Monday Roundup

Congress

Monday Roundup

David Ermer–Congress, COVID-19 vaccine, HSA, Telehealth, U.S. Healthcare–
Photo by Sven Read on Unsplash

From Capitol Hill, Roll Call reports that

Speaker Nancy Pelosi floated a compromise to moderate holdouts Monday that would advance the budget resolution needed to unlock a $3.5 trillion package of aid to families, students and clean energy subsidies in exchange for a guaranteed vote on a separate, $550 billion infrastructure package.

The plan would “deem” the fiscal 2022 budget resolution adopted when the chamber adopts the combined rule for floor debate on the Senate-passed infrastructure bill and voting rights legislation. Pelosi, D-Calif., also committed to a floor vote on the infrastructure bill before Oct. 1, when current surface transportation program authorizations lapse.

The House of Representatives convened at 5 pm ET this evening and went into a recess at 5:30 pm ET for a Democrat member caucus. The House resumed its session with routine business at 6 pm ET and the House recessed again at 8 pm likely for another Democrat member caucus. [Follow-up — Early Tuesday morning the Wall Street Journal reports that “Plans to hold that vote Monday night were [later] abandoned, though, and Mrs. Pelosi said the chamber would vote on the measure on Tuesday as she left the Capitol after midnight.”

From the Delta variant front, Mondays have tended to be a good day for COVID-19 vaccine news. This morning the Food and Drug Administration “approved [for marketing] the first COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been known as the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, and will now be marketed as Comirnaty (koe-mir’-na-tee), for the prevention of COVID-19 disease in individuals 16 years of age and older. The vaccine also continues to be available under emergency use authorization (EUA), including for individuals 12 through 15 years of age and for the administration of a third dose in certain immunocompromised individuals.” This action occurred two weeks before the Labor Day.

The Wall Street Journal reports that

The Food and Drug Administration’s approval was seen by public health officials as a key step to convince hesitant individuals to get the shot and to encourage employers to mandate it. 

“Today I’m calling on more companies in the private sector to step up with vaccine requirements that will reach millions more people,” President Biden said. “I call on you to do that—require it.” * * *

The vaccine is now eligible for off-label prescriptions—or use beyond the approved populations. That could include booster doses, according to the FDA. Prescribing the vaccine off label for children wouldn’t be appropriate as there is no data on proper dosing or safety in youth, said acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock. * * *

Pfizer * * * is now permitted to market the vaccine to doctors, healthcare providers and the general public as it does with other approved products. Pfizer declined to share its marketing and advertising plans but said it seeks to take a thoughtful approach with such communications in hopes of increasing vaccine confidence. 

Pfizer made its FDA marketing approval application last May and Moderna, which produces the other mRNA vaccine, applied for FDA marketing approval in June so Moderna now moves from the on deck circle to at bat.

Federal News Network informs us that “The Pentagon said Monday that it will require service members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine now that the Pfizer vaccine has received full approval. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is making good on his vow earlier this month to require the shots once the Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine. He said guidance is being developed and a timeline will be provided in the coming days.”

Govexec tells us that

During the White House’s daily press briefing, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that some agencies may roll out requirements that subsets of the federal workforce must be vaccinated, similar to those announced for health care workers at the Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services departments. Across the federal government, agencies are working to implement President Biden’s requirement that all federal workers and contractors either attest that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit to a stringent regimen of wearing masks and being tested regularly for the virus.

“I expect there will be more . . . we certainly expect there will be more mandates for factions of federal employees,” Psaki said. “I think you’re looking more at agency-to-agency, or different factions of the government at this point, but expect there will be more on that front.”

In the meantime, federal employee unions have already begun engaging with management at various agencies to negotiate how the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate will be implemented. Matt Biggs, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Employees, said that although his union publicly announced its support for the vaccine mandate, it is working to ensure workers’ rights are protected, regardless of whether they elect to be vaccinated.

In other vaccine news, the UPI reports

Most teens and young adults want to get vaccinated against COVID-19, a survey published Friday by JAMA Health Forum found.

About 75% of people ages 14 to 24 years in the United States who responded to the survey, conducted by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, said they would get the shot, the data showed.

Most agreed with the statement that vaccination was important to “help stop the spread [of the virus], as well as get back to normal as soon as possible,” the researchers said.

Still, about 42% of respondents said they were concerned about COVID-19 vaccine side effects and 12% indicated they worried about the shot’s effectiveness, according to the researchers.

From the health savings account front, Benefits Pro informs us that

“Devenir has given another peek into the current state of HSAs with its demographic survey. Among its key findings:

  • As of December 31, 2020, the study estimates there were over 30 million HSAs covering 63 million people in the United States.
  • Nearly 1 in 5 Americans in their 30s had a health savings account by the end of the year.
  • HSAs are just as popular with older Americans: Account holders over 50 years of age held more than $44 billion in their accounts, with an average balance of just over $4300.

The study also found that HSAs are being used in every state in the country, with some states reporting nearly 77% of the privately insured populations being covered by an HSA. See our slideshow above for the states with the highest and lowest numbers of people covered by HSAs, and click here for the full study.” Here’s a link to another interesting Benefits Pro article on HSAs.

