Weekend update
Happy Easter and Passover.
Congress continues with its State / District work period for a second week. Congress resumes its work on Capitol Hill next week.
From the Omnicron and siblings front, the Wall Street Journal reports
In the latest phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, federal and local officials are telling people to decide for themselves how best to protect against the virus.
Health officials are leaving it up to people to assess if they need booster shots, whether to wear a mask and how long to isolate after a positive test. Businesses, schools and other entities are scaling back specific guidelines as they prepare for a return to normal.
The question of when older adults should get a second vaccine booster is the latest example of the government shifting decisions from broad-based community outreach to personal choice. People 50 years and older can get the additional booster at least four months after their first, but health authorities aren’t pushing those eligible to get the shots.
That’s sensible. Bloomberg’s Prognosis adds
Nearly a third of employers who previously required Covid-19 shots have dropped or plan to drop the requirement by the end of this year, according to a forthcoming survey from the consulting firm Willis Towers Watson. (Read the full story here.)
From the Social Determinants of Health front, Fierce Healthcare reports
Optum Ventures is investing in senior care startup DUOS to help fuel the company’s growth and build out its technology capabilities.
Launched in 2021, New York-based DUOS helps place expert personal assistants, called “Duos,” into the homes of seniors. The company works directly with consumers as well as with payer and provider organizations.
Kaiser Permanente has doubled its Thriving Communities Fund to $400 million, unlocking more money to build affordable housing and other value-based investments.
The nonprofit healthcare provider’s announcement Thursday comes as the Biden administration is pressing for the industry to tackle social risk factors such as food and housing insecurity. * * *
Insurer UnitedHealth Group earlier this month announced a $100 million investment in affordable housing, bringing its total housing investment to $800 million. The insurer has created more than 19,000 housing units as part of the initiative.
CVS also invested $114 million in affordable housing in 2020, hoping to also set aside certain units for the homeless and seniors.
The major investments in housing come as the healthcare industry is pressing to tackle social risk factors.
From the novel approaches front
Health Payer Intelligence informs us
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is making at-home genetic testing available to members as part of a precision medicine approach to care.
The payer will cover genetic testing through Blue Care Network, the company’s nonprofit health maintenance organization (HMO), which covers 840,000 members.
“Our first priority with the Blue Cross Personalized Medicine program is to ensure that a physician is able to provide the right medication, at the right dose, as early in the process as possible,” said Scott Betzelos, MD, chief medical officer and vice president of HMO strategy and affordability at Blue Care Network.
Fierce Healthcare tells us
Cigna’s Evernorth is teaming with the Behavioral Health Center of Excellence (BHCOE) to more effectively measure the quality of care for people with autism.
The partnership will allow the two to collaborate on creating measures that will help people with autism and their caregivers track the efficacy of their treatment. The partners plan to start with measures for applied behavior analysis (ABA), which is the most well-researched and effective intervention for people with autism spectrum disorder.
The lack of common performance measures for ABA makes it hard to track outcomes among providers, according to the announcement.
