About Covid-19
How will life change once the COVID-19 emergency ends? A good summary of what’s in store after the May 11 deadline. For example: “Insurers will no longer be required to cover the cost of free at-home COVID-19 tests.
Free vaccines, however, won’t come to an end with the public health emergency.”
Protective effectiveness of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection and hybrid immunity against the omicron variant and severe disease… “Individuals with hybrid immunity [previous infection and immunization]had the highest magnitude and durability of protection, and as a result might be able to extend the period before booster vaccinations are needed compared to individuals who have never been infected.”
U.S. FDA removes COVID test requirements for Pfizer, Merck pills “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday removed the need for a positive test for COVID-19 treatments from Pfizer Inc and Merck & Co Inc.
Pfizer's Paxlovid and Merck's Lagevrio pills were given emergency use authorizations in Dec. 2021 for patients with mild-to-moderate COVID who tested positive for the virus, and who were at risk of progressing to severe COVID.
Still, the FDA said the patients should have a current diagnosis of mild-to-moderate COVID infection.”
Vaccine Makers Kept $1.4 Billion in Prepayments for Canceled Covid Shots for the World’s Poor “As global demand for Covid-19 vaccines dries up, the program responsible for vaccinating the world’s poor has been urgently negotiating to try to get out of its deals with pharmaceutical companies for shots it no longer needs.
Drug companies have so far declined to refund $1.4 billion in advance payments for now-canceled doses, according to confidential documents obtained by The New York Times.”
About health insurance/insurers
Medicare Advantage plans get a proposed 1.03% payment increase in 2024 “Medicare Advantage plans are expected to receive a 1.03% increase in revenue under the 2024 Advance Notice for the Medicare Advantage and Part D Prescription Drug Programs released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Wednesday.
CMS is proposing technical updates to the MA risk adjustment model by fully transitioning to the Internal Classification of Diseases from ICD-9 to ICD-10. The latter has been in use since 2015. It also updates underlying fee-for-service data years from 2014 diagnoses and 2015 expenditures to 2018 diagnoses and 2019 expenditures.
Under the Advance Notice, the Risk Model Revision and Normalization is -3.12%.”
States ranked by 2023 ACA enrollment FYI, but interesting that the top two states are “Red.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Majority of Rural Providers are in Good Financial Health and Confident about their Futures, according to New Wipfli report “Wipfli LLP (Wipfli), a top 20 accounting and advisory firm, today published a new report based on a survey of 110 rural healthcare organizations across 25 states to learn how they're coping with economic and regulatory challenges. Despite a record number of rural hospitals closing during the past two years and several other rural hospitals at risk of closure, the State of Rural Healthcare report reveals that organizations surveyed are cautiously optimistic for the future.
Nearly all of the organizations surveyed received Provider Relief Funds during the pandemic, and two-thirds of respondents indicated that their financial situation has either stayed the same or improved from five years prior. Encouragingly, 65 percent of institutions surveyed are confident that they won't merge with another organization in the next five years, rather anticipating growth instead of consolidation. In fact, 75 percent anticipate revenue to either grow or remain flat over the next three years.”
About the public’s health
Support for Policies to Prohibit the Sale of Menthol Cigarettes and All Tobacco Products Among Adults, 2021 “Data came from SpringStyles 2021, a web panel survey of adults in the US aged 18 years or older (N = 6,455). Overall, 62.3% of adults supported a policy prohibiting the sale of menthol cigarettes, and 57.3% supported a policy prohibiting the sale of all tobacco products. A majority of adults supported tobacco retail policies aimed at preventing initiation, promoting quitting, and reducing tobacco-related disparities. These findings can help inform federal, state, and local efforts to prohibit the sale of tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes.”
New Ipsos Survey Reveals Nearly Half of American Women Forgo Preventive Care Services “A new Ipsos poll commissioned by the Alliance for Women's Health and Prevention (AWHP) reveals that nearly half of American women (45%) are forgoing preventive care services like check-ups, screenings, and vaccines, and the inability to afford out-of-pocket costs is the most common reason women cite for skipping this critical care. The survey of 3,204 women looked at women's experiences with preventive healthcare, the challenges they face accessing it and the disparities that exist.”