From the telehealth front, mHealth Intelligence reports that

The pandemic has proven the value of telehealth to parents, according to a recent survey by Nemours Children’s Health. But it has also highlighted the need to continue emphasizing the value of virtual visits to overcome barriers to care and improve health and wellness.

A survey of more than 2,000 adults conducted earlier this year in conjunction with Amwell found that while 35 percent of parents used telehealth prior to the COVID-19 crisis (based on a 2017 survey), that percentage jumped to 77 percent during the pandemic. In addition, almost 80 percent have accessed pediatric telehealth services, compared to 35 percent before the pandemic.

Overall, the survey reports, more than 60 percent of parents want to continue using connected health services after the pandemic – including almost 30 percent of parents who hadn’t used any telehealth in the past.

“While one might expect that factors such as income or access to technology are barriers to telehealth, this survey underscores how telehealth proved to be a viable solution to expanding access and reducing disparities in providing timely care during COVID-19,” R. Lawrence Moss, MD, president and CEO of Nemours Children’s Health System, said in a press release. “Regulations that were eased during the pandemic need to become permanent to support telehealth access for the long-term. Telehealth can be part of building health equity among people experiencing social, economic and family challenges.”

From the research front, the National Institutes of Health announced the results of a study of pregnant women:

Drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco cigarettes throughout the first trimester of pregnancy is associated with nearly three times the risk of late stillbirth (at 28 or more weeks), compared to women who neither drink or smoke during pregnancy or quit both before the end of the first trimester, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Although prenatal smoking is known to increase stillbirth risk, the researchers conducted the study to examine how smoking combined with alcohol use might influence the risk. The researchers also confirmed the higher stillbirth risk from alcohol alone, which has been suggested by earlier, less comprehensive studies.

In healthcare business news, Healthcare Dive tells us that

  • “Google is dissolving its health division, Google Health, after three years as the head of the unit, David Feinberg, departs to become CEO of health IT vendor Cerner.
  • “Google is splitting its health projects and teams across several other divisions of the company, according to an Aug. 19 internal memo to employees from Jeff Dean, the head of Google’s research division, obtained by Insider.
  • Alphabet’s Google created the Google Health division in 2018 to bring its health initiatives under a single umbrella. The Mountain View, California-based company remains committed to healthcare and will continue to invest in the space, but the goal of the reshuffling is to put its teams in the areas that make the most sense for its projects, a​ Google spokesperson told Healthcare Dive.”

Finally, the American Medical Association President Gerald E. Harmon, MD, opines on the actions that the medical community needs to take into order for American life expectancy to resume its upward track:

The AMA is committed to vigorous advocacy and broad-based collaboration to help people everywhere live longer, healthier lives. Our longstanding efforts targeting heart disease and type 2 diabetes—two of our country’s most common and most devastating chronic diseases—bring physicians in multiple practice settings and specialties together with patients, community groups, and both public- and private-sector organizations to better treat those struggling with these conditions, and also to prevent at-risk individuals from developing them.

The AMA Opioid Task Force and our Pain Care Task Force work with lawmakers and policymakers to guide their decision-making, to shift the perspective from responding to overdoses to preventing them, and to develop clinical best practices to reverse and eventually end the epidemic of fatal overdoses that worsened once the pandemic began.

Additional AMA efforts target: (1) behavioral health integration and suicide prevention;(2)firearm safety; (3) reducing maternal mortality; (4) eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care; (5) ensuring that digital health technology improves patient care and health outcomes, and (6) transforming medical education to ensure physicians are prepared to meet patient needs today and tomorrow.

Tuesday’s Tidbits

David Ermer–AHRQ, Congress, COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccine, OPM, Rx coverage, U.S. Healthcare–
Photo by Josh Mills on Unsplash

From Capitol Hill, the Wall Street Journal reports that “Top House Democrats said the chamber would move forward with voting on the budget blueprint for a $3.5 trillion healthcare, education and climate package next week, rebuffing demands from a group of centrist Democrats to first vote on a $1 trillion infrastructure bill and urging their caucus to stay unified around President Biden’s agenda” According to the article the centrist Democrats opposed the Speaker’s compromise approach discussed in Sunday’s Post and the much larger Democrat progressive causus pushed hard for this outcome. Speaker Pelosi can only afford to lose three of the nine Democrat centrists as the Republicans are expected to unanimously oppose the budget blueprint.

From the Delta variant front

  • Bloomberg reports that the Southern states continue to experience robust vaccination rates one month after the mid-July low point.
  • The Wall Street Journal informs us that “The Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus appears to be breaking through the protection vaccines provide at a higher rate than previous strains, a Wall Street Journal analysis found, though infections among the fully inoculated remain a tiny fraction of overall cases, and symptoms tend to be milder.”
  • Most significantly the New York Times reports tonight that

The Biden administration has decided that most Americans should get a coronavirus booster vaccination eight months after they received their second shot, and could begin offering third shots as early as the third week of September, according to administration officials familiar with the discussions.

