First Edition: March 24, 2021

KHN: Democrats Gave Americans A Big Boost Buying Health Insurance. It Didn’t Come Cheap
When Democrats pushed through a two-year expansion of the Affordable Care Act in the covid-relief bill this month, many people celebrated the part that will make health insurance more affordable for more Americans. But health care researchers consider this move a short-term fix for a long-term crisis, one that avoids confronting an uncomfortable truth: The only clear path to expanding health insurance remains yet more government subsidies for commercial health plans, which are the most costly form of coverage. (Levey, 3/24)

KHN: Lots Of Health Insurance Help In Covid Relief Law — But Do Your Homework First
There’s something for everyone with private health insurance in the American Rescue Plan Act, but determining the best way to benefit may be confusing. The $1.9 trillion covid relief law that President Joe Biden signed this month will make coverage significantly more affordable for millions of people who either who have marketplace coverage, are uninsured or have lost their employer coverage. In addition, it will eliminate repayment requirements for premium tax credits. Consumers can begin to see those improvements next month, but they may need to go to healthcare.gov and update their application for the changes to take effect then. (Andrews, 3/24)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Extends Open Enrollment Period Until Aug. 15
The Biden administration on Tuesday extended the exchange special enrollment period until Aug. 15, giving consumers in 36 states three more months to signup for coverage through HealthCare.gov. According to CMS, the change will allow more people to take advantage of greater financial assistance for marketplace plans under the American Rescue Plan. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law earlier this month. About 1 in 4 people who enroll in coverage through the federal website will be able to upgrade to a plan with lower out-of-pocket costs or a lower premium than their current plan, the agency said. Consumers can cash in on the additional savings starting April 1. (Brady, 3/23)

CNN: Biden's Moves On Obamacare Attract New Signups -- And A Second Look From Red States
President Joe Biden is wasting no time establishing his vision for the Affordable Care Act and reversing many Trump-era measures aimed at weakening it. In his first two months in office, Biden has taken several steps to bolster the landmark health reform law, which marks its 11th anniversary on Tuesday, and to embed it even more firmly in the nation's health care system. His actions are already having an effect. On Tuesday, his administration announced the extension of a special enrollment period until August 15. (Luhby, 3/23)

AP: Newly Confirmed Surgeon General To Focus On COVID, Opioids
The Senate confirmed a soft-spoken physician as President Joe Biden’s surgeon general Tuesday. While Dr. Vivek Murthy says ending the coronavirus pandemic is his top priority, he’s also raised concerns over a relapsing opioid overdose crisis. The vote on Murthy was 57-43, giving him bipartisan support. Biden’s coronavirus response can already count on plenty of star players, but Murthy has a particular niche. As a successful author he’s addressed issues of loneliness and isolation that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. For Murthy, this will be his second tour as America’s doctor, having previously served under former President Barack Obama. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/23)

The New York Times: Senate Confirms Vivek Murthy As Surgeon General
Dr. Vivek Murthy, who helped found several health-related advocacy groups and later tackled the opioid epidemic and e-cigarettes as surgeon general during the Obama administration, was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday to reprise that role for President Biden. The vote, 57 to 43, was a much smoother ride for Dr. Murthy than the first time he was confirmed, in 2014, when Republicans cast Dr. Murthy as a politically connected supporter of President Barack Obama’s who would use his position to push for stricter gun control. The fight dragged on for months, leaving the country without a top doctor for more than a year. (Gay Stolberg, 3/23)

Stat: Senate Reaches Deal To Boost Medicare Pay For Providers Through 2021
Senate leaders have reached an agreement to extend a Medicare pay bump for health care providers through 2021, a major lobbying win for hospitals. Senate leaders cut a deal on Tuesday, just days ahead of the March 31 deadline when the 2% pay boost is set to expire, according to bill text obtained by STAT. Congress last year gave providers the boost to help their bottom lines during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Cohrs, 3/23)

