Axios Vitals: Medical debt Band-Aid

Most Americans say COVID is no longer a crisis, poll finds | Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By PhRMA   Axios Vitals By Tina Reed · Apr 12, 2022 Happy Tuesday, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter is 948 words, or a 4-minute read. 💵 Situational awareness: It's earnings season again. United Healthcare posts its first-quarter results on Thursday morning. 🧠 1 interesting thing: This study on how personality may affect h0w your brain ages is such bad news for me...     1 big thing: Biden's Band-Aid on medical debt Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios   The Biden administration took new steps yesterday to reduce the burden of medical debt — but the moves don't address its underlying causes, and may have unintended consequences, Axios' Caitlin Owens reports. Why it matters: The vast amount of medical debt in the U.S. is a direct reflection of the fact that many Americans can't afford deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs, but also can't forgo needed care. Driving the news: The actions announced yesterday include an HHS evaluation of providers' billing practices, which could factor in how much federal grant money they get. The administration is also directing all agencies to eliminate medical debt as a factor for participation in credit programs. The administration argues medical debt is a bad predictor of whether someone will pay other bills, since health care often isn't a choice, unlike credit card debt or car loans. "No one in our nation should have to go bankrupt just to get the health care they need," Vice President Kamala Harris said. The administration's actions follow last month's announcement by private credit reporting agencies they will soon no longer include most medical debt on credit reports. Reality check: Taking some of the bite out of medical debt doesn't prevent it from accruing in the first place, and could have unintended consequences. "Policymakers should be cognizant of potential unintended consequences that could undermine some of their goals. Lenders may find ways to proxy for the hidden medical debt or try to avoid consumers likely to have them," said American Enterprise Institute's Ben Ippolito. What they're saying: "Hospitals and health systems do more than any other part of the health care field to support vulnerable patients: Our doors are always open, regardless of a patient's ability to pay," said Stacey Hughes, executive vice president of the American Hospital Association. Go deeper.     2. FDA mulls drug importation with states Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios   The FDA started discussions with states over creating a way to import drugs from Canada — a policy the Biden and Trump administrations both embraced to bring down health costs but which experts regard as having limited impact, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim writes. The big picture: With President Biden's drug pricing agenda stalled, importation could allow states to take advantage of lower drug prices abroad without the need for direct action to limit prices in the U.S. Under one pathway, states, wholesalers and pharmacies submit importation proposals to HHS, which would be subject to safety and cost conditions. Driving the news: The FDA last week held its first meeting with five states — Florida, Colorado, Vermont, Maine and New Mexico — that have submitted reimportation plans or are thinking about doing so, Politico first reported. Yes, but: The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America sued to block a 2020 federal rule that would facilitate importation, citing patient safety and other concerns. Our thought bubble: With Canadian officials adamant they won't participate in the process, any importation plan is unlikely to actually bring down drug prices. The issue still could be politically appealing as the campaign season heats up. Read the rest.     3. Axios-Ipsos poll: Most say COVID isn't a crisis Data: Axios/Ipsos poll; Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios Less than one in 10 Americans now describe COVID-19 as a crisis — with about three in four calling it a manageable problem and one in six saying it's no problem at all — Axios' Margaret Talev writes about the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index. Why it matters: These sentiments — and the public's growing desire to be done with mask mandates and other restrictions — raise significant challenges for public health officials in managing new surges. The big picture: The latest wave of our national survey actually found a slight uptick in people's perceptions of the risks of certain activities, including flying, attending sports events and returning to work. Yes but: It shows the highest share yet of Americans visiting friends and family members outside the home — and the lowest rate of social distancing — since the early part of last summer. Just half of the respondents now support schools requiring students, teachers and administrators to wear masks, down from seven in 10 at the start of the school year. 37% of respondents said they've already returned to their normal, pre-COVID lives, a new survey high. Related: Universities reinstate mask mandates amid COVID surge     A message from PhRMA Out-of-pocket costs create significant barriers to care     New data show that 35% of insured Americans spent more on out-of-pocket costs than they could afford in the past month. The story: Many patients are experiencing an insurance system that isn't working for those who need care. Learn how insurance is leaving patients exposed to deepening inequities.     4. Nursing homes face onslaught of lawsuits Nursing homes are increasingly facing negligence and wrongful death lawsuits stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wall Street Journal reports. Why it matters: Nursing homes were hit hard by patient deaths as the virus began to spread like wildfire early on in the pandemic, highlighting safety concerns among the facilities that care for vulnerable elderly. Zoom in: New York, in particular, has seen a surge in lawsuits after the state was overwhelmed early on by COVID cases and deaths soared in nursing homes. By May 2020, more than 6,500 residents died in New York nursing homes, a number the state initially underreported, per the WSJ. The other side: New York's nursing home industry says there was little more that could have been done in the chaotic early response to the novel — and highly transmissible — virus. What to watch: The lawsuits come amid increasing focus on improving the safety of the industry that's also been hit hard by staffing shortages. On Monday, the Biden administration announced it's exploring a plan to increase nursing home staffing levels, as well as infection control and reporting requirements.     5. Catch up quick 📕 Following a controversy over a podcast seen as racist by critics, JAMA announced UCSF health-equity researcher Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo as its new editor-in-chief. (STAT) 💩 Wastewater surveillance could be a key public health tool in the U.S., but its value is still difficult to quantify, needs better coordination and standardization and could pose privacy concerns, a new report from a federal watchdog said.     A message from PhRMA Voters want Congress to address health insurance     According to a new poll, 71% of Americans would like to see Congress focus more on reducing the overall costs of health care coverage such as premiums, deductibles and copays. The reason: Many believe current health insurance coverage options are confusing and unaffordable.   Like this email style and format? It's called Smart Brevity®. 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