Nobel Prize in medicine awarded to two U.S.-based scientists ‘for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch’
About Covid-19
COVID-19 deaths eclipse 700,000 in US as delta variant rages: “The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 eclipsed 700,000 late Friday — a number greater than the population of Boston. The last 100,000 deaths occurred during a time when vaccines — which overwhelmingly prevent deaths, hospitalizations and serious illness — were available to any American over the age of 12.”
Infectious SARS-CoV-2 in Exhaled Aerosols and Efficacy of Masks During Early Mild Infection: “SARS-CoV-2 is evolving toward more efficient aerosol generation and loose-fitting masks provide significant but only modest source control. Therefore, until vaccination rates are very high, continued layered controls and tight-fitting masks and respirators will be necessary.”
Covid-19 Charges at Hospitals Can Vary by Tens of Thousands of Dollars, a WSJ Analysis Finds: The variation across hospitals is not surprising. This paragraph is what I found most interesting: “At NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, the cost for a severe-respiratory patient was around $55,182 if the person were insured by CVS Health Corp.’s CVS Aetna, according to the hospital’s data. For UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s UnitedHealthcare, the hospital’s disclosed rate is $64,326, while the price listed in the hospital’s data for patients covered by Anthem Inc.’s Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield was $94,357.”
Outpatient and inpatient anticoagulation therapy and the risk for hospital admission and death among COVID-19 patients: “Outpatients with COVID-19 who were on outpatient anticoagulation at the time of diagnosis experienced a 43% reduced risk of hospitalization. Failure to initiate anticoagulation upon hospitalization or maintaining outpatient anticoagulation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients was associated with increased mortality risk.”
Included in the study were “those prescribed any anticoagulant class including warfarin, a direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC, i.e., apixaban, rivaroxaban, dabigatran, edoxaban), or enoxaparin in the immediate 90 days prior to COVID-19 diagnosis were included.”
3rd vaccine dose has lowest side effect rate, Israel Health Ministry data shows: “Side effects, such as fatigue, weakness, and pain in the arm where the injection was administered, were all less common for the third dose in every age group.
The data showed that pain in the area of the vaccine was recorded at 42.7 per million in the third dose, compared to 222.9 and 514.3 in the second and first doses.”
The application is now open for both Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural payments.: HRSA is now accepting provider applications for $25.5B in relief aid.
FDA greenlights combination at-home test for COVID and influenza in children as flu season approaches: “Labcorp aims to tackle both infections with a single test following a new emergency authorization from the FDA for an at-home collection kit to gather samples from children as young as two years old.
The company said the combination test under its Pixel brand will be available at no upfront cost to people meeting certain clinical guidelines for screening, such as those who have been exposed to COVID-19 or currently have symptoms as well as those who have been directed to get a test by their healthcare provider.”
Justice Sotomayor rejects request to block New York City school vaccine mandate: “Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Friday denied a request from a group of New York City teachers to block the city's vaccine mandate for public school employees.
Sotomayor did not refer the request to the other Supreme Court justices, or comment on her action, likely signaling they agreed with her decision. In August, Justice Amy Coney Barrett likewise rejected an effort to block Indiana University's vaccine mandate.”
Researchers retract preprint study that miscalculated higher heart inflammation risk for Moderna, Pfizer COVID vaccines: “Scientists at The University of Ottawa Heart Institute have retracted the preprint study, which falsely calculated a 1 in 1,000 risk of heart inflammation for Moderna's and Pfizer-BioNTech's mRNA COVID vaccines.
The study authors have withdrawn the manuscript “because of a major error pertaining to the quoted incidence data,” the team said in a retraction statement on Sept. 24.”
About health insurance
Humana launching 72 new Medicare plans for 2022: “Humana is launching 72 new Medicare Advantage plans for 2022 across hundreds of additional counties, the insurer announced Friday.
This includes 42 new Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plans, three MA-only plans, and 27 special needs plans, Humana said. The company will expand its HMO Medicare plans into 115 new counties and PPO Medicare plans into 162 new counties.