The Washington Post: Becerra Says Government Must Reach People Where They Are To Surmount Vaccine Inequities
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the federal campaign to vaccinate Americans against the coronavirus must “reach people where they are,” bringing vaccine-filled syringes into farm fields and onto construction sites to ease profound racial and ethnic disparities in who has been receiving the protective shots. “We’re not going to say, ‘Now, just come get your vaccine,’ which is a very different model than we’ve done in the past,” Becerra said in his first interview since being sworn in as the nation’s top health official late last week. Too often, he said, Black and Latino Americans in low-wage jobs believe “their government thinks they are invisible.” (Goldstein, 3/23)

The Hill: Kamala Harris, Bill Clinton To Hold Talk On Pandemic's Impact On Women
Vice President Harris and former President Clinton will sit for a one-on-one conversation Friday, as part of the 13th annual Clinton Global Initiative University meeting, where they will discuss the pandemic’s effect on women. The meeting, which is being held in partnership with Howard University, Harris’s alma mater, will showcase “A one-on-one conversation with President Clinton and Vice President Kamala Harris on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women, and empowering women and girls in the U.S. and around the world,” according to a statement from the Clinton Foundation. (Schnell, 3/23)

Politico: Fauci: AstraZeneca Needs To 'Straighten Out' Vaccine Data
The DSMB “wrote a rather harsh note” to AstraZeneca with NIAID Director — and Biden medical adviser — Anthony Fauci copied in, he told POLITICO. “The issue that the DSMB had is straightforward and very simple: The DSMB had data that they know the company had. When they saw the press release, they said, ‘wait a minute — the data in the press release do not reflect the most recent data that we know you have,'" he said. Fauci also discussed the issue during an appearance Tuesday morning on "Good Morning America." The data board felt the data released by AstraZeneca "might, in fact, be misleading a bit, and wanted them to straighten it out," he said. (Owermohle, 3/23)

Stat: Mishaps, Miscommunications Overshadow AstraZeneca’s Covid Vaccine
Yet again, AstraZeneca is in a crisis of its own making. The latest in the drug manufacturer’s long string of mishaps and miscommunications came Tuesday, when top federal health officials accused the company of highlighting in a press release overly positive data about the efficacy of its coronavirus vaccine. It came after widely publicized snafus like administering incorrect doses during clinical trials and keeping U.S. regulators in the dark after pausing a trial entirely due to safety concerns. (Joseph and Facher, 3/23)

Roll Call: Johnson & Johnson Under Pressure To Deliver Promised Vaccine Doses
Johnson & Johnson is under pressure to deliver its promised 20 million vaccine doses by next week, as several state public health officials indicate they are receiving few or no shots this week and have no idea how much they’ll get later. The uncertainty comes at a time when the demand for vaccines continues to overwhelm supply, a weary country braces for the spread of viral variants and hundreds of people die from COVID-19 each day. It raises questions about how successful the company was in meeting a central goal of the massive U.S. investment in vaccine development: to manufacture sufficient supplies of shots before they were proven effective in order to hit the ground running. (Kopp, 3/23)

Politico: New Signs J&J May Not Be Able To Hit Vaccine Delivery Goal
The supply situation has frustrated administration officials trying to deliver on President Joe Biden’s directive to offer vaccines to all U.S. adults by May. The White House was counting on the single-dose J&J shot to reach underserved populations and accelerate the country’s return to normal. POLITICO on Monday reported that the administration is increasingly concerned the company won't make its target. White House officials told governors in a private call Tuesday that the federal retail pharmacy program is slated to receive 1.5 million J&J shots next week, according to one source on the call. States are set to receive around 2 million doses, according to three individuals with knowledge of the administration’s distribution plans. (Roubein and Banco, 3/23)

Axios: U.S. Approves Johnson & Johnson COVID Vaccine Plant 
The FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization for a Catalent Pharma plant in Bloomington, Indiana, allowing it to produce and ship doses of Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine, the company announced Tuesday. The plant will help J&J increase COVID vaccine shipments this spring and eventually fulfill the 200 million doses the pharmaceutical company agreed to deliver to the United States, according to Bloomberg. (Knutson, 3/23)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 'Long Haulers' Need Dedicated Clinics, Experts Say
The United States should create multispecialty COVID-19 clinics dedicated to treating patients still experiencing serious multiorgan effects of infection well after recovery from acute illness, say the authors of a comprehensive review of literature on so-called coronavirus "long-haulers" published yesterday in Nature Medicine. The exact number of US long-haul COVID-19 cases is unknown, but the researchers said that many patients struggle in silence or become frustrated when their doctors don't consider that their symptoms could be related to their previous infection. (Van Beusekom, 3/23)

