| | | | | | | | | | | Axios Vitals | | By Tina Reed · Nov 23, 2022 | | Happy Wednesday, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter is 989 words or a 4-minute read. 🦃 Programming note: Vitals will be off for a few days in observance of Thanksgiving. We'll be back in your inboxes on Monday, Nov. 28. | | | | | | 1 big thing: The growing menopause-at-work market |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | Menopause — a condition that's little discussed and poorly understood — is gaining more attention from employers rethinking the health benefits they offer women. Why it matters: Support for workers experiencing telltale symptoms like hot flashes, fatigue and mood swings is becoming more essential after the pandemic and its economic shockwaves led a disproportionate number of women to exit the workforce. - It dovetails with a reassessment of reproductive health benefits for younger workers prompted by the demise of Roe v. Wade.
- But it could bring tough decisions about covering treatments for hormonal changes, bone density, heart health and other symptoms associated with menopausal transition.
"These are your senior leaders, your executives. You want to retain these women and there's no reason they shouldn't have basic access to health care," said Tammy Sun, CEO of Carrot Fertility, a women's health company that rolled out menopause services on its platform earlier this year. By the numbers: The global menopause market is expected to reach $24.4 billion by 2030, up from $15.4 billion in 2021, per a report earlier this month from Grand View Research. - About 27 million people, or nearly 20% of the workforce in the U.S., experience menopause, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.
- As many as 40% say their symptoms interfered with their work performance or productivity on a weekly basis and nearly one in five have quit or considered quitting because of their symptoms, per a survey from Fast Company.
The big picture: In Australia, some of the nation's largest unions said this week they are pushing for employers to offer menstrual and menopause leave. - A growing number of companies in Europe have begun introducing menopause policies, CNN reported last month.
- In the U.S. and around the world, employers are only beginning to understand the value of such offerings, said Marta Cardeano, general manager for Bloom, which offers a motion sensor-based technology to address and relieve pelvic pain for women, which can occur during menopause.
Go deeper. |     | | | | | | 2. The next most expensive drug |  | | | Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios | | | | The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a gene therapy for hemophilia — the latest in a series of decisions to advance pricey, personalized treatments that bring new hope to patients, along with cost concerns to the health system, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim writes. Why it matters: With a list price of $3.5 million, Hemgenix from CSL Behring LLC will become the most expensive therapy in the world. - As Axios' Caitlin Owens reported in September, while the expected number of patients who'll receive such treatments is relatively low, employers, insurers, and public payers like state Medicaid programs may absorb large costs all at once.
- The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review this month suggested the highest price that should be charged for the treatment is about $2.9 million.
Details: Hemgenix is used to treat Hemophilia B, an inherited disorder affecting about one in 40,000 people that stems from missing or insufficient levels of a protein that's required to produce clots to stop bleeding. Catch up quick: The FDA recently approved two other multi-million-dollar gene therapies from bluebird bio: Zynteglo, for a blood disorder called beta-thalassemia, and Skysona, for a rare neurological disorder called cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy. | | | | | | | | 3. ACA sign-ups could