Humana also intends to bring its dual special needs plans to 268 new counties. The overall expansion will allow it to reach 4 million additional Medicare eligibles.”
Here's what major national payers are offering in Medicare Advantage for 2022: “Medicare Advantage (MA) open enrollment begins Oct. 15, and major national payers are outlining their plans for the coming year.
The market is one of the hottest in the insurance industry and is a key growth target for many insurers. Recent Kaiser Family Foundation data show that enrollment in MA plans has more than doubled over the past decade, reaching more than 26 million members, or about 42% of the Medicare population.
Options are growing for members as the market heats up; KFF found that for the 2021 plan year, beneficiaries had access to 33 different plans, the most ever.”
Blue Cross NC Reduces Lab Service Costs, Unnecessary Testing: “Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (Blue Cross NC) achieved $112 million in savings on lab service costs and better-quality lab services for members in 2020 after partnering with a laboratory insights company.
The payer improved member health outcomes by reducing unnecessary lab testing and increasing clinical guideline adherence.
Healthcare professionals administer around 13 billion lab tests each year, making it one of the most common healthcare services in the country, the press release noted. Lab services can also contribute to high healthcare spending.”
About pharma
Pharmacies face 1st trial over role in opioid crisis: “In a bellwether federal trial starting Monday in Cleveland, Lake and Trumbull counties will try to convince a jury that the retail pharmacy companies played an outsized role in creating a public nuisance in the way they dispensed pain medication into their communities.
This will be the first time pharmacy companies, in this case CVS, Walgreens, Giant Eagle and Walmart, have gone to trial to defend themselves in the nation’s ongoing legal reckoning over the opioid crisis. The trial, which is expected to last around six weeks, could set the tone for similar lawsuits against retail pharmacy chains by government entities across the U.S.”
About the public’s health
Comparing Nations on Timeliness and Coordination of Health Care: Some summary of findings from the 2021 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey of Older Adults. On the positive side:
Older adults in the U.S. were the least likely to experience gaps in hospital discharge planning in the past two years.
Older adults in the U.S. were the least likely to report missed opportunities to review their prescribed medication lists with providers.
U.S. older adults with chronic conditions were most likely to have contact with health professionals in between visits.
On the negative side:
U.S. seniors are more likely than their counterparts in other wealthy countries to experience economic hardship as a result of the pandemic, with Latino/Hispanic and Black seniors most affected. Nearly four in 10 older Latino/Hispanic adults and one in three older Black adults said they used up their savings or lost a job or source of income because of COVID-19, compared to 14 percent of older white adults.
Despite the near-universal coverage Medicare provides, U.S. older adults have comparatively high out-of-pocket health expenses and are much more likely to forgo care because of cost than are their counterparts in the other survey countries.
Obesity and Sex-Related Associations With Differential Effects of Sucralose vs Sucrose on Appetite and Reward Processing: “In this randomized crossover trial, both obesity and female sex were associated with differential neural food cue responsivity in reward processing areas following ingestion of sucralose (an NNS) compared with sucrose (nutritive sugar)…
These findings suggest that female individuals and those with obesity have greater neural reward responses to NNS vs nutritive sugar consumption, highlighting the need to consider individual biological factors that might influence the efficacy of NNS.”
The diet sweetener did not satisfy food cravings and in women and obese people enhanced eating.
About healthcare personnel
US healthcare labor market: An update from Mercer showing the dimensions of healthcare personnel shortages. The map graphics are helpful in showing the magnitude and location of the greatest shortages in lower skilled personnel, primary care physicians and nurses.
About healthcare IT
JD Power Survey Sees Telehealth Falling Back Into the Same Old Rut: “J.D. Power’s 2021 US Telehealth Satisfaction Survey, released this week, saw a surge in telehealth use from 7 percent in 2019 and 9 percent in 2020 to 36 percent in 2021, reflecting the shift to virtual care as the nation grappled with COVID-19. But the consumer advisory company’s third annual survey also saw a decrease in patient satisfaction, driven by complains over limited services (24 percent), lack of awareness on costs, confusing technology requirements and lack of information about care providers (all at 15 percent).”