From Washington, DC,

• Tomorrow at 10 am, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee will mark up several bills including the FEHB provisions in the DRUG Act, HR 6283. It’s unfortunate that the Committee did not hold a hearing on this disruptive bill. The FEHBlog will be listening to the markup.

• The Federal Times informs us,
  • “A pair of contracts designed to improve the quality of care in Tricare’s civilian medical networks will take effect Jan. 1, 2025, according to defense officials.
  • “The contracts are moving forward following a Jan. 31 decision in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims affirming the Defense Health Agency’s choice of TriWest Healthcare Alliance as the Tricare West Region’s new manager, denying a protest lodged by incumbent contractor Health Net Federal Services last year.  * * *
  • “Humana Government Business, the incumbent contractor for Tricare’s East Region, will continue in that role under a new deal worth up to $70.8 billion.The new contracts for the two regions have a potential combined value of $136 billion over nine years.”

• MedTech Dive lets us know
  • “FDA panel recommends new standards for pulse oximeters amid bias concerns.
  • “Studies have found that pulse oximeters overestimated oxygen saturation in people with dark skin pigmentation, resulting in delayed care.”
• and
  • “Hologic has received regulatory clearance to sell an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled cervical cancer screening system in the U.S. 
  • “The product, the Genius Digital Diagnostics System, creates digital images of Pap test slides and uses an AI algorithm to identify cells that cytologists and pathologists should review.
  • “Hologic’s clearance, announced on Thursday, comes days after BD partnered with Techcyte to promote a digital, AI-enabled cervical cancer screening test that is yet to come to market.”

From the public health and medical research front,

• Beckers Hospital Review tells us,
  • “Eli Lilly’s ingredient for Type 2 diabetes medication Mounjaro and its new weight loss drug, Zepbound, significantly lowered patients’ blood pressure by up to 10.6 mmHg, according to a new study published Feb. 5. 
  • “The study recruited about 500 adult patients with a body mass index at or more than 27, or the overweight range. Compared to a placebo, tirzepatide — the active pharmaceutical ingredient of Mounjaro and Zepbound — reduced blood pressure for participants taking 5, 10 and 15 milligrams each week. The patients were not diabetic and either had normal blood pressure or high blood pressure that was under control.” 

• STAT News reports,
  • “Amgen is trying a unique strategy with its obesity drug candidate: testing whether it can wean patients toward lower or less frequent doses over time.
  • “Very early data hints that Amgen’s candidate, called MariTide, may provide longer-lasting weight loss than highly popular obesity drugs on the market like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. Amgen is already seeing if that means its drug could also be dosed differently from Novo and Lilly’s products, which are costly and expected to be taken consistently for life.
  • “In an ongoing Phase 2 trial, Amgen’s researchers will first titrate participants up on MariTide, but then after some time, see if the drug can still be effective when transitioning patients to a less intensive dosing regimen, executives said in an interview.
  • “Could there be an opportunity for an induction maintenance-type of strategy for a molecule like MariTide?” said Narimon Honarpour, senior vice president of global development at Amgen, referring to a strategy used for anti-inflammatory drugs in which high, rapid doses are given at the start and then lower or less frequent doses are used for maintenance in the long run.”

• HHS’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released a rapid evidence report about deprescribing to reduce medical harms in older adults.
  • “Deprescribing has emerged as a clinical practice to reduce polypharmacy and use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and serve as a mechanism for quality improvement and increased patient safety. The purpose of this rapid response is to summarize recent literature on the use of deprescribing to improve the safety of medication use among older adults (age ≥ 65 years).”

• CBS News reports,
  • “Preterm and early-term births in the U.S. have increased from 2014 to 2022, raising risks to babies, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  • “Data released Wednesday from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics shows the preterm birth rate — meaning delivery before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy — rose 12% during that time period, while early-term birth rates, at 37 to 38 completed weeks, rose 20%. 
  • “This is compared to full-term births, which are those delivered at 39 to 40 weeks.
  • “Using data from the National Vital Statistics System, the analysis only looks at singleton births, since multiple births like twins and triplets tend to be born at earlier gestational ages, the authors note.
  • “Gestational age is a strong predictor of short- and long-term morbidity and early mortality,” the authors write. “Births delivered preterm are at the greatest risk of adverse outcomes, but risk is also elevated for early-term compared with full-term births.”

