About Covid-19
Administration of Anti–SARS-CoV-2 Monoclonal Antibodies After US Food and Drug Administration Deauthorization “According to the results of this serial cross-sectional study, hospitals and health systems administered more than 158 000 anti–SARS-CoV-2 mAb doses in early 2022, despite FDA deauthorization because of a lack of efficacy against the Omicron variant. Medicare payments for mAb administration range from $450 to $750 per dose, indicating that spending on these deauthorized treatments likely exceeds $71 million.”
California Approves Bill to Punish Doctors Who Spread False Information ”The legislation, if signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, would make the state the first to try to legislate a remedy to a problem that the American Medical Association, among other medical groups and experts, says has worsened the impact of the pandemic, resulting in thousands of unnecessary hospitalizations and deaths.
The law would designate spreading false or misleading medical information to patients as “unprofessional conduct,” subject to punishment by the agency that licenses doctors, the Medical Board of California. That could include suspending or revoking a doctor’s license to practice medicine in the state.”
About health insurance/insurers
'Not so optimistic:' Surprise billing arbitrations cause frustration “Mediators have decided just 1200 out of 46000 claims.”
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Files More Deeply Reduced Premiums for ACA Individual Plans Thanks to Extension of Federal Subsidy Program File this article under “spin.” Recall that last week MIchigan’s governor required planss to lower their premiums because of the subsidies. This announcement basically says “We have complied.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
National Hospital Flash Report: August 2022 “U.S. hospitals and health systems are experiencing some of the worst margins since the beginning of the pandemic, and 2022 continues to be on pace to be the worst year of the pandemic in terms of financial performance. The gains hospitals saw in recent months reversed themselves in July, as lagging outpatient volumes shrunk revenues and expenses jumped up from June. Hospitals can no longer count on supplemental federal funding to buffer these mounting losses, as they did in previous pandemic years. The situation is so dire that on August 16 Fitch Ratings revised its sector outlook for U.S. not-for-profit hospitals and health systems to ‘deteriorating.’”
Read the entire summary on page 4.
Cleveland Clinic reports $1B loss in first half of this year “Cleveland Clinic's revenue was down year over year in the second quarter of this year, and the health system ended the period with a loss, according to financial documents released Aug. 29.
The health system's revenue totaled $3.1 billion in the three-month period ended June 30, down from $3.2 billion in the same quarter last year.
Cleveland Clinic reported expenses of $3.1 billion in the second quarter of this year, up from $2.7 billion in the same period last year. The system saw expenses rise across all categories, including supplies and salaries, wages and benefits.”
About healthcare quality
PATIENT ACCESS AND VALUE-BASED OUTCOMES AMID THE GREAT ATTRITION “Data from the survey found that revenue from value-based contracts accounted for varying amounts of total medical revenue in 2021 among reporting practices:
• 6.74% in primary care specialties • 5.54% in surgical specialties
• 14.74% in nonsurgical specialties.
Across all practices, the median revenue amount from value-based contracts was $30,922 per FTE provider.
About the public’s health
White House to make all federally funded research immediately accessible “The White House… issued a new policy that will require all federally funded research to be immediately — and freely — available to the public upon publication starting no later than 2026.
Why it matters: The memorandum, issued by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), will end journals' abilities to put the results from federally funded research behind paywalls for up to one year and will increase the public's immediate access to such research.”
US Signs $11 Million Deal to Fund Monkeypox Vaccines Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing, Inc. in Michigan will produce the vaccine.
About healthcare IT
Privacy bill triggers lobbying surge by data brokers “Congress has never been closer to passing a federal data privacy law — and the brokers that profit from information on billions of people are spending big to nudge the legislation in their favor.
Five prominent data brokers boosted their collective spending on lobbying by roughly 11 percent in the second quarter of this year compared with the same period a year ago, according to lobbying disclosure records reviewed by POLITICO. The $180,000 lobbying bump came as House Democrats and Republicans reached a compromise on a bipartisan bill aimed at giving consumers new powers to limit the collection and sharing of their data.”
Feds sue firm for selling data that could track people at abortion clinics “The Federal Trade Commission sued an app analytics company on Monday for selling cell phone location data that the agency said could be used to track people to sensitive locations like abortion clinics, domestic violence facilities and places of worship.
Kochava, an Idaho-based firm, has been ordered to delete the data and stop collecting it in the future, according to the antitrust and consumer protection regulator.”
About healthcare finance
InterWell Health finalizes $2.4B kidney care merger to combine tech, value-based care capabilities “InterWell Health completed a three-way merger with Fresenius Health Partners and Cricket Health to create a kidney care powerhouse on track to have $11 billion in costs under management by 2025.
The three big players in kidney care announced in March plans to form a new value-based care company focused on services for the earlier stages of kidney disease.
The deal creates a company valued at $2.4 billion, according to the companies.”