CNBC: Lingering Covid Symptoms Pose 'Really Serious Problem,' Researcher Says
A researcher who studies so-called Covid long-haulers warned that lingering symptoms are a grim reality and can pose a serious problem. “We’ve been tracking around 60 distinct symptoms in this patient population,” said David Putrino, the Director of Rehabilitation Innovation at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. “We really just need to focus on helping these patients and spreading awareness that this is, indeed, a really serious problem associated with Covid.” (DeCiccio, 3/23)

NBC News: 'Brain Fog' And Other Neurologic Symptoms Can Last For Months After Covid
Ongoing, and in some cases debilitating, problems with thinking affect a large majority of Covid-19 patients who were never sick enough to be hospitalized, according to a study published Tuesday in the Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. The research, from Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, is based on an analysis of 100 Covid-19 "long-hauler" patients whose symptoms have lasted at least six weeks. All originally had a mild illness: sore throat, cough, low-grade fever. (Edwards, 3/23)

Bloomberg: Pfizer Begins Human Trials Of New Pill To Treat Coronavirus 
Pfizer Inc. said it has begun human safety testing of a new pill to treat the coronavirus that could be used at the first sign of illness. If it succeeds in trials, the pill could be prescribed early in an infection to block viral replication before patients get very sick. The drug binds to an enzyme called a protease to keep the virus from replicating. Protease-inhibiting medicines have been successful in treating other types of viruses, include HIV and Hepatitis C. (Langreth, 3/23)

Axios: COVID Infections Among Vaccinated People Are Very Rare 
Fully vaccinated people can still get COVID, but it's pretty rare, according to a pair of studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine. One study published Tuesday found that only four out of 8,121 fully vaccinated employees at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas became infected. (Fernandez, 3/24)

CIDRAP: Infliximab Associated With Lower Likelihood Of COVID-19 Antibodies
People with COVID-19 infections who also used the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) drug infliximab had significantly fewer detectable antibodies than those who used vedolizumab, which treats IBD without the immune suppression, according to a study yesterday in Gut. Dubbed CLARITY (ImpaCt of bioLogic therApy on saRs-cov-2 Infection and immuniTY), the study looked at 6,935 patients ages 5 and above with IBD from 92 UK hospitals from Sep 22 to Dec 23, 2020, and researchers plan to follow them up to 40 weeks thereafter. About two thirds (67.6%) of the cohort took infliximab, while the remainder took vedolizumab. Patients' median age was 39 years. (3/23)

CNN: How Beards Fit In Masks May Affect Your Covid-19 Risk 
Growing a beard may seem as harmless as committing to elastic waistbands, as far as pandemic trends go. But for some, choosing to forego shaving could impact one crucial method for ending the pandemic. An important part of wearing face masks to reduce the risk of contracting or spreading coronavirus is that the mask fits snugly. Depending on a beard's length and thickness, experts have said it may reduce the effectiveness of mask-wearing by creating more space between your face and the mask. (Rogers, 3/23)

The Washington Post: Saliva Test For Concussions Found By University Of Birmingham Researchers
Researchers say they can diagnose concussions accurately using a biomarker in saliva, a groundbreaking finding that raises the possibility that doctors and athletic trainers could rapidly determine whether someone suffered a concussion using an objective test, according to a peer-reviewed article published Tuesday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The implications reach beyond the playing field but are significant for sports — especially football, which for years has grappled with how to diagnose concussions and when to allow players to return to play after potentially suffering a brain injury. An objective test would not replace the standard clinical assessment based on symptoms, but it could provide a crucial supplement for confirming concussions or even finding ones that went unreported. (Kilgore, 3/23)

