The Supreme Court heavily weighed the issues of severability and standing when it heard oral arguments in the ACA case yesterday. The consensus seems to be that the entire law (with or without the mandate) will be upheld by at least a 5-4 vote. Here is what the NY Times , Washington Post and Bloomberg Law say.
About the public’s health
Agency Review Teams: Here are the review teams that will direct the transition for the Biden-Harris transition.
Scientific Brief: Community Use of Cloth Masks to Control the Spread of SARS-CoV-2: From the CDC: “Experimental and epidemiological data support community masking to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2. The prevention benefit of masking is derived from the combination of source control and personal protection for the mask wearer.” [Emphasis added]
Preexisting and de novo humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in humans:”Using diverse assays for antibodies recognizing SARS-CoV-2 proteins, we detect preexisting humoral immunity. SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein (S)-reactive antibodies were detectable by a flow cytometry-based method in SARS-CoV-2-uninfected individuals and were particularly prevalent in children and adolescents.”
This finding may explain why children usually do not get as severe COVID-19 illness as do adults.
Amid cold chain blues, Pfizer looks to powder vaccine formula in 2021: report: “Pfizer on Monday revealed stellar early results from its phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial, but the news was quickly met with concerns about access as the vaccine comes with hefty cold chain requirements. Pfizer, for its part, already has its sights set on a next-generation formula that could help resolve those storage concerns, the drugmaker's top scientist said.”
Tested by a pandemic, pharma supply chain showed resilience: The headline speaks for itself and gives examples.
Almost 1 in 5 Parents Are 'Vaccine Hesitant,' Study Finds: “Nearly one in five American parents described themselves as ‘hesitant about childhood shots’ in 2019, a new U.S. government study finds.
That was fewer than the one in four who expressed hesitancy about vaccines in 2018.
The new research found real consequences from vaccine hesitancy. Rates of flu vaccination were 26 percentage points lower in children of "vaccine-hesitant" parents in both years studied.”
Several state leaders are urging residents to stay home as Covid-19 hospitalizations hit a record level: The headline speaks for itself.
Suburban Chicago Businessman Charged With Swindling Hospitals in Connection With Attempted Purchase of $2.6 Million in PPE: The orders were never filled, though the money was received. And a related story: More than Half of Disposable Gowns ECRI Tested Fail to Meet Necessary Protection Standards
About healthcare IT
Updates on 10 hospital malware attacks: Just a reminder that this problem is still very much with us.
The US Government Will Pay Doctors to Use These AI Algorithms: “The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently said it would pay for use of two AI systems: one that can diagnose a complication of diabetes that causes blindness, and another that alerts a specialist when a brain scan suggests a patient has suffered a stroke. The decisions are notable for more than just Medicare and Medicaid patients—they could help drive much wider use of AI in health care.
Both products are already cleared by the Food and Drug Administration and are in use by some providers. But new devices and treatments generally aren’t widely used until the US government authorizes payments for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Private insurers often take their cues on whether to cover a new invention from CMS, although they usually pay higher rates.”
Effect of an Electronic Health Record “Nudge” on Opioid Prescribing and Electronic Health Record Keystrokes in Ambulatory Care: “Autocompleting prescription forms with guideline-recommended values was associated with a large increase in guideline concordance in an organization where baseline concordance was low, but not in an organization where it was already high. The redesign markedly reduced the number of keystrokes needed to place orders, with important implications for EHR-related stress.” This method could be applied to other prescriptions, like antibiotics.
Association of Display of Patient Photographs in the Electronic Health Record With Wrong-Patient Order Entry Errors: “The results of this study suggest that capturing patient photographs and displaying them in the electronic health record may be a simple and cost-effective strategy for reducing wrong-patient errors.”
About pharma
Health officials to begin distribution of Eli Lilly antibody drug this week: “The federal government will begin distributing Eli Lilly's coronavirus antibody treatment this week, but supplies will be limited and getting the drug into infected patients will be a challenge, officials said.
The drug itself is administered through an IV infusion that takes more than an hour and requires another hour of observation afterward, officials said.”
About health insurance
Court sides with UnitedHealth in mental health denial case: “UnitedHealthcare didn't violate federal or state parity laws in denying coverage for out-of-state mental health services sought by one of its members, an appellate court said in a Nov. 9 opinion.
The opinion comes as UnitedHealthcare faces growing scrutiny of its mental health coverage denials.
On Nov. 4, a federal judge ordered UnitedHealth Group to redo 67,000 medical claims for behavioral healthcare that it previously denied. The order followed a March 2019 ruling that found UnitedHealth instituted guidelines that denied care to patients needing mental health treatment to cut costs.”
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Doctor On Demand Launch SimplyVirtual: “Harvard Pilgrim Health Care today announced the launch of SimplyVirtualSM, a new, innovative model for health care that gives members access to virtual visits with primary care providers (PCPs) and care team support through its existing partner, Doctor On Demand. The new plan will be available to large employers (51+ subscribers) in Connecticut, with a January 1, 2021 effective date. SimplyVirtualSM is the first virtual primary care plan being offered by a health insurance company in Connecticut.”
ACA Offers Protection as the COVID-19 Pandemic Erodes Employer Health Insurance Coverage: The study was done by the RWJF:
“The share of adults with employer-sponsored insurance fell from 64.9 percent in late March/early April to 63.4 percent in mid-to-late September, which is equivalent to about 3.1 million adults.
The drop in employer coverage did not correspond with a statistically significant increase in the uninsurance rate, which was 11.5 percent in March/April and 11.9 percent in September.
The losses in employer coverage were mostly offset by increases in Medicaid/CHIP and nongroup coverage.”
About healthcare providers
Rite Aid unveils its 'stores of the future' in bid to become healthcare destination: “Rite Aid has officially unveiled its new concept stores as it overhauls its brand to keep up with competitors like CVS Health and Walgreens.
The pharmacy chain opened the third store built around its ‘Stores of the Future’ model in Moscow, Pennsylvania, with plans to open further stores in other markets over the next several months.
The redesigned stores, which are part of the company's broader RxEvolution brand overhaul, bring pharmacists out from behind the counter to enable them to communicate more directly with customers, and includes an overhauled assortment of products aimed at ‘clean, healthy living,’ Rite Aid said.”
Oak Street Health opens 13 health centers in Q3 as revenue jumps 57%: “The company has yet to be profitable and reported that its losses deepened during the quarter to $59 million, compared to a loss of $33 million in the third quarter of 2019. Net share per share came to a loss of 15 cents.
Oak Street now operates 67 centers serving around 90,000 patients with about 66% of those patients are under capitation agreements.”