Officials are planning to announce the decision on Wednesday at the White House. Their goal is to let Americans who received the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines know now that they will need additional protection against the Delta variant, which is causing caseloads to surge across much of the nation. But the new policy will depend on the Food and Drug Administration authorizing additional shots.

Recipients of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was authorized as a one-dose regimen, will also most likely require an additional dose, the officials said. But they are waiting for results, expected this month, from a clinical trial that provided participants with two doses. So far, only about 14 million people in the United States have gotten the Johnson & Johnson shot, which the government began offering in March. The first Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were given in December.

The first boosters would probably go to nursing home residents, health care workers and emergency workers, who were the first to be vaccinated last winter. They would likely be followed by other older people, then by the general population. Officials envision giving people the same vaccine they originally received.

On the federal employment front, Federal News Network tells us that OPM is promulgating an interim final rule that will allow agencies to “hire [bachelors degree or graduate] students to a temporary appointment of a year or a term appointment of one-to-four years. Students will work for their agency at the General Schedule 11 level or below while in school. Students who finish their degrees and meet a series of other requirements are eligible for a permanent position at the same agency, OPM said.”

From the federal guidance front

  • The National Law Review informs us that “OSHA’s Revised COVID-19 Guidance [released August 13] Adopts CDC’s Latest Recommendation on Masks for Vaccinated Employees, Advocates for Vaccination, and Suggests Periodic Testing for Unvaccinated Employees.” “Although OSHA disclaims that its recommendations are legally binding on employers, the agency also includes language that signals that failure to adhere to the recommendations could be legally significant for the employer.  Specifically, OSHA prefaces its guidance by stating: “The recommendations are advisory in nature and informational in content and are intended to assist employers in providing a safe and healthful workplace free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm.”
  • The tri-agencies issued Affordable Care Act FAQ 48 informing interested parties that in response to litigation they are working on an amending the “2018 final regulations that expanded exemptions for entities with religious or moral objections to the contraceptive coverage requirement to which their health plans would otherwise be subject.” That rulemaking of course will lead to more litigation and so on.

On the drug news front, STAT News reports that

A new study found that the number of adults who used two widely prescribed stimulants nearly doubled in recent years, raising concerns about a potential wave of abuse since both medicines can be highly addictive.

Specifically, an estimated 4.1 million adults reported using amphetamines and methylphenidate in 2018, an increase of nearly 80% from 2013. Measured by total prescriptions, the use of amphetamines rose 119% during that time, while the use of methylphenidate grew about 39%, according to the study, which was published in BMJ Open.

The article warns that this surge could turn into another epidemic.

On the healthcare utilization front, Fierce Healthcare reports that

Hospitals did not experience a major rebound in deferred care in the first part of 2021, foretelling that such care may not be coming back, a new analysis finds.

The analysis from Kaiser Family Foundation and the Epic Health Research Network, released Tuesday, found hospital spending was 4.1% below expected levels in June. It is the latest evidence of how the lingering impact of the pandemic could affect hospital finances, especially as the highly transmissible delta variant is causing new surges in most states.

“Several factors may be contributing to the lower-than-expected number of hospital admissions in early 2021,” the analysis said. “For example, the economic effects of the pandemic may depress the number of people seeking services.”

Researchers explored data from 250 hospitals across 47 states and 112 million patients through April 9, 2021.

Hospital admission rates were nearly 90% of what were expected if the pandemic did not happen, the analysis found.

From the tidbits department

  • Health Day tells us that “A small, new study suggests that getting out of your chair every half hour may help improve your blood sugar levels and your overall health.”
  • Fierce Healthcare informs us that “New York City-based Unite Us announced this morning [August 17] the acquisition of Carrot Health, a consumer data and predictive analytics platform offering engagement insights to payer and provider customers. With its new purchase, the social determinants of health software platform said it will be better positioned to help healthcare organizations identify patients with unmet social needs and connect them to community resources across all 50 states. Unite Us did not disclose the terms of the deal, which has already closed.”
  • In this week’s NIH Director’s blog, Dr. Francis Collins discusses how advanced brain scanning can help guide neurosurgeons.
  • Last but certainly not least the HHS Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research issued a call to action on achieving health equity.

Weekend update

David Ermer–Congress, COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccine, Federal employment benefits, U.S. Healthcare–
Photo by Dane Deaner on Unsplash

The House of Representatives and the Senate remain on District / State work breaks this week. Of course the Congressional staff never rests. The Wall Street Journal reports that “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) on Sunday asked a top committee [the House Rules Committee] to look at moving forward on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill along with the $3.5 trillion budget framework in an effort to balance the demands of her party’s ideological factions.” Fierce Healthcare identifies three major healthcare policy areas in the budget framework which healthcare lobbyists are watching carefully.

