More Evidence Of Health Care Cost Barriers

Modern Healthcare: Nearly 1 In 5 Americans Skipped Care Due To Cost Last Year
About 1 in 5 U.S. adults have skipped healthcare over the past year because they couldn't afford it, a new West Health and Gallup survey of 3,753 Americans conducted in mid-February found. Low-income earners were hit the hardest, with 35% relaying that they couldn't pay for care. (Kacik, 3/31)

Modern Healthcare: More Regulation Of Urgent-Care Industry Needed, Community Catalyst Report Argues
A new report calls attention to the lack of regulation surrounding urgent-care clinics—a popular source of COVID-19 tests during the pandemic—and implores states to boost their oversight. Not-for-profit consumer advocacy groups Community Catalyst and the National Health Law Program found that there's no way to ensure low-income patients are able to access and afford services at urgent-care clinics or retail health clinics. Most states don't license the facilities, and don't require them to serve uninsured patients or those with Medicaid. (Bannow, 3/31)

Modern Healthcare: City Of Hope Gets $50 Million Donation For Calif. Cancer Center
Cancer research and treatment center City of Hope received $50 million — the single largest philanthropic contribution to City of Hope Orange County — from the charitable arm of homebuilder Lennar Corporation. City of Hope said it will use the money from the Lennar Foundation to help continue building a cancer campus in Irvine, California, which is slated to open in 2022. (Gillespie, 3/31)

Stat: The Health Tech Tracker For The Second Quarter: 15 Pivotal Industry Events To Watch 
Securing a billion dollars of yearly funding was once considered a landmark achievement in health tech. But with the pandemic fueling a resurgence in interest for virtual care, those days are long gone. Since late last year, activity in the digital health sector has broken virtually every financial record, from funding to acquisitions and deals to go public. This quarter, which starts on Thursday, is expected to see the frenzied trend continue in lockstep with a flurry of industry conferences and events, all of which are currently slated to take place virtually. (4/1)

Stat: Trial Data Muddy Delcath's Path To Approval For Liver Tumor Device
Delcath Systems said Wednesday that its liver-tumor treatment device achieved the primary goal of a late-stage clinical trial, but questions about the strength of the data — and whether the results will satisfy regulators — caused the small company’s stock price to fall. The Delcath device, called Hepzato, consists of clamps, tubes, and a filter that isolate a patient’s liver from the rest of the bloodstream. Once the liver is blocked off, it is bathed in high doses of the chemotherapy melphalan to kill tumors. The Hepzato filter removes the melphalan from the patient before it can escape the liver, enter the bloodstream, and cause severe side effects or death. (Feuerstein, 3/31)

Modern Healthcare: Geisinger And Acadia Healthcare To Offer Behavioral Health Services In Joint Venture
Geisinger Health and Acadia Healthcare Co. have formed a joint venture to provide inpatient behavioral health services in central and northeastern Pennsylvania, the companies announced today. The organizations will invest close to $80 million to build two free-standing facilities in Moosic and Danville with plans to start serving adult and pediatric patients beginning in 2022 and 2023, respectively, according to a news release. The Danville location will be close to three Geisinger hospitals. Geisinger will consolidate its inpatient behavioral health services from Geisinger Medical Center, Geisinger Bloomsburg Hospital and Geisinger Community Medical Center. (3/31)

The Wire: At BGI, The Line Between Biotech And Beijing Is Increasingly Blurry
On Jan. 25, 2020, as the city of Wuhan headed into the world’s first Covid-19 lockdown, the Chinese billionaire Wang Jian arrived on one of the last incoming trains. Flanked by a small entourage of younger scientists, Wang exited the station wearing a mask, a light puffy jacket, and a backpack. Thousands were fleeing the river port metropolis. But Wang came ready to work. (Crane, 4/1)

Modern Healthcare: Spectrum Health In Outcomes-Based Deal With Medtronic
Integrated health system Spectrum Health has struck its first risk-based deal with medical device manufacturer Medtronic. Heart failure patients who receive a type of Medtronic pacemaker will have their progress tracked, including 30-hospital readmissions and other measures. Medtronic will reimburse Spectrum is the patient doesn't fare well. (Gillespie, 3/31)

CNN: Ayah Lundt: This Toddler Needs Zolgensma, A Drug That Costs $2.1 Million, To Save Her Life 
For the first few months of her life, Ayah Lundt was the picture of health. Born in January last year at a whopping 8.3 pounds, the bubbly baby girl with dark curls and bright brown eyes hit all her developmental milestones. By six months, she was crawling and trying new foods. Bananas and mushy broccoli were her favorites. Avocados, not so much. Then at nine months, her progress suddenly reversed. She could not lift her head while lying down, sit on her own or clap -- all things she'd excitedly done before. Her legs caved when she tried to crawl or stand. The key red flag came when she was unable to eat oatmeal with a spoon -- something she'd done numerous times. (Karimi, 3/31)

The New York Times: A ‘Game Changer’ For Patients With Esophageal Cancer
For decades, esophageal cancer has defied scientific attempts to discover a therapy that extends patients’ survival, year after year claiming the lives of such illustrious people as Humphrey Bogart, Christopher Hitchens and Ann Richards, the former governor of Texas. Now a large clinical trial offers hope, finding that a drug that unleashes the immune system to attack cancer cells can double the disease-free survival times in patients from 11 months to 22 months. The study was published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Kolata, 3/31)