The federal surprise billing ban prevented 2 million potential unexpected medical bills from reaching privately insured patients early this year, according to an analysis released by leading health plans Tuesday.
Why it matters: Insurers, providers and employers are waiting for the Biden administration to lay out a new arbitration process for settling payment disputes after a federal judge tossed out a proposed fix in late February.
Roughly one in five adults younger than 65 — and one in four seniors — will go on to develop another health condition that might be attributable to previous COVID-19 exposure, new CDC data shows.
Why it matters: The data quantifies just how prevalent COVID aftereffects may be in the general population.
MSP Recovery, a Coral Gables, Fla.-based provider of Medicare and Medicaid payment recovery services, began trading Tuesday on the Nasdaq after completing its merger with a SPAC called Lionheart Acquisition Corp. II. Then those shares promptly lost over half their value.
Why it matters: This was the second-largest SPAC deal in history, just behind Grab, worth $32.6 billion upon announcement in July 2021.
Pfizer announced Wednesday that it will sell its vaccines and medicines that are available in the U.S. or European Union at not-for-profit prices in some of the world's poorest countries.
Driving the news: The drugmaker, which dubbed the program "An Accord for a Healthier World," said it aims to provide all of the company's medicines and vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine and treatment, to 45 lower-income countries.
Pharmacy benefit managers are back in the hot seat, facing pressure from both Congress and the Federal Trade Commission — as well as the now customary wrath of drugmakers, pharmacies, hospitals and patient groups.
Why it matters: The finger-pointing up and down the drug supply chain is inevitably an attempt to pass off blame for rising drug costs, but it also highlights complex policy tradeoffs that ultimately determine who pays for drugs, and how.
The Federal Trade Commission is launching a probe into reports that baby formula sellers have engaged in deceptive practices, price gouging or other illegal tactics amid widespread shortages.
Why it matters: Parents have been scrambling to find baby formula after the collision of supply chain issues, a massive recall and the temporary shut down of a large Abbott Nutrition factory in Michigan.
Germany's health minister said Tuesday the country has ordered 40,000 smallpox vaccine doses as a precaution after Germany and other countries reported multiple monkeypox infections, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: Cases of monkeypox, a disease rarely seen outside of western and central African countries, have been recently reported in multiple European countries. The World Health Organization's (WHO) European chief said last week that those outbreaks could spread in the summer as people gather for parties and festivals.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was re-elected to a second five-year term Tuesday after no other candidate challenged him for the post amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Why it matters: The pandemic has so far killed an estimated 6.2 million people worldwide and over 1 million in the U.S., though vaccines and other treatments have significantly slowed death rates in most parts of the world.
The U.S. birth rate went up for the first time since 2014, in a marked reversal of the decline seen earlier in the pandemic, according to newly released CDC data.
Driving the news: U.S. births had been declining by an average of 2% every year since 2014, and plunged 4% in the early phase of the pandemic, from 2019 to 2020, per the report.
Sweden is recommending a fifth COVID-19 vaccine for people with an increased risk of severe illness, including anyone who's pregnant or over 65, health authorities said Tuesday.
The big picture: Sweden, which has taken a more relaxed approach to the pandemic, with the government holding out on requiring masks and keeping schools, restaurants and bars open, is believed to be the first country to recommend a fifth COVID shot.
America's shortfall of health care workers is adding to the obstacles the Biden administration faces in returning the country to normal.
Why it matters: The nation entered the pandemic with major health care worker shortages and its workforce was strained to its limits in the emergency response to the COVID pandemic. It drove record levels of burnout and many to leave their roles.
Public health officials in Washington announced Monday they’re investigating the state’s first presumptively positive case of monkeypox.
Details: The case involves an adult man who recently traveled to an undisclosed country where other monkeypox cases have been reported, state and local health officials said.
