Axios Vitals: The path ahead for boosters

Plus: How Delta's changing our social lives | Monday, August 16, 2021

Open in app View in browser   Presented By the Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing   Axios Vitals By Tina Reed ·Aug 16, 2021 😎Welcome back from the weekend, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter is 826 words, a 3-minute read. Situational awareness: CMS is now giving states a full year after COVID's "public health emergency" ends to redetermine the eligibility of their Medicaid enrollees, up from six months. It comes in response to states that warned six months wouldn't be enough time to complete the growing backlog of pending work and might result in a future "renewal bulge."     1 big thing: Boosters take off Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   We now know some people in the U.S. are going to get additional doses of COVID vaccines after the CDC and FDA signed off on shots for the immunocompromised last week. The big picture: As Andrew Badley, chairman of Mayo Clinic's COVID-19 research task force, put it to Axios, "It's not the end of the story." "The question that's on everyone's mind — and studies are underway is — is there a role for booster vaccines to augment waning immunity" for everyone else? NIH director Francis Collins told Fox News' Chris Wallace on Sunday the Biden administration is looking closely at that question about boosters for the broader U.S. population, but there isn't enough data yet. But he did say concern the vaccine may start to wane in its effectiveness over months "may mean we need to begin with health care providers as well as people who are in nursing homes." Stephen Hoge, president of Moderna, told Fox News' Maria Bartiromo on Sunday that breakthrough cases are emerging differently across vaccines as a result of the Delta variant after six to nine months. "I think that suggests we are going to need booster vaccines to get through the winter." Zoom in: The eligible include those undergoing active or recent cancer treatments, those who've received a solid tumor transplant, have advanced HIV infection. It may also include those undergoing treatment with high-dose corticosteroids, alkylating agents, antimetabolites or tumor-necrosis (TNF) blockers, and certain chronic conditions such as renal disease. Officials estimate it comprises 2.7% of U.S. adults or about 7 million adults. Go deeper.     2. Americans create their own vaccine mandates Data: The Harris Poll; Chart: Will Chase/Axios Millennials and Gen Zers are more likely to have cut ties over COVID-19 vaccine disagreements than other generations, according to new data from The Harris Poll provided first to Axios. "It's the new cultural dividing line," John Gerzema, CEO of The Harris Poll, told Axios. "Three in 10 Gen Zers, and even more millennials, have ghosted friends who would not get vaccinated." The poll found only 15% of Americans said they expect party hosts to require vaccination. Even so, two-thirds say they'd require attendees to be immunized if they were hosting an event and 37% would require vaccination regardless of party size. "It's kind of like Delta variant is moving in real-time and people are like 'Should I be doing the wedding this fall?'," Gerzema said. The differences skew heavily across generational lines. Millennials had the highest standards — most likely because they are most likely to have unvaccinated kids — with 41% saying they'd definitely require proof before hosting an event compared to 36% of those in older generations.     3. Industry sues over another transparency rule Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios   There's a new price transparency lawsuit against the federal government, this time coming from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, Axios' Bob Herman reports. Why it matters: The health care industry claims it is in favor of price transparency. In reality, the industry has fought attempts to unlock the black box of prices. Where it stands: The regulation in question, finalized by the Trump administration last November, requires plans and companies that are self-insured to make prices and out-of-pocket costs available for 500 items by Jan. 1, 2023. That information has to be available for all health care services and products by Jan. 1, 2024. This rule is similar to a separate rule by the Trump administration that required hospitals to post their negotiated prices. Hospitals fought that in court, lost, and have done a poor job complying with it. The bottom line: Health care companies only want transparency that doesn't disrupt their businesses. The Chamber has lamented that "health care pricing is a complete mystery," and PCMA advocates for "the right transparency." Read more.     A message from the Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing Surprise medical billing regulations must protect patients     Congress ended surprise billing, but the fight is not over yet. It's up to the Administration to protect patients from higher health care costs. To do this, regulators must limit the Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process and prevent private equity from gaming the system. Learn more.     4. Quote du jour "Amazon has been trying to grow a pharmacy delivery business. We believe they have not been successful ... we have observed almost no usage of the PrimeRx discounts at retail." — Trevor Bezdek, co-founder of GoodRx, on its recent Q2 earnings call. GoodRx, meanwhile, has been growing gangbusters.     5. Mental health is the next big workplace issue Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   Employees' mental health is quickly becoming a top concern for companies as they try to hold on to workers through the pandemic, Axios' Erica Pandey writes. What's happening: The pandemic has dragged on, and people are dealing with even more loss and isolation — at the same time that America's opioid crisis has gotten worse. Burnout and addiction are seeping into the workplace. Despite the fact that we've gotten used to pandemic-era living, workplace burnout is rising. 44% of workers say they feel fatigued on the job, up from 34% in 2020, per a study conducted by the human resources consulting firm Robert Half. But, but, but: Helping workers is not so simple. A study from The Hartford found that 72% of U.S. employers say stigmas associated with mental health and addiction are keeping workers from seeking help. Go deeper.     6. While you were weekending ... Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   Study says new Lambda variant could be vaccine-resistant (The Hill) COVID-19 hospitalizations among 30- to 39-year-olds hit record high. (Axios) Universities charge unvaccinated students "COVID fee" (Axios)     A message from the Coalition Against Surprise Medical Billing IDR leads to inflated charges and higher costs for consumers     Any Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process that relies on providers' inflationary charges for final payment will lead to higher costs for consumers — as shown in New Jersey, New York and Texas. What this means: Federal regulations must limit IDR and protect patients. Learn more.   📬Thanks for reading. Tell your family, friends and colleagues, they can subscribe to the Vitals newsletter by clicking here. Like this email style and format? Learn more about Axios HQ. It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. 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