UnitedHealthcare Launches Telehealth Care-Centric Insurance Plan

Stat: UnitedHealthcare Launches A Virtual-First Health Insurance Plan
The pandemic prompted a mad dash to figure out how to deliver health care virtually. As the dust settles, UnitedHealthcare, the country’s largest insurer, is laying the foundation for the future with a health plan built primarily around telemedicine services designed to be more affordable and accessible. (Aguilar, 10/18)

NPR: Telehealth Is OK, Patients Say, But Most Prefer In-Person Appointments
New Yorker Charlie Freyre's sinuses had been bothering him for weeks last winter, during a COVID-19 surge in the city. It was before vaccines became widely available. "I was just trying to stay in my apartment as much as possible," Freyre says, so checking in with his doctor via an online appointment "just seemed like a more convenient option. And you know, it was very straightforward and very easy." The $20 copay was well worth it for the 26-year-old ad salesman, whose girlfriend also routinely relies on telehealth to see her nutritionist. "It's a very easy way to get an expert opinion without having to necessarily leave your apartment," fill out forms or spend idle time in waiting rooms, Freyre says. "We all know what going to the doctor can be like." (Noguchi, 10/18)

In news about Medicare and Medicaid —

Modern Healthcare: Insurers Want CMS To Toss Rule On 'Breakthrough' Technology Coverage
Insurers are backing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plan to repeal a Trump-era rule allowing Medicare to cover medical devices designated as "breakthrough" technology by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to public comments on the proposed rule. Payers, patient safety advocates and independent experts had recommended that President Joe Biden's administration walk back the rule, citing concerns over patient safety and questions about the value of automatically providing Medicare coverage for unproven technologies. If the original rule had taken effect, CMS would have lost its ability to withdraw approval for devices later found to be harmful to people on Medicare. (Brady, 10/18)

In other health care industry news —

Stat: Amazon Is Beefing Up Its Health Care Lobbying Operation 
Amazon is bulking up its efforts to influence health care policy at the federal and state levels. The tech giant recently hired Claire Winiarek, a top policy official from the trade association for pharmacy benefit managers, as its director of health policy. And Amazon has started a search for three additional health care policy advocates who will focus on federal health care policy, health devices and services, and state-level health policy, according to postings on LinkedIn this month. (Cohrs, 10/19)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Tower Health Is Denied Property-Tax Exemption For Three Chester County Hospitals
A Chester County judge rejected Tower Health’s bid for property tax exemptions for Brandywine, Jennersville, and Phoenixville Hospitals, saying those operations had become too similar to for-profit companies and didn’t deserve to be free of property taxes. The decision strikes another blow to Tower, which vowed to appeal as it struggles to reverse large losses. It represents a rare loss for any nonprofit hospital. The ruling also shows how health care is becoming more complicated and far removed from its philanthropic roots, at least according to one judge. (Brubaker, 10/19)

Stat: Doctor On Demand, Grand Rounds Venture Begins To Take Shape
In May, two privately held health tech startups — Doctor on Demand and Grand Rounds — said they would merge, creating a new company focused on both managing how patients receive healthcare and providing that care, virtually. On Monday, the combined firm unveiled a new name: Included Health. (Herper, 10/18)

Detroit Free Press: CVS Health Names Khaldun Its First Chief Health Equity Officer
Dr. Joneigh Khaldhun, who led Michigan through the first 18 months of the coronavirus pandemic as the state's chief medical executive, has been named vice president and chief health equity officer of CVS Health, the company announced Monday. “Her expertise in creating solutions to help improve health outcomes will help us continue addressing health inequities for the customers and communities we serve," said Dr. Kyu Rhee, CVS senior vice president and Aetna CMO, in a statement. (Jordan Shamus, Boucher and Hall, 10/18)

Modern Healthcare: Expect A Permanent Boost To Healthcare Wages, Experts Say
Healthcare workforce labor costs will remain higher than pre-pandemic levels, which has prompted new recruitment and retention strategies. Nearly all of the 73 health system administrators surveyed have had trouble filling vacancies as more clinical staff burn out, according to a new poll from Kaufman Hall. Nearly three-quarters of executives have raised clinicians' wages as a result, while around 90% have boosted pay for support staff. (Kacik, 10/18)

KHN: Hygienists Brace For Pitched Battles With Dentists In Fights Over Practice Laws 
This year, the Illinois legislature was considering measures to expand oral health treatment in a state where millions of people live in dental care deserts. But when the Illinois State Dental Society met with key lawmakers virtually for its annual lobbying day in the spring, the proposals to allow dental hygienists to clean the teeth of certain underprivileged patients without a dentist seemed doomed. (Bruce, 10/19)

And in news about the spread of MRSA —

CIDRAP: Elbow Bumps May Transfer MRSA Just As Much As Fist Bumps
Researchers from the Cleveland VA Medical Center reported that both a fist bump and an elbow bump are associated with frequent transfer of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Elbow bumps have been increasingly used as greetings over fist bumps and handshakes with the idea that they lessen the potential for pathogenic microorganism transfer. To test this hypothesis, the researchers enrolled 40 patients in isolation for MRSA colonization and paired them with a research staff member wearing sterile gloves and a piece of cotton cloth over their elbows. Each MRSA-colonized patient performed one greeting with a staff member using their right fist or elbow, and one greeting using their left fist or elbow, with the order of the greetings alternating among consecutive participants. The researchers then analyzed the fists and elbows of the MRSA-colonized patients, along with the gloves and elbow cloth from the staff members, for the presence of MRSA. (10/18)