On the Delta variant front

  • The Wall Street Journal informs us that “Hospitalizations of Covid-19 patients in their 30s have hit a new record, U.S. government data show, a sign of the toll that the highly contagious Delta variant is taking among the unvaccinated.”
  • The message about the inportance of being vaccinated appears to be breaking through to the reluctant. Bloomberg tells us that “The U.S. reported almost 1 million Covid-19 vaccine doses on Saturday, the most for a single day since early July, reflecting a faster pace of inoculation as the delta variant spreads.” Nearly 60% of the vaccine eligible U.S. population (at least 12 years old) is fully vaccinated.

On the healthcare business front, Fierce Healthcare tells us that

UnitedHealth Group and Change Healthcare have entered into a timing agreement with the Department of Justice for their planned $8 billion merger.

In late March, DOJ made a second request for additional details and documentary information related to the merger. Under the timing agreement, which was reached on Aug. 7, UnitedHealth and Change agree to not “consummate” their merger before 120 days have passed since the two certified their compliance with the agency’s request.

The exception is if they receive written confirmation from DOJ that it has completed its investigation in that window, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing from Change Healthcare.

As we all know, timing is everything.

On the federal retirement front, Federal News Network reports

Federal retirements in July saw a big jump compared to last year, but the average processing time has swelled to nearly three months.

OPM received 8,922 retirement claims last month, compared to 6,819 claims in July 2020 — a 30.8% increase. Processed claims, meanwhile, only saw a 4.5% increase from 6,620 in July 2020 to 6,920 last month.

The latest numbers show that 2021 is generally seeing far more federal retirements than in 2020, when the pandemic reached its height. With the exception of January and February, every month this year has had year-over-year increases ranging from 10.8% to 47.2%.

Most notably, the 22% increase in federal retirements from June to July has led to a growing claims backlog. The inventory of claims ballooned from 24,999 in June to 27,001 in July, reversing the backlog’s downward trend after its peak in March.

Congress created two extremely complicated federal retirement programs. In the FEHBlog’s view, it’s up to those busy Congressional staffers to streamline the programs in order to facilitate automated claims processing.

Friday Stats and More

David Ermer–Congress, COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccine, Government Contracting, Telehealth, U.S. Healthcare–

Based on the Centers for Disease Control’s COVID-19 Data Tracker website, here is the FEHBlog’s chart of new weekly COVID-19 cases and deaths over the 14th week of 2020 through 32nd week of this year (beginning April 2, 2020, and ending August 11, 2021); 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:

The FEHBlog has noticed that the new cases and deaths chart shows a flat line for new weekly deaths  because new cases significantly exceed new deaths. Accordingly here is a chart of new COVID-19 deaths over the same period (April 2, 2020, through August 11, 2021):

Finally here is a COVID-19 vaccinations chart over the period December 17, 2020, through August 11, 2021, which also uses Thursday as the first day of the week:

Here is a link to the Centers for Disease Control’s (“CDC”) latest weekly review for the COVID data tracker upon which the FEHBlog relies. The review is aptly titled: “Put on Your Masks and Thinking Caps.”

The American Hospital Association has released on You Tube a two minute long presentation on the value of COVID-19 vaccines. It’s called Eight Things to Know About the COVID-19 Vaccine. Its message should be widely distributed.

The Federal Times reports that Kaiser Permanente which is the third largest carrier in the FEHB Program announced a COVID-19 vaccine incentive for its FEHB plan membership today.

The CDC also issued 2021-22 Flu Season FAQs today. Among thing the FEHBlog learned that “All flu vaccines will be quadrivalent (four component), meaning designed to protect against four different flu viruses. For more information: Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine | CDC.”

In an ironic twist, check out this quote from Fierce Healthcare

“The recent emergence of the delta variant has introduced some uncertainty to our second half visits outlook,” said Ido Schoenberg, M.D., chairman and CEO of Amwell, during the call.

“With mask mandates quickly returning and also acknowledging other trends we are observing within visit mix and volumes, we need to account for these other dynamics and a likely weaker cold and flu season due to these variant-related protective measures,” he said, also noting the company does not expect extra COVID-related demand.

“Consequently, we are adjusting down our visit forecast for the remainder of the year to account for these factors,” he said.

As the French say, “quelle domage”.

But seriously folks, Revcycle Intelligence informs us that

The percentage of telehealth claim lines has stabilized at about 5 percent of medical claim lines, indicating a new balance of virtual and in-person care.

The analysis conducted by FAIR Health as part of its Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker included data representing the privately insured population, including Medicare Advantage, and excluded Medicare fee-for-service and Medicaid claims data.

The data revealed that the percentage telehealth claim lines increased slightly to 5 percent in May 2021, from 4.9 percent the previous month. The slight increase suggests a stabilization of telehealth utilization since telehealth claim lines had declined each month from February to April of this year.

And what’s more —

  • Healthcare Dive has a helpful wrap up article on the HIMSS conference. Take a look.
  • Federal News Network reports that the General Services Administration released federal employee travel per diems for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2021. The combined per diems provide a cap of the federal contractor travel expenses that can be charged against an experience rated FEHB contract.
  • From Capitol Hill, Roll Call reports that nine centrist House Democrats have told Speaker Pelosi in writing that “We will not consider voting for a budget resolution until the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passes the House and is signed into law.” Roll Call adds that “Together, they’ve got more than enough support to stall the budget in the narrowly divided House where Democrats can lose no more than three members on party-line votes. No Republicans are expected to vote for the budget resolution, which is needed to begin the process on a $3.5 trillion reconciliation package chock full of Democratic priorities.”

