About Covid-19
Covid Could Be Surging in the U.S. Right Now and We Might Not Even Know It “According to the CDC, the majority of the country is still considered low risk. Public health experts argue this is misleading though, given hospitalization and death generally occur days to weeks after initial infection. Without widespread testing, that could make it impossible to detect a surge until it’s too late to do anything about it.”
Interpretive Summary for April 8, 2022 From the CDC: “As of April 6, 2022, the current 7-day moving average of daily new cases (26,596) increased 4.9% compared with the previous 7-day moving average (25,363). A total of 80,111,065 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the United States as of April 6, 2022.
CDC Nowcast projections* for the week ending April 2, 2022, estimate the combined national proportion of lineages designated as Omicron to be 100%.”
Philadelphia brings back mask indoor mandate as covid cases rise “Public health officials in Philadelphia announced on Monday that the city’s indoor mask mandate would return beginning April 18 as coronavirus cases there rise, making it the first major U.S. city to reinstate a mask mandate this spring.”
Biden official: Mask mandate for airplanes could be extended “Extending the federal transportation mask mandate that applies to airplanes, buses and trains is ‘absolutely on the table,’ Ashish Jha, the White House's new COVID-19 response coordinator, said Monday on the Today Show.
The transportation mask mandate was extended last month but is currently set to expire on April 18.”
White House tells agencies to delay vaccine mandate after court win ”The White House told federal agencies Thursday to hold off on reinstating a coronavirus vaccination mandate for millions of employees, hours after an appeals court rejected an earlier injunction that had blocked the executive order.
In a message to agency officials, the White House cautioned that ‘there are still procedural steps that need to take place to lift the injunction; at this time the district court’s preliminary injunction remains in effect.’”
About health insurance
Medicare Index Report for 2022 Coverage “Highlights:
—Medicare Advantage and Part D plan enrollees are paying more in 2022, but premiums remain low - $6 per month is the average Medicare Advantage premium for plans selected by eHealth shoppers, up from $5 last year; $22 is the average Part D plan premium, up from $20 last year.
—Annual deductibles are higher for 2022 – Medicare Advantage enrollees are paying deductibles 4% higher than last year ($121 vs. $116) while Part D plan enrollees have deductibles 7% higher than last year ($427 vs. $400).
—Out-of-pocket limits are lower this year – The average annual out-of- pocket limit for people selecting Medicare Advantage plans decreased 5%, from $5,367 in 2021 to $5,108 for 2022.
—Zero-dollar Medicare Advantage plans remain popular – 87% of beneficiaries selecting Medicare Advantage products at eHealth chose plans with a $0 monthly premium during the Annual Enrollment Period.”
MedPAC Discusses Ambulatory Setting Payment, Social Determinants of Health, and APMs “The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) met on April 7 and 8 to discuss a variety of policy issues, including recommendations to align fee-for-service payment rates across ambulatory settings, Medicare policy options for addressing social determinants of health (SDOH), and harmonizing Medicare’s portfolio of alternative payment models (APMs). The commission also discussed Medicare drug prices and Part D plan policy. These topics will be included in MedPAC’s June 2022 report to Congress.”
See the article for more details.
UnitedHealth makes $100M investment in affordable housing “UnitedHealth Group has invested an additional $100 million in affordable housing initiatives.
This latest funding brings the company's total investment in affordable housing to nearly $800 million, which has led to the creation of 19,000 housing units for individuals and families. More than 1,000 units will be established as a result of the latest investment.
UnitedHealth's housing investments are a part of the Health & Housing Fund, launched in partnership with Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) and the National Affordable Housing Trust (NAHT).”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
St. Helena Clear Lake Hospital v. Xavier Becerra, No. 21-5117 (D.C. Cir. 2022) From the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit: “Appellant, a California critical access hospital, sought Medicare reimbursement for the cost of keeping specialty doctors on call. Under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act, hospitals providing emergency room service must stabilize patients before releasing them or transferring them to another hospital. Additionally, California law requires all hospitals to perform certain procedures, including surgery. Appellant claims that it cannot comply with both state and federal law unless it can pay on-call compensation to specialists in surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics, and cardiology.
Affirming the district court’s ruling, the D.C. Circuit held that Appellant is not entitled to Medicare reimbursement for the cost of keeping various specialty doctors on call. Appellant’s federal obligation to stabilize patients before release does not necessarily imply the need for various specialists. Thus, the Provider Reimbursement Review Board (“the Board”) reasonably concluded that Appellant had the ability to stabilize patients with existing emergency room physicians and that specialists were not required to be on call.
Regarding Appellant’s state obligations, the Board’s conclusion that Appellant could satisfy the requirements by keeping a physician with surgical training on-site was reasonable.”
About pharma
FDA Begins Unannounced Inspections in India “The FDA has begun a pilot program of unannounced inspections of drug manufacturing facilities in India, according to Judith McMeekin, FDA associate commissioner for regulatory affairs.
But the agency has not yet begun unannounced inspections in China, which were also anticipated as part of the pilot…
In the past, the agency has avoided unannounced foreign inspections because of logistical obstacles, such as unreliable transportation in remote areas and the need to be escorted while doing inspections in restricted economic zones.”
About health technology
Diagnostic Performance of Electronic Nose Technology in Sarcoidosis “The electronic nose (eNose) technology profiles volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath and has potential as a point-of-care diagnostic tool…
Patients with sarcoidosis can be distinguished from ILD [interstitial lung disease] and healthy control subjects by using eNose technology, indicating that this method may facilitate accurate diagnosis in the future. Further research is warranted to understand the value of eNose in monitoring sarcoidosis activity.”
Comment: I gave a presentation at the Technion in Haifa, Israel in 2007. At that conference, another presenter talked about using volatile exhaled chemicals to diagnose a variant of diseases. Sometimes science progresses very slowly.