August 20, 2020 | No herd immunity in Sweden?
INDUSTRY NEWS
HHS: Feds will pay for COVID-19 vaccines
The U.S. government will pay for COVID-19 vaccines and their distribution, and it is working with commercial insurers to offer them at no cost, according to Health and Human Services official Paul Mango. Because initial vaccine supplies will likely be limited, the government will prioritize health care workers, the elderly, nursing home residents and people at high-risk for illness, according to National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins. (Wall Street Journal)
Court: Give insurers unpaid ACA subsidies
The Trump administration violated the law when it stopped paying for subsidies intended to reduce costs for low-income individuals who buy insurance on the exchanges according to a pair of decisions issued Friday by the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. The insurers are entitled to the unpaid subsidies for 2017, but the amount owed for 2018 should be reduced because insurers were able to raise premiums to make up for the loss of subsidies, Modern Healthcare reports. The appeals court left it to a lower court to figure out just how much the 2018 damages should be reduced. (Modern Healthcare)
INNOVATION & TRANSFORMATION
Will Slovenski’s departure slow Walmart momentum?
With its opening of primary care centers in three states, Walmart was poised to transform health care delivery. But should the departure of Sean Slovenski, VP of health and wellness, be a cause for worry? Probably not, reports MedCity News. “I think if anything, this gives them an opportunity to find someone with clinical experience or that has worked in the provider setting operationalizing digital health or virtual care,” says Forrester senior analyst Arielle Trzcinski. (MedCity News)
Congress moves closer to lifting UPI ban
The House recently voted to approve the bipartisan Foster-Kelly Amendment, which removes language that bars federal funding for the adoption of a unique patient identifier. The Senate must accept a similar amendment to their version of the appropriations bill, and the White House must sign it into law. If the change is enacted, Health and Human Services could work with the health care community to develop a nationwide patient-matching strategy—something many health care stakeholders have wanted for more than 20 years. (Biometric Update; Healthcare Finance News)
CONSUMERS & PROVIDERS
The pandemic has overwhelmed the U.S. primary care infrastructure, forcing delivery systems to reorganize on “the fly.” Writing in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Steven Lin, MD, and his colleagues describe how integrating telemedicine, patient-generated data and preventive care into a retooled intake and care optimization process is achievable, powered by humans and augmented by AI. “Our collective willingness to invest in primary care teams, relaxation of rules around telemedicine reimbursement and patient-generated data sharing, workforce training, and movement to value-based payments are necessary to achieve this vision.” (Mayo Clinic Proceedings—pre-proof copy)
Survey: 30% of Americans won’t get COVID vaccine
Only 60% of Americans responding to a new NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll said they would get a coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available. Thirty-five percent said they wouldn’t get the vaccine, and 5% said they were unsure. The findings are similar to those of an earlier Gallup survey which found 35% said they would not get the vaccine and 65% said they would. (The Hill)
NEW & NOTED
No herd immunity in Sweden? Sweden has made headlines during the COVID-19 pandemic for not locking down like other countries. It was counting on “herd immunity,” hoping that 40% of the population of Stockholm would be carrying antibodies against the virus by May 2020. It was only around 15%. (Newsweek)
Pedi COVID hospitalization rates up: Although rates of hospitalization for children with COVID-19 remain low, they have been increasing, according to research published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Physician's Health Briefing; MMWR)
Drug deaths hit record: In 2018, drug deaths in America dropped for the first time in 25 years. They rose to record numbers in 2019 and are continuing to climb, a resurgence that is being complicated by the pandemic. The New York Times crunches the numbers in this chart-filled article. (New York Times)
MULTI-MEDIA
Ensuring a “good death” for children
Dr. Nadia Tremonti, a pediatric palliative care physician, works to ensure that terminally ill children receive quality end-of-life care. This 22-minute documentary, “Dying in Your Mother’s Arms,” follows her as she tries to make death less medical and more human. (New York Times)
MARKETVOICES...QUOTES WORTH READING
“Primary care must retool to meet the challenge of COVID-19 and emerge in the post-crisis world better equipped to care for a wounded nation, and possibly millions of patients who have delayed usual care for months on end.”—Steven Lin, MD, Amelia Sattler, MD, and Margaret Smith, MBA, authors of “Retooling Primary Care in the COVID-19 Era,” in Mayo Clinic Proceedings