Midweek Update

David Ermer–AHRQ, CDC, Congress, COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccine, Medicare, Rx coverage, Telehealth, U.S. Healthcare–
Photo by Josh Mills on Unsplash

The American Hospital Association informs us that

The Senate early this morning approved on a party line vote a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, which included reconciliation instructions which will provide the majority party with the means to pass a comprehensive reconciliation package with just 51 votes in the Senate, rather than the usual 60-vote hurdle. The House will reconvene on Aug. 23 to consider the budget resolution. Once the resolution has passed both chambers, the House and Senate majorities can proceed with the reconciliation process, a resolution to which is expected in the fall. 

Bloomberg adds

Translating the budget framework into law will require Biden and Democratic congressional leaders keeping their party’s moderate and progressive wings marching together.

Just hours after passage of the budget blueprint, Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, said he couldn’t support a social spending bill with a $3.5 trillion price tag. Senator Kyrsten Sinema, an Arizona Democrat, has said the same. One Democratic objection is all it would take to scuttle the package in the Senate.

Time will tell but we are talking about $3.5 trillion on top of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill and multi-trillion COVID-19 relief bills that Congress has passed in the last 18 months. It appears that Congress is trying to disprove the adage that money can’t solve all problems.

One of the initiatives in the budget reconciliation package is to add dental, vision, and hearing coverage to Medicare. Kaiser Health News discusses the issue here.

From the Delta variant front

  • The Centers for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice released a helpful report on COVID-19 adverse side effects which it summarized as follows

What is already known about this topic?

Rare serious adverse events have been reported after COVID-19 vaccination, including Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) after Janssen COVID-19 vaccination and myocarditis after mRNA (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) COVID-19 vaccination.

What is added by this report?

On July 22, 2021, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices reviewed updated benefit-risk analyses after Janssen and mRNA COVID-19 vaccination and concluded that the benefits outweigh the risks for rare serious adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination.

What are the implications for public health practice?

Continued COVID-19 vaccination will prevent COVID-19 morbidity and mortality far exceeding GBS, TTS, and myocarditis cases expected. Information about rare adverse events should be disseminated to providers, vaccine recipients, and the public.

  • Forbes tells us that today “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encouraged anyone pregnant and breastfeeding to get vaccinated against coronavirus Wednesday, pointing to a growing amount of evidence that vaccines are safe and effective as new cases and hospitalizations linked to the virus surge across the country.” The Washington Post adds “Just 23 percent of pregnant women have received at least one shot of vaccine.”
  • Also from Forbes as schools begin to reopen “Vaccine rates among teenagers have remained lower than the U.S. population overall, with only 43% of 12- to 15-year-olds and 52.8% of 16- and 17-year-olds receiving at least a first dose as compared with 58.9% of the total population and 71.2% of adults.”
  • The Boston Globe discusses this teenage hesitancy issue — “The top reservation among parents of unvaccinated teens was the lack of information about the long-term effects of the shot, followed by concerns about side effects and fertility — despite conclusive evidence that the vaccine has no negative impacts on reproduction. Dr. Jill Kasper, a pediatrician at Cambridge Health Alliance, said she typically encounters ‘very little hesitancy’ from parents about routine adolescent vaccinations. That hasn’t been the case with COVID-19.”

The HHS Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research issued two noteworthy studies today. Here are the topline findings

  • #1 Overuse or low-value procedures may result in patient physical, psychological, or emotional harm. This study explored the association between eight low-value care procedures and length of stay (LOS) and cost. All eight procedures were associated with increased LOS and cost, particularly spinal fusion. Patients receiving low-value care may be exposed to increased risk of adverse events and hospital-acquired conditions.
  • #2 Medication administration errors made by parent or caregivers can result in medication errors at home. This systematic review found that 30% to 80% of pediatric patients experience a medication error at home, and that the risk increases based on characteristics of the caregiver and if a prescription contains more than two drugs.

Healthcare Dive informs us that

  • CVS Health said its Aetna unit will offer virtual primary care to self-funded employers nationwide in a move that underscores the growing popularity of telehealth services fueled by the COVID-19 public health emergency.
  • Using Teladoc Health’s physician-led care team model, the Aetna Virtual Primary Care service is intended to help strengthen the patient-doctor relationship and improve access to care, the vertically integrated company announced Tuesday. Members can receive health services remotely and in person.

Such support for primary care should be applauded.

