent of Americans over 65 eligible for a booster had not received one as of mid-January, according to Kaiser.) But some younger adults are also getting sick as their vaccine immunity wears off.
A recent study from Israel, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, was clarifying. For both the elderly and people between 40 and 59, severe illness and death were notably lower among the boosted than the merely vaccinated. For adults younger than 40, serious illness was rare in both groups — but even rarer among the boosted: Of the almost two million vaccinated people ages 16 to 39 in the study, 26 of the unboosted got severely ill, compared with only one boosted person.
“Boosters reduce hospitalization across all ages,” Dr. Eric Topol of Scripps Research has said. As Dr. Leana Wen wrote in The Washington Post, “The evidence is clear that it is at least a three-dose vaccine
Mr. Leonhardt places responsibility for the booster gap on the fragmented U.S. health system and the failure of government experts to make themselves understood to the American people. Health plans may want to lend a hand here.
Pregnant women with COVID-19 appear to be at greater risk for common pregnancy complications — in addition to health risks from the virus — than pregnant women without COVID-19, suggests a study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
The study, which included nearly 2,400 pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV-2, found that those with moderate to severe infection were more likely to have a cesarean delivery, to deliver preterm, to die around the time of birth, or to experience serious illness from hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, postpartum hemorrhage, or from infection other than SARS-CoV-2. They were also more likely to lose the pregnancy or to have an infant die during the newborn period. Mild or asymptomatic infection was not associated with increased pregnancy risks.
“The findings underscore the need for women of child-bearing age and pregnant individuals to be vaccinated and to take other precautions against becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2,” said Diana Bianchi, M.D., director of NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), which funded the study. “This is the best way to protect pregnant women and their babies.”
The American Hospital Association offers six tips for health care leaders looking to build vaccine confidence among pregnant women.
Drugmaker Shionogi & Co. said it plans to seek approval this month to sell its Covid-19 treatment pill in Japan after the company found that in human trials the pill had strong virus-fighting ability compared with Pfizer Inc.’s Paxlovid.
Shionogi acknowledged that studies of its drug are much smaller than Pfizer’s and have yet to prove effectiveness in preventing serious Covid-19 cases. Pfizer said its final-stage trial, which included more than 2,000 patients, showed Paxlovid cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 89% if patients took the pill within three days of diagnosis.
Still, Shionogi said it believed its trials to date, covering about 400 mostly Japanese patients, would offer sufficient evidence to seek approval in Japan, where the Pfizer drug is expected to be approved shortly, but is likely to be in limited supply. Shionogi said its trial found the pill, code-named S-217622, neutralized the virus quickly and didn’t cause serious or lasting side effects.
CVS Health is teaming up with Medable to access and engage around clinical trials at select MinuteClinics, the healthcare giant announced Monday.
CVS Health Clinical Trial Services, a new arm at the company launched last May, will harness Medable’s software platform to deliver clinical trials with a focus on accessibility and retention to enhance the effectiveness of research, according to the announcement.
The companies note that while clinical trials are crucially important to test the efficacy of innovative pharmaceuticals, less than 4% of Americans actually participate in them. In addition, 30% of participants drop out before trials are completed, and 80% of studies are unable to make enrollment deadlines.
Tony Clapsis, general manager and senior vice president of CVS Health Clinical Trial Services, said in a statement that CVS has the ability to make a significant impact on outreach about trials to underrepresented people as more than 40% of vulnerable populations live within five miles of one of its pharmacies.
Smart move.
STAT News reports
“Some of the nation’s most influential doctors and public health groups are orchestrating a mad-dash effort to convince senators to confirm Robert Califf, President Biden’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration. * * * The pressure campaign comes amid growing signs that Califf’s nomination is in serious trouble. Five Democrats in the Senate have already expressed serious concerns with Califf’s nomination and at least 10 more are still undecided about his candidacy. Quite a few Republicans in the chamber also have concerns. ‘It’s … the ‘break glass in case of emergency’ moment,’ said one patient advocate, who noted that many advocacy groups had, until recently, thought Califf would sail through his confirmation process easily.”
“When President Biden tapped Eric Lander as White House science adviser in January 2021, he tasked the renowned genomics researcher with “reinvigorating” American science. Following Lander’s stunning resignation on Monday evening, however, the question is no longer whether he’ll reinvigorate the U.S. scientific enterprise. It’s whether he’s derailed it. Lander resigned after an all-staff apology for abusive workplace behavior, which Politico first reported. In an email, Lander admitted speaking in a “disrespectful and demeaning way,” acknowledging he had failed to set a “respectful tone” for the office and that his actions reflected poorly on the administration.”
Let’s hope Lander didn’t derail efforts like the Cancer Moonshot.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