Axios: Scientists Publish Criteria For Diagnosing CTE In Living People For First Time 
Scientists have produced the first consensus criteria to diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in living people. As of now, CTE can only be diagnosed after death. But a new paper, written by over 20 scientists, is a step toward a "biomarker" that could definitively say whether a living person has the disease. (Baker, 3/23)

USA Today: Prince Harry Has A New Job With Mental Health Organization BetterUp
More than a year after first stepping back from his official duties with the British royal family, Prince Harry has a new job with an American employee coaching and mental health organization. BetterUp, Inc. announced Tuesday the Duke of Sussex would be joining their team as its first chief impact officer, in a role in which he'll aim to "lift up critical dialogues around mental health, build supportive and compassionate communities, and foster an environment for honest and vulnerable conversations. (Yasharoff, 3/23)

The Washington Post: World Happiness Report Has Surprisingly Good News
In a conclusion that even surprised its editors, the 2021 World Happiness Report found that, amid global hardship, self-reported life satisfaction across 95 countries on average remained steady in 2020 from the previous year. The United States saw the same trend — despite societal tumult that yielded a national drop in positive emotions and a rise in negative ones. The country fell one spot, to 19th, in the annual rankings of the report, which was released Saturday. The report is good news regarding global resilience, experts say. (Bacic, 3/23)

Bloomberg: Blackstone Invests In Mental Health App At $1 Billion Valuation 
Blackstone Group Inc. is leading a $100 million funding round in on-demand mental-health company Ginger, accelerating a push into fast-growing technology startups. The funds will come out of the investment firm’s growth equity arm, Blackstone and Ginger said. The stake values the San Francisco-based service at about $1 billion, vaulting it to unicorn status. (Tan and Perlberg, 3/24)

The Wall Street Journal: AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine Dispute Shines Spotlight On Data Monitoring Boards
The dispute over AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine trial has exposed the crucial role played by independent expert panels in behind-the-scenes oversight of clinical pharmaceutical trials. The panels, called data and safety monitoring boards, are typically composed of medical experts and scientists such as biostaticians, clinicians and epidemiologists. They are tasked with safeguarding the safety of study volunteers and the scientific integrity of the studies, said Joseph Ross, professor of medicine and of public health at Yale University School of Medicine. (Walker, 3/23)

Stat: AbbVie Accuses Company Of Recruiting Employee To Steal Humira Secrets
Two years ago, a manufacturing team leader at AbbVie (ABBV) took a similar job at an erstwhile rival that planned to make a biosimilar version of Humira, its best-selling product. But before leaving, the employee allegedly transferred a raft of confidential information about the steps needed to produce the blockbuster medicine, according to a lawsuit filed by AbbVie in a federal court. (Silverman, 3/23)

Modern Healthcare: Five Ways To Better Equip Hospitals For The Next Pandemic
About a year ago Mary Margaret Health CEO Timothy Putnam realized something horrifying: his hospital was never designed for a pandemic. On March 13, 2020, the 25-bed critical-access hospital in Batesville, Ind., saw its first patient with COVID-19. Two weeks later, the hospital was slammed with patients presenting with severe abdominal pain, headaches and backaches, many of whom were crashing and needed a ventilator within five to six hours. ... Putnam has made changes to the hospital, he told a virtual audience at the American College of Healthcare Executives' annual congress on healthcare leadership. He and three other panelists provided tips for how health systems can rethink their facilities for life after the pandemic, and prepare for the next public health crisis. (Gillespie, 3/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Hospitals Stung Financially By Covid-19 Pandemic Seek Remainder Of Relief Fund Payouts
Hospitals are pressing the Biden administration to pay out the remaining relief funds that Congress granted last year to cover financial losses from the Covid-19 pandemic, saying it has been more than three months since the government’s last announcement of a large disbursement. Congress last year approved $178 billion to create a relief fund for health providers. The last announcement about payouts from the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the disbursements, was Dec. 17, when the department said it would send about $24.5 billion to 70,000 health organizations. (Armour and Evans, 3/23)