In other healthcare news

  • STAT News reports that The Department of Veterans Affairs has decided not to cover a new Alzheimer’s drug from Biogen [Adulhelm], citing insufficient evidence of “a robust and meaningful clinical benefit” and concerns about safety. In a notice issued by the agency, the VA said it will make exceptions for “highly selected patients” and listed several hurdles that must be cleared before the medicine will be covered, such as requiring it to be prescribed by providers who specialize in treating dementia and ensuring patients had recently received MRI brain scans. * * * ‘Its bad news for Biogen,’ said Ira Loss of Washington Analysis, which tracks legislative and regulatory issues affecting the pharmaceutical industry for investors, who noted several private insurers have either declined or delayed coverage for the drug. ‘The VA is a big buyer of medicines. And you don’t like this kind of publicity, that’s for sure.’”
  • Fierce Healthcare continues to report from the HIMSS conference in Las Vegas. “Health IT giant Epic launched a new customer story-sharing website that lets Epic users share insights, tips and creative ideas around using health IT to improve their organizations and patient care. The site, EpicShare.org, combines insights from industry leaders, quick tips on improving outcomes and performance, in-depth case studies as well as a “Hey Judy” column from Epic founder and CEO Judy Faulkner.”

Tuesday’s Tidbits

David Ermer–Congress, COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccine, Federal employment benefits, U.S. Healthcare–
Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

The Wall Street Journal reports

The Senate passed a roughly $1 trillion infrastructure package with broad bipartisan support Tuesday, advancing a central piece of President Biden’s economic agenda that would amount to one of the most substantial federal investments in roads, bridges and rail in decades.

With 19 Republicans including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) joining all 50 Democrats to pass the bill 69 to 30, the legislation sailed through the Senate. The bill will face a more complicated path in the House, where Democrats have yoked the fate of the infrastructure effort to the passage of a broad $3.5 trillion antipoverty and climate effort. 

Professor Katie Keith in the Health Affairs blog discusses the Administration’s health policy objectives in the budget reconciliation bill that the Senate is now taking up. “Vice President Harris emphasized the need for Congress to build on these [Affordable Care Act special enrollment period] coverage gains by 1) extending the American Rescue Plan Act subsidy enhancements; 2) closing the Medicaid coverage gap; 3) expanding Medicare to include dental, vision, and hearing coverage; and 4) lowering prescription drug costs.”

Becker’s Hospital review tells us how COVID-19 vaccination rates have changed in the states for the week ended August 9. The rates in 40 states lead by Mississippi (and the District of Columbia) are up and only 10 states are down.

STAT News informs us that

As the world amasses experience with Covid-19 vaccines, something we should have known from the start is coming into sharp focus.

Vaccines that are injected into arm muscles aren’t likely to be able to protect our nasal passages from marauding SARS-CoV-2 viruses for very long, even if they are doing a terrific job protecting lungs from the virus. If we want vaccines that protect our upper respiratory tracts, we may need products that are administered in the nose — intranasal vaccines.

Can they be made? Probably. Will they do what we want them to do, if they are made? Possibly. Is there still room for this type of next-generation product, given the record number of Covid vaccines that have already been put into use? Potentially. Will it be difficult to get them through development? Likely.

In this regard the National Institutes of Health reports on a successful animal study of a COVID-19 intranasal vaccine based on the Oxford / Astra Zeneca model. What’s more, “[a] clinical trial at the University of Oxford is now testing intranasal vaccination in human volunteers.”

Fierce Healthcare is running a daily HIMSS21 roundup from the conference being held in Las Vegas this week.

Reg Jones writes in FedWeek about FEHB coverage for adult children of federal employees and annuitants who are incapable of self support. This is a rather unique feature of the Program.

Finally the Wall Street Journal reports that

The U.S. Postal Service plans to charge more for packages shipped during the holidays, including those sent by individuals, to offset the rising cost of deliveries at the busiest time of the year.

The agency on Tuesday proposed adding surcharges on most packages shipped domestically between Oct. 3 and Dec. 26, saying the fees would apply to both commercial and retail customers. That means it won’t just be Amazon.com Inc.,Target Corp. TGT 0.63% and other big holiday shippers paying higher-than-normal rates; it will also cost more to ship a box of cookies to grandma.

The agency said the added fees, ranging from 25 cents for smaller packages to $5 for heavier items traveling longer distances, are in line with broader industry practices to charge more during the holiday season.

Monday Roundup

David Ermer–Congress, COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccine, U.S. Healthcare–
Photo by Sven Read on Unsplash

The Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure bill cleared a cloture vote last night. The Senate is expected to pass it by tomorrow. Roll Call reports on the $3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” related budget reconciliation bill that the Congressional Democrat leadership unveiled today.

In Delta variant news

  • Federal News Network informs us that “The Defense Department is taking actions to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for service members by mid-September, or once the vaccines gets licensure from the Food and Drug Administration, whichever comes first.”
  • The New York Times reports that long COVID is now afflicting children. “Studies estimate long Covid may affect between 10 percent and 30 percent of adults infected with the coronavirus. Estimates from the handful of studies of children so far range widely. At an April congressional hearing, Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, cited one study suggesting that between 11 percent and 15 percent of infected youths might ‘end up with this long-term consequence, which can be pretty devastating in terms of things like school performance.’” Quite troubling. All the more reason to accelerate vaccinations for children.
  • In this regard, the Wall Street Journal reports that “As the highly contagious Delta strain tears through the country, the trends thus far suggest vaccines can turn Covid-19 into a less dangerous, more manageable disease. “Vaccines definitely make a difference,” said David Dowdy, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.A Wall Street Journal analysis shows sharp geographic divides in vaccination and hospitalization levels, with every state that has an above-average vaccine rate showing below-average hospitalizations, including in well-vaccinated New England. In the South, meanwhile, fewer people are vaccinated on average and hospitalization rates are climbing faster.” Lesson hopefully learned.

