About health insurance/insurers
Change Healthcare to begin processing $14B in claims “Change Healthcare said March 22 it plans to restore its biggest clearinghouse platforms over the weekend and start processing $14 billion in claims.
The UnitedHealth Group subsidiary said it brought the Assurance claims preparation system back online March 18 and intends to reinstate Relay Exchange, its largest clearinghouse, the weekend of March 23.”
Taxpayers Were Overcharged for Patient Meds. Then Came the Lawyers. Suits against PBM overcharges, “which now total nearly $1 billion, [appear to have been ] driven by state governments cracking down on a company that had ripped off taxpayers.
But a New York Times investigation, drawing on thousands of pages of court documents, emails and other public records in multiple states, reveals that the case against Centene was conceived and executed by a group of powerful private lawyers who used their political connections to go after millions of dollars in contingency fees….
So far, the lawyers have been awarded at least $108 million in fees.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Hospitals Are Adding Billions in ‘Facility’ Fees for Routine Care A great article in The Wall Street Journal that highlights the increased costs of facility fees that hospitals (but not independent physician offices) can and do charge.
About the public’s health
Requiring ugly images of smoking’s harm on cigarettes won’t breach First Amendment, court says “A federal requirement that cigarette packs and advertising include graphic images demonstrating the effects of smoking — including pictures of smoke-damaged lungs and feet blackened by diminished blood flow — does not violate the First Amendment, an appeals court ruled Thursday.
The ruling from a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was a partial victory for federal regulators seeking to toughen warning labels. But the court kept alive a tobacco industry challenge of the rule, saying a lower court should review whether it was adopted in accordance with the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which governs the development of regulations.
The 5th Circuit panel rejected industry arguments that the rule violates free speech rights or that it requires images and lettering that take up so much space that they overcome branding and messaging on packages and advertisements.”
US exceptionalism? International trends in midlife mortality “Background Rising midlife mortality in the USA has raised concerns, particularly the increase in ‘deaths of despair’ (due to drugs, alcohol and suicide). Life expectancy is also stalling in other countries such as the UK, but how trends in midlife mortality are evolving outside the USA is less understood. We provide a synthesis of cause-specific mortality trends in midlife (25–64 years of age) for the USA and the UK as well as other high-income and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries.
Results US midlife mortality rates have worsened since 1990 for several causes of death including drug-related, alcohol-related, suicide, metabolic diseases, nervous system diseases, respiratory diseases and infectious/parasitic diseases. Deaths due to homicide, transport accidents and cardiovascular diseases have declined since 1990 but saw recent increases or stalling of improvements. Midlife mortality also increased in the UK for people aged 45–54 year and in Canada, Poland and Sweden among for those aged 25–44 years.”
Healthcare Quality and Safety
J&J's Abiomed sees serious Impella recall linked to heart perforations, 49 deaths “Johnson & Johnson MedTech’s Abiomed division has another serious recall on its hands stemming from its line of miniaturized Impella heart pumps, following reports that the devices could pierce and cut through the wall of the left ventricle during operation.
The FDA reported this week that it was aware of 49 patient deaths related to the issue, among 129 records of severe injuries.”
BD boosts U.S. production as FDA warns against using plastic syringes from China “The FDA last week re-upped its recommendations that healthcare providers avoid using plastic syringes made in China wherever possible, while it continues to investigate growing quality concerns. In response, BD said it would be increasing U.S. production of the ubiquitous drug delivery hardware to help cover the gap.
The agency first made its worries public late last November, after it collected reports of leaks, breakages and other problems.”
FDA elevates recall of 6.6M Vyaire Medical emergency bag valve masks “The FDA is getting the word out on an ongoing recall of millions of hand-powered bag valve masks, which may not deliver enough oxygen to a patient in need of resuscitation.
The disposable emergency devices, stocked in ambulances and kept at hospital bedsides, are used to force air into the lungs to help counter insufficient breathing or respiratory arrest.
The recall covers different sizes and accessories of Vyaire Medical’s AirLife adult manual resuscitators, spanning some 6.6 million devices. The FDA said that a manufacturing defect—present only in equipment produced in 2017 or before—could result in patients not receiving enough ventilation, or any at all.”
Medicaid Health Plan Will Reimburse Health Equity Certification “Meridian Health Plan of Illinois, Inc.—a wholly-owned subsidiary of Centene Corporation that offers Medicaid coverage—announced that it will cover part of the fee hospitals must pay to undergo health equity certification through the Joint Commission.”
About healthcare IT
Digital Diabetes Management Solutions “Digital diabetes management solutions in the remote patient monitoring and behavior and lifestyle modification categories do not deliver meaningful clinical benefits, and they increase healthcare spending relative to usual care. The evidence showed that improvements in glycemic control for patients using digital diabetes management solutions were minimal and short-term.”
About healthcare finance
Novo Nordisk inks $1B Cardior buyout to pump up heart failure plans “Novo Nordisk is pumping up its heart failure plans. The drugmaker, swelled by its GLP-1 windfall, has decided to buy Cardior Pharmaceuticals and its midphase prospect in a deal that could top out above 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion).
Cardior is developing an antisense oligonucleotide to inhibit a piece of non-coding RNA, miR-132, that is implicated in heart failure. Upregulation of the RNA when certain cells are stressed can lead to changes in the size and shape of the heart. Blocking elevated miR-132 could therefore prevent or reverse changes that are associated with poor prognosis in patients who have heart attacks.”