#29 • A Healthy Dose of Healthcare News • May 14, 2021
Mayo & Kaiser on home health, MO abandons Medicaid expansion, $7.4B from Biden to public health workers, Pfizer vax more effective with delay, Walmart gets into telehealth, abortion bill in TX & more
This week, the federal government did two big things:
The CDC freed all vaccinated people everywhere from the duty to wear a mask, and
The FDA approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for adolescents ages 12-15.
Since so much else went on in healthcare, I won’t do a deep dive on those two items—they’re self-explanatory enough. Scroll down for fresh healthcare news.
ICYMI: This week, The Hill published my latest op-ed on the relevance of the new price transparency rule to patients. Read it here.
In this edition, you will read about:
#29.1. Mayo & Kaiser partnering on home health,
#29.2. Missouri abandoning Medicaid expansion,
#29.3. $7.4 billion for public health workers from Pres. Biden,
#29.4. Pfizer vaccine more effective if delayed,
#29.5. Walmart getting into telehealth,
#29.6. Abortion bill on Texas Governor’s desk,
#29.7. Billions of relief for hospitals in coming weeks,
#29.8. Novavax’s combo COVID-19-flu vaccine,
#29.9. A health fintech company acquiring an insurance startup, and
#29.10. California bill to add parents on private insurance plans.
#29.1. Mayo Clinic And Kaiser Permanente Invest $100 Million In ‘Hospital Care At Home’ Venture (Forbes)
Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest managed care organizations in the country, and the Mayo Clinic are jointly investing $100 million into Medically Home, a tech company that is enabling the transfer of hospital services to the home setting. This transition away from the hospital should broaden access to care and free up capacity for necessary in-patient care. Kaiser already implemented such a program last year in a few states. It seems that this model is particularly well-suited for a payment model like Kaiser’s, where financing and delivery are housed in the same entity.
#29.2. Missouri abandons voter-approved Medicaid expansion (The Hill)
Missouri recently passed an amendment by popular vote to expand the state’s Medicaid program. A Missouri court ruled that, since the amendment had no funding mechanism, the expansion would be contingent upon the legislature’s approval of funding to implement it. The legislature voted against allocating funding for the expansion, which prompted Governor Mike Parson to withdraw its expansion plans. Litigation will certainly ensue.
#29.3. Biden to Use $7.4 Billion in Rescue Funds to Hire More Public Health Workers (The Fiscal Times)
The Biden administration is using $7.4 billion from the recently-passed $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act to “expand [the US’s] public health workforce, creating tens of thousands of jobs . . . and strengthen America’s future public health infrastructure.” $4.4 billion will go to state departments, and $3 billion will be in the form of a CDC grant to recruit diverse workers.
#29.4. Delayed second Pfizer COVID-19 shot produces more antibodies - study (Reuters)
British officials recommend a 12-week interval between Pfizer shots to maximize the number of vulnerable people with at least one dose. Pfizer and BioNTech criticized the delay, saying it wasn’t grounded in data. However, the new study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, showed a 3.5-fold increase in peak antibody response for elderly individuals (ages 80-99) who observed a 12-week interval compared to those with Pfizer’s recommended three weeks. Beyond the fact that the study lends support to the British government’s inoculation approach, the international community may soon be questioning the soundness of the three-week interval—and potentially regretting its implementation, given that their population’s immunity could have been enhanced a longer interval, and — most worryingly — that the emphasis on full vaccination with that interval may have deprived many from the first shot that could have saved their life.
#29.5. Walmart acquires telehealth provider MeMD, upping competition in telehealth space (Healthcare Dive)
Walmart employs 1.6 million Americans and already provides them with telehealth services. It has beefed up its consumer healthcare offerings over recent years via Walmart Health, which runs a couple of clinics across the country and is looking to deliver transparently-priced healthcare services at a growing number of locations in the coming years. With the acquisition of MeMD, a telehealth company that offers medical and mental health visits in the US and around the world, Walmart is positioning itself as a serious competitor to Amazon, whose telehealth services will be available nationwide starting this summer. Even though demand for telehealth has dropped since the peak use recorded at the beginning of the pandemic, many tech and retail giants are betting big on the future of virtual care.
#29.6. Bill that would ban abortion at six weeks heads to governor's desk to become Texas law (The Texas Tribune)
The legislation on Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s desk would ban abortions once a heartbeat can be detected. It would allow private citizens to sue providers and others who help to provide abortions, but it could not be enforced by public officials.
#29.7. HHS plans to open up billions in hospital Covid-19 grants in coming weeks (STAT+)
The Administration has not indicated how much this round of grants will be for, but there are (many) billions left in the Provider Relief Fund approved last year. A noteworthy detail in the article: the Biden administration plans on extending the emergency at least through the end of the year. This will be a boon to hospitals, which have been begging the Administration for federal funds to make up for the loss of revenues experienced during the pandemic.
#29.8. Novavax says combo flu and COVID-19 vaccine showed promise in preclinical study (Fox 5)
Novavax, a biotech company based in Maryland, has both a COVID-19-only and a COVID-19-flu vaccines in the works. The former has shown encouraging results and is currently in Phase 3 of clinical trials. We don’t have numbers about the latter yet, but it’s looking promising. The flu kills between 12,000 and 61,000 people every year in the US. Between October 1, 2020 and January 16, 2021, the US recorded 242 flu-related deaths.
#29.9. Healthcare FinTech Cedar Moving Into Insurance Market With $425 Million Acquisition (Forbes)
Cedar is a medical billing tech startup that provides an intuitive and convenient interface between providers and patients. Missing from the equation is insurance, so Cedar is acquiring OODA Health, a San Francisco-based insurance startup which counts Anthem as one of its investors. OODA is working on improving the administrative side of healthcare—on which Americans spend $500 billion annually. The merged company will work on the back end of healthcare payment, including on prior authorization.
#29.10. California could become first state to let adults add parents to healthcare plans (Los Angeles Times)
What’s not in the headline: California lawmaker Miguel Santiago (D-Los Angeles)’s bill would require private health plans to cover members’ parents. According to supporters, the bill would be beneficial for immigrants who aren’t eligible for Medicaid and Medicare, including illegal immigrants. Member Miguel stated, “this is groundbreaking and, quite frankly, a shift in the paradigm about the way we think about people getting health care.” Business groups pointed out that it’s also a shift in paradigm about how we think about cost containment: such a policy could make premiums explode.