From the second quarter financials report front, Fierce Healthcare tells us that “Kaiser Permanente reported $3 billion in net income for the second quarter of the year as membership in its health plan remains steady. The health system and insurer posted total operating revenues of $23.7 billion against total operating expenses of $23.3 billion. The revenue was slightly above the $22.1 billion it earned in the second quarter of 2020. Kaiser noted in its earnings statement Friday that favorable financial market conditions resulted in $3 billion in net income, compared with $4.5 billion for the second quarter of 2020.”

From the No Surprises Act front, a friend of the FEHBlog pointed out to him that a second NSA rule has been pending at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (“OIRA”) for the past month:

AGENCY: HHS-CMS          RIN: 0938-AU61   Status: Pending Review
TITLE: Reporting Requirements Related To Air Ambulance and Agent and Broker Services and HHS Enforcement Provisions (CMS-9907)
STAGE: Proposed Rule   ECONOMICALLY SIGNIFICANT: Yes
RECEIVED DATE: 07/07/2021        LEGAL DEADLINE: Statutory

In other news —

  • Health Day tells about a severe blood shortage that is adversely affecting U.S. hospitals. “‘A blood shortage is when we have demand outpacing our supply,’ noted Paul Sullivan, senior vice president of donor services for the American Red Cross. ‘Usually it’s around some challenging period of the year. The beginning of summer, end-of-year holidays. And obviously we work hard to try to plan for those times.’ But this time is different, Sullivan said, with the COVID-19 pandemic and its fallout triggering a huge spike in hospital demands for blood. The result is a critical blood shortage that’s now seven weeks long and counting.” The article concludes “There’s more on the blood shortage and blood donations at the American Red Cross.”
  • In good news, Health Leaders Media reports that “The years-long effort to reduce unnecessary Cesarean section births in the United States is coming to fruition, an obstetrics expert says. Complications from C-sections such as hemorrhaging are widely considered to be a contributing factor to the country’s high maternal mortality rate. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been monitoring maternal mortality since 1986. The number of pregnancy-related deaths has risen steadily since the monitoring effort began, from 7.2 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1987 to 18.0 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2014. “We are finally at the point where most hospitals are sharing their data and having conversations on an individual basis about C-section rates. We are having conversations about quality at labor and delivery units as well as about the quality of individual providers. It has taken more than a decade to get to this point,” says Amy VanBlaricom, MD, vice president of clinical operations for western states at Greenville, South Carolina-based Ob Hospitalist Group.”

Weekend update

David Ermer–Congress, COVID-19, Electronic health records, OPM, Telehealth, U.S. Healthcare–
Photo by Dane Deaner on Unsplash

The Senate remains in session for Committee and floor business while the House of Representatives remains on its District work break. Politico reports from the Senate floor that

The bipartisan infrastructure deal embraced by President Joe Biden and shaped by a gang of 10 senators is inching closer to clearing the chamber, with one more filibuster to clear on Sunday before the bill can pass later this week and land in the the House. * * *

[House Speaker] Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader] Schumer have devised a two-track process to enact as much of Biden’s domestic agenda as possible, pledging that the bipartisan infrastructure bill will only advance if it is married to the party-line legislation that will spend as much as $3.5 trillion on climate change action, paid leave policies and health care expansion. 

The Senate will immediately proceed to a budget setting up that massive bill on filibuster-proof ground after it completes its work on the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Schumer is also considering forcing votes on more elections legislation after Democrats’ sweeping overhaul plan failed in June.

From the Delta variant front

  • The CDC’s COVID Data Tracker informs us today that just over two thirds of Americans over age 12 and 90% of Americans over 65 have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The data tracker consistently has shown a 10% difference between one dose and fully vaccinated Americans which indicates to the FEHBlog that people follow through a get the second dose.
  • However, the Wall Street Journal reports about how neighbor deaths from unvaccinated neighbors has caused an Arkansas town to reconsider their reluctance to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Another Journal article adds that “Top U.S. public-health officials on Sunday [August 8] voiced support for Covid-19 vaccination mandates imposed at the local level, while the head of a national teachers union also backed such a move in schools.”
  • Speaking of mandates, the FEHBlog found a link to the Safer Federal Workers Task Force FAQs on the Biden Administration’s vaccine screening program for federal employees, federal office visitors and on-site contractors that were released last Friday August 6. Interestingly, an FAQ indicates that

Q: Do agencies need to ask employees on maximum telework or remote workers about their vaccination status?

A: Yes, agencies should provide the Certification of Vaccination form to all employees, including employees on maximum telework and remote workers.