AP: Alternatives To Nursing Homes Get $12B Boost In COVID Bill
With the memory of the pandemic’s toll in nursing homes still raw, the COVID-19 relief bill is offering states a generous funding boost for home- and community-based care as an alternative to institutionalizing disabled people. Advocates hope the estimated $12.7 billion will accelerate what has been a steady shift to supporting elderly and disabled people and their overwhelmed families in everyday settings. But the money for state Medicaid programs, long in coming, will only be available over four calendar quarters this year and next. That’s raising concerns it will have just fleeting impact, and prompting calls for permanent legislation. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/24)

The New York Times: Texas, Indiana And Georgia Are Making All Adults Eligible For Covid-19 Vaccination
Texas, Indiana and Georgia announced Tuesday that residents 16 years and older will be eligible for Covid-19 vaccinations starting Thursday for Georgia residents, Monday for Texans and on March 31 for Indianans. They joining a growing list of states that plan to broaden vaccine eligibility to all adults ahead of a May 1 deadline set by President Biden. “With every dose, Texas gets closer to normal and protects more lives from COVID-19 hospitalization and death,” the state’s health department said in a Twitter post. (3/24)

Dallas Morning News: Texas Expands Nursing Home Visitation To Allow More Contact Between Residents And Loved Ones
The state is expanding visitation at nursing homes, allowing fully vaccinated residents to have close contact with loved ones. The Texas Department of Health and Human Services laid out the new guidelines Tuesday. (Morris, 3/23)

Roll Call: Americans At Military Bases Overseas Struggle To Get COVID-19 Vaccine
Emilee Seger watched as her home state of Ohio announced that it would open COVID-19 vaccinations to all adults by the end of the month. If she were home, it would have been cause for celebration. But Seger, who lives more than 4,000 miles away at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, felt abandoned. On base, vaccinations are only available to the highest-priority groups, and the supply is so limited that some second doses have been canceled. (Satter, 3/24)

The New York Times: E.U. Set To Curb Covid Vaccine Exports For 6 Weeks
The European Union is finalizing emergency legislation that will give it broad powers to curb exports for the next six weeks of Covid-19 vaccines manufactured in the bloc, a sharp escalation in its response to supply shortages at home that have created a political maelstrom amid a rising third wave on the continent. The draft legislation, which is set to be made public on Wednesday, was reviewed by The New York Times and confirmed by two E.U. officials involved in the drafting process. The new rules will make it harder for pharmaceutical companies producing Covid-19 vaccines in the European Union to export them and are likely to disrupt supply to Britain. (Stevis-Gridneff, 3/23)

AP: Hong Kong Halts Use Of Pfizer Vaccine, Cites Defective Lids
Hong Kong suspended use of the Pfizer vaccine Wednesday after its Chinese distributor informed the city that one batch had defective bottle lids. The city’s government said the suspension was immediate while the matter is investigated by distributor Fosun Pharma and BioNTech, the German company which created the vaccine with American pharmaceutical firm Pfizer. BioNTech and Fosun Pharma have not found any reason to believe the product is unsafe, according to the statement. However, vaccinations will be halted as a preventive and safety measure. (Soo, 3/24)

Bloomberg: Hong Kong Suspends BioNTech Vaccines On Loose Vial Caps, Stains 
Hong Kong and Macau temporarily suspended Covid-19 vaccines manufactured by BioNTech SE because of a packaging defect, dealing a blow to inoculation drives seen as key to reviving the cities’ pandemic-battered economies. BioNTech and Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co., which has the rights to market the mRNA vaccine across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, have initiated an investigation into the issue and say there is no reason to believe product safety is at risk, according to statements from the Hong Kong and Macau governments. (Hong, Lo and Cortez, 3/23)

Reuters: Nearly All Havana To Receive Experimental Cuban COVID-19 Vaccines
Cuba will administer experimental COVID-19 shots to nearly the entire population of the capital Havana by May as health authorities carry out massive interventional studies and late stage trials, officials said on Tuesday. Cuba, which has a long history of developing and exporting vaccines, this month began late phase trials of two of its five experimental shots, Soberana 2 and Abdala, which will be Latin America’s first homegrown COVID-19 vaccines if they prove successful. (Marsh, 3/24)