• MedCity News points out,
  • “Mayo Clinic has entered into a collaboration with TruLite Health — Mayo is helping the Phoenix-based startup develop its software platform designed to address providers’ clinical bias. The health system said it chose to collaborate with TruLite because of the platform’s potential to mitigate health inequities and enhance patient outcomes at the point of care.”

• Per Fierce Healthcare,
  • “Artificial intelligence can help identify easy to miss patients who might be good candidates for a palliative or hospice care referral, a recent pilot at Mass General Brigham (MGB) revealed.
  • “The results of the findings were presented Friday at the Value-Based Payment Summit.
  • “Timely end-of-life care benefits patients. Patients and their families may also be more open to a conversation about goals of care during a hospital stay, MGB said in presentation slides shown to Fierce Healthcare.” 

From the U.S. healthcare business front,

• Per BioPharma Dive,
  • “Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, will buy contract manufacturer Catalent for $16.5 billion in a take-private deal the companies announced Monday.
  • “In a related transaction, Novo Nordisk has agreed pay its parent company $11 billion to take over three Catalent plants in Italy, Belgium and Indiana to help expand production of its GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy. Demand for the latter, which is approved in the U.S. for treating obesity, has greatly exceeded supply, forcing Novo Nordisk to restrict access.
  • “Novo Nordisk and Catalent already work together at the three sites, which employ more than 3,000 staff.”
• and
  • “On Monday, Johnson & Johnson said one of its most closely watched experimental medicines appears to have positive effects on two autoimmune diseases, providing further support to a drug that, by the company’s estimates, could eventually generate billions of dollars in annual sales.
  • “J&J didn’t release any data, but rather said the drug hit the main goals of a mid-stage clinical trial testing it in patients with Sjögren’s disease as well as a late-stage study focused on generalized myasthenia gravis, a rare condition known in short as gMG. The company plans to present more detailed results from both studies at upcoming medical meetings, and to engage with regulators about the path to approval in gMG.”

• Per Healthcare Dive,
  • “Cano Health filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy late Sunday, as the beleaguered primary care chain works to bolster its financials. 
  • “The filing is part of a restructuring support agreement with the majority of its lenders. Cano said it expects to emerge from restructuring during the second quarter this year, adding that the process will help it reduce debt and allow it to search for a strategic partner or buyer.
  • “Cano also announced it reached an agreement to receive $150 million in debtor-in-possession financing to fund its operations during restructuring.”
• and
  • “Medicare Advantage rate changes proposed by regulators last week are upsetting Humana’s funding expectations for 2025.
  • “If finalized as proposed, the MA changes will lower Humana’s benchmark funding by around 160 basis points compared to a flat rate environment, the health insurer disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commissionon Monday.
  • “The discrepancy is because the CMS didn’t factor in persistently elevated medical costs into how it calculates rates, Humana said. However, regulators could do so in the final rule. Despite the uncertainty, the insurer reaffirmed its earnings outlook for 2025.”

• Per Fierce Healthcare,
  • “Rural providers feel financially stable, with most planning to expand existing service lines to increase revenue, a new survey has found (PDF).
  • “The survey was conducted by accounting firm Wipfli and reached 106 rural healthcare organizations across 26 states. Respondents included a mix of critical access hospitals, rural health clinics and others.
  • “Overall, most respondents are cautiously or completely optimistic about their financial viability. About 40% said their financial stability is higher than it was a year ago, and the portion of those who think they are in a better place than they were five years ago also rose compared to 2023. Despite challenges like high inflation, dwindling COVID-19 relief funds and flat reimbursement rates, growing optimism suggests rural providers learned how to manage unpredictability during the pandemic, the report said. * * *
  • Entering 2024, rural healthcare leaders are most concerned about revenue capture, digital capabilities and people management.

• HR Morning offers nine tips on maximizing core health benefits.

• The Society for Human Resource Management discusses best practices for hybrid work models.