Healthcare Dive informs us about

  • Five intriguing panels at this week’s in-person HIMSS conference in Las Vegas.
  • A new survey conducted by Social Sciences Research Solutions for the Bipartisan Policy Center [that] concludes that telehealth is likely an ongoing viable option for consumers even after the COVID-19 pandemic winds down.
  • An overview of second quarter financial reports from health insurers.

The Biden Administration to its credit has proposed a rule rescinding the Trump Administration’s rule to establish a most favored nation pricing approach for Medicare Part B covered drugs.

Govexec reports on a recent Postal Service Board of Governors meeting attended by the three recently confirmed members whom President Biden had nominated. “The tenure of the U.S. Postal Service’s newest board members got off to a tense start on Friday as President Biden’s appointees voiced their displeasure with the agency’s direction and USPS’ leader stated he will still move forward with reforms.”

Monday Roundup

David Ermer–Congress, COVID-19, COVID-19 testing, Medicare, U.S. Healthcare–
Photo by Sven Read on Unsplash

The American Hospital Association (“AHA”) reports that “Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate this weekend unveiled the text of a bipartisan infrastructure package that has been under negotiation for several months. The package does not rescind any Provider Relief Funds as an offset for the package, though it does extend the Medicare sequester for one additional year, through fiscal year 2031.” Fierce Healthcare points out two other healthcare provisions in the bill. Fierce Healthcare adds that

The Senate is expected to vote this week on the package. It will then consider a $3.5 trillion package that could clear the chamber via a procedural move called reconciliation that ensures budget bills can pass via a simple majority and bypass the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.

Democrats have sought to add more healthcare related provisions in the $3.5 trillion package, including adding dental, vision and hearing benefits to Medicare.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, told Fierce Healthcare last week that he is working to add drug pricing provisions into the package, including giving Medicare the authority to negotiate for lower prices.

From the Delta variant front

  • Federal News Network discusses federal employee reaction to the President’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
  • The Society for Human Resource Management offers solid advice to employers on how businesses should respond to the Delta variant.
  • The American Medical Association discusses how providers can address high blood pressure problems worsened by the pandemic.

From the employee perspective front, Health Payer Intelligence tells us that “Employees are looking for employers to bolster preventive care services, mental healthcare, and access to employees’ providers in their employer-sponsored health benefits, a Marathon Health survey revealed. The researchers surveyed over 1,100 employees—all of whom were working full-time—and 430 human resource leaders in June 2021. “While Americans prize healthcare above every other benefit, our survey also indicates employees and employers see major shortcomings in their healthcare plans. This is especially true when it comes to cost, preventive care, and mental health,” Jeff Wells, co-founder and chief executive officer of Marathon Health, summarized in the press release.”

From the regulatory front today the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized the fiscal year 2022 Medicare Part A payment policies for inpatient hospital care.

Before taking into account Medicare disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments and Medicare uncompensated care payments, the increase in operating payment rates, increases in capital payments, increases in payments for new medical technologies, increases in payments due to implementation of the imputed floor, and other changes will increase hospital payments in FY 2022 by $3.7 billion, or 3.1 percent. CMS projects Medicare DSH payments and Medicare uncompensated care payments to decrease in FY 2022 compared to FY 2021 by approximately $1.4 billion. Overall, CMS estimates hospitals payments will increase by $2.3 billion.

Here is a link to the AHA’s generally favorable reaction to the final rule.

Weekend update

David Ermer–ACA, Congress, COVID-19, U.S. Healthcare–

The House of Representatives is on a long District work break this month while the Senate has one more week of Committee business and floor voting before that body begins its State work break.

The Wall Street Journal reports from the Delta variant front

While the number of cases in the U.S. had climbed, the number of Americans getting vaccinated also surged, particularly in states like Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi, where the rates of vaccination were lower, the officials said. Roughly 60% of eligible Americans are fully vaccinated.

The Journal adds that

One recent vaccine recipient was Manny Cid, the 37-year-old mayor of Miami Lakes[, Florida]. He held off on getting a vaccine earlier in the pandemic because the virus seemed to affect mostly older people and he worked out daily and felt healthy, he said. Over time, his thinking changed as he saw young athletes and acquaintances suffer severe bouts of Covid-19. Then the Delta variant emerged, along with research showing people infected with it carry 1,000 times the viral material of people with the original strain. He decided to get a shot Monday.

“Seeing the impact of the Delta variant, attending funerals of people I highly respect, seeing more and more young people in bad shape…that’s really scary,” Mr. Cid said. “We’ve got to protect ourselves.”

In an interesting development, Health Payer Intelligence informs us that “Based on 75 individual [Affordable Care Act] marketplace rate filings, the coronavirus pandemic is not expected to meaningfully affect healthcare spending in 2022, a Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Health System Tracker brief explained.”

The Centers for Disease Control reminds us that August is National Immunization Awareness Month. Hey health plans, “National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) is an annual observance held in August to highlight the importance of vaccination for people of all ages. Use these resources to assist you in communicating to healthcare professionals, parents, and patients about immunization during August and throughout the year.“