healthy muse healthcare news.
- An end to surprise medical bills, vaccines administered nationwide, Moderna gets the green light, a new Covid strand in the UK, Oscar Health preps for IPO, Amazon Care offers itself to other big businesses, and more.
Covid Stimulus and an END to Surprise Bills.
Congress finally put on its big-boy pants and passed a second stimulus package. Shockingly – I mean, absolutely, unequivocally shockingly – Congress included legislation that would end surprise medical billing. (Link)
- Details: Read this informative Twitter thread about how the legislation alleviates surprise billing. Twitter is the best. (Follow me if you haven’t)
- Refill: The bill also includes extra stimulus $$$ for provider relief funds. Speaking of relief funds, HHS is allocating another $25 billion to providers.
Oscar Health Preps for IPO
In one of the most anticipated health tech moves, Oscar Health has confidentially filed for IPO a week after raising $140 million in a pre-IPO funding round.
The firm is a self-described “full-stack technology platform” and serves primarily the Obamacare population as an insurance company. Read more about the company’s history here as one of the biggest contrarian plays in healthcare
- In other funding news, Google’s healthcare life sciences spinoff Verily just announced a $700 million (million) funding round.
Coronavirus updates.
Numbers Update: 7-day case trend: 211k. 7-day hospitalization trend: 113k. 7-day death trend: 2.6k (Data)
Vaccine Update: The FDA confirmed this week that Moderna’s vaccine is safe and effective. Moderna will begin rolling out the vaccine alongside Pfizer’s. HHS expects the general public to begin receiving vaccines by late February or early March. (Link)
- 1.8 million people already have received the first dose of vaccines after the first batches were delivered to 38 states. Follow along with me by checking out Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.
Other Updates: The U.K. may have identified a new strain of Covid that spreads 70% faster. Immediately, over 30 countries shut down travel from the U.K. as London cancelled Christmas gatherings and entered level 4 lockdown (yikes).
- Not so fast: There’s no evidence that this strain is more deadly, and the vaccine is highly likely to still be effective, given that coronaviruses in general take longer to change protein structure.
Quick Hits
Biz Hits
- Amazon: Amazon is reportedly shopping around its healthcare plan and service to workers at other large companies across the US. So far, none have taken the bait. (Link)
- M&A: Read this informative report from Deloitte discussing the past and future of hospital consolidation. (Link)
- SPACtime: Healthcare SPAC Deerfield is merging with CareMax Medical Group and IMC Medical Group to create what I imagine to be similar to Oak Street Health – medical clinics for seniors under value-based contracts. (Link)
- GoodRx: Learn more about GoodRx’s rapid expansion into telehealth. (Link)
- Profit: Unsurprisingly, health insurer financial performance is extremely high through September 2020. Read more about it here. (Link)
- Tenet: Continuing its M&A spree, Tenet solid its 87 urgent care locations to FastMed for around $90 million. (Link)
Policy Hits
- ACA: 8.2 million folks signed up for Obamacare under the federal marketplace, which is a surprisingly similar number to last year’s (8.3 mil). (Link)
- $200 please: About those $200 Medicare drug discount cards…they received key committee approval this week. (Link)
- Look the other way: Hospitals are accusing HHS of letting pharmaceutical companies side step the 340B program – which offers drug discounts to certain hosptials. (Link)
Other Hits
- Vaccine Elitism? Only 7 out of Stanford’s first 5,000 vaccines were designated for medical residents. Stanford experienced an uproar from healthcare workers as medical residents were left out of the first rounds of vaccines in favor of higher ranking doctors and other administrative personnel. (Link)
- Nursing Homes: Read this WSJ feature about how the pandemic is reshaping elder care – AWAY from nursing homes. Did you know that the U.S. has the largest number of nursing home residents in the world? (Link – Paywall)
- Non-Invasive: The FDA approved an implant designed to heal torn ACLs – without surgery. (Link)
Thought-Provoking Editorials
- Cheap Drugs: All about the 340B program – the federal program that keeps insulin prices high. (Drug Channels)
Healthy Muse Top Picks
- Okay hear me out: this is…technically…a healthcare read, alright? But seriously, it’s well worth your time: the story of how Christie Smythe upended her life, divorced her husband, quit her job, and moved out – all for the infamous pharma bro Martin Shkreli. (Link)
- Sutter’s antitrust case and its feature in 60 Minutes. (CBS)
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