From Capitol Hill, Roll Call reports that Senator Joe Manchin (D W Va) “has talked “briefly” with Speaker Kevin McCarthy about a bill he co-sponsored with Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, in the last Congress to create a “rescue committee” for every endangered government trust fund, like the Social Security, Medicare and highway trust funds.
The Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan research group, named Romney and Manchin as its 2022 Economic Patriot Awards honorees because of their work on the legislation.
The bill, which they have yet to reintroduce in the 118th Congress, would allow the top four congressional leaders to appoint three members each for every rescue committee and give lawmakers on the panels 180 days to come up with policy solutions for solvency.
Any legislation the rescue committees produce would be subject to expedited procedures for floor consideration; it couldn’t be amended but would require 60 Senate votes to advance to final passage.
Keep hope alive.
From the Omicron and siblings front —
The Wall Street Journal reports
Moderna Inc. plans to expand its mRNA vaccine production capacity, saying shots targeting different pathogens can be made in the same facility, Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said.
“This is what gives me hope, not only for [coronavirus] variants, but also for other vaccines,” Mr. Bancel said on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. * * *
The company was able to roll out booster shots adapted to the Omicron variant in 60 days, according to Mr. Bancel.
That would be helpful assuming the FDA and CDC are on board.
The American Hospital Association lets us know
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention yesterday released a dashboard tracking hospitalization rates for laboratory-confirmed COVID-19, flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus by age group, sex, race/ethnicity, state and season based on data from select counties in 13 states, which the agency will update weekly. CDC also released another dashboard tracking weekly emergency department visits for COVID-19, flu and RSV by age group and percent of all ED visits based on data from the National Syndromic Surveillance Program.
In other vaccine news, the National Institutes of Health announced today
An investigational HIV vaccine regimen tested among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender people was safe but did not provide protection against HIV acquisition, an independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) has determined. The HPX3002/HVTN 706, or “Mosaico,” Phase 3 clinical trial began in 2019 and involved 3,900 volunteers ages 18 to 60 years in Europe, North America and South America. Based on the DSMB’s recommendation, the study will be discontinued. Participants are being notified of the findings, and further analyses of the study data are planned.
Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V., part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, sponsored the Mosaico study with funding support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. The trial was conducted by the NIAID-funded HIV Vaccine Clinical Trials Network, based at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. The U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command provided additional study support.
Keep trying.
Also from the public health front
Gallup informs us “The percentage of Americans reporting they or a family member postponed medical treatment in 2022 due to cost rose 12 points in one year, to 38%, the highest in Gallup’s 22-year trend.” The story concludes
With high inflation creating moderate to severe hardship for a majority of Americans in the second half of 2022, their reports of delaying medical care in general due to cost — as well as delaying care for a serious condition — rose sharply to new highs. Young adults, those in lower-income households and women were especially likely to say they or a family member had put off medical care.
No bueno.
From the U.S. healthcare business front, McKinsey & Co. tells us
When we last looked at the trajectory of the US healthcare industry in our July 2022 article, “The future of US healthcare: What’s next for the industry post-COVID-19?,” we had emerging concerns about what persistent inflation could cause.1 It is now clear that inflation is not transitory and that the economic outlook has meaningfully darkened.2 These economic troubles, combined with a healthcare-worker shortage and endemic COVID-19, are clouding the industry outlook. In an accompanying article, we update how these changes could affect payers, providers, healthcare services and technology (HST), and pharmacy services.
Check it out.
From the Medicare front, Fierce Healthcare relates
Enrollment in Medicare Advantage (MA) has topped 30 million, according to new data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
This represents coverage across 776 contracts, according to the data, as of Jan. 1 payments, which reflect enrollments accepted through Dec. 2. Enrollment in standalone prescription drug plans was also about 22.7 million, bringing total enrollment across all types of private Medicare plans to nearly 50.3 million.
This represents growth of about 2 million from 2022. An analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that enrollment in MA plans was about 28 million last year.