Policy-Packed healthy muse healthcare news.
Biden’s pick for HHS is California AG Xavier Becerra, Sanford calls off its $15b merger with Intermountain, CMS makes major policy shake-ups to evaluation & management payments and eliminating the inpatient only list, 100 million vaccinated by February, Kodak did no wrong, and digital health passports.
Biden announces his Healthcare team.
Biden announced his health team this week, including the nomination of California AG Xavier Becerra as the head of HHS. (Link)
- What’s notable about that? Mr. Becerra has been defending the ACA against the Trump-led lawsuit. He also pursued an antitrust case against Sutter Health, resulting in a $575 million settlement. (Read more about him here.) (See the full health lineup here.)
Coronavirus updates.
Numbers update: 7-day case trend: 191k. 7-day hospitalization trend: 100k. 7-day death trend: 2.1k (Data)
Vaccine update: Operation Warp speed is pushing to vaccinate 100 million individuals by the end of February 2020. Already, Pfizer lowered its vaccine delivery target, so we’ll see how the logistics of everything pan out.
- How does Operation Warp Speed plan to immunize that many people so quickly? Vaccine cards and reminders are just a start. (Link)
Capacity update: Hospitalizations continue their upward trajectory, and the U.S. is facing its largest stress test yet as at least a dozen states are forecasted to have Covid patients comprise more than 60% of ICU beds in the coming weeks. (Link)
Quick Hits
Biz Hits
Canceled: Sanford just called off its previously announced merger with Intermountain after replacing CEOs. The cancelled merger marks the second failed deal for Sanford – the health system also tried to merge with UnityPoint Health in 2019. (Link)
Olive the money: Automated revenue cycle management startup Olive is raising money like crazy – the firm just completed a $225 million round, now at a $1.5 billion valuation. IPO soon or nah? (Link)
Kodak’s moment: A government watchdog agency involved in the Kodak generics deal announced earlier this year found no wrongdoing with Kodak’s conduct in the days leading up to the initial announcement. Kodak’s stock was up over 50% today and I suppose they’re a generic drug supplier now? (Link – paywall WSJ)
Another SPAC: Viveon Health Acquisition is raising up to $170 million in the public markets as a blank-check company to target the lucrative orthopedic and spine industry. Ticker is VHAQ.U (Link)
Approved: The FTC just approved Rad Partners’ $900 million acquisition of Mednax’s Radiology division. (Link) In other FTC news, the regulatory body just moved to BLOCK New Jersey-based Hackensack Meridian Health from acquiring neighboring health system Englewood Health. Expect more of this especially as regimes flip – this trend is worth keeping an eye on. (Link)
Policy Hits
SO MANY POLICIES.
The Trump administration’s CMS finalized quite a few payment rule doozies this past week.
First off, CMS is ending the inpatient-only surgery list in an effort to move toward site-neutral payments and further push care to the outpatient setting.
- The move was bashed by the AHA, which immediately released a statement criticizing the move. Read the statement here.
Next up is CMS’ controversial changes to evaluation & management codes (AKA, consultations). CMS wanted to increase E&M reimbursement to specialties who spend more time with patients. (Link).
- The move drew the ire of providers, criticizing spending cuts during COVID-19. (Link)
Finally, CMS unveiled its direct contracting model for Medicare beneficiaries and touted it as one of the ‘largest bets on value-based care’ to date.
- Under the program, direct contracting entities will partner with ACOs, health systems, and other risk-bearing entities to manage a population of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries in that specific region. (Link)
After multiple court losses at the state level for Medicaid work requirements, the Supreme Court will hear a case on the Republican-led initiative. (Link)
Other Hits
- In an interesting twist, 5 major airlines plan to roll out digital health passport for travelers next month. (Link)
- The Android competitor to Apple Health Records is planning to expand to 230 health systems. (Link)
- Take a look at how healthcare utilization and spending have changed during the year of Covid. (Link)
Thought-Provoking Editorials
- Interoperability: an untapped tool in America’s fight against Covid-19. (Stat)
Healthy Muse Top Picks
- A fantastically horrible read on what happened when the only ER doc in town got Covid. (KHN)
- Read Out-of-Pocket’s latest dive into the changing retail pharmacy industry. (OOP)
- A day in the life of Anthony Fauci (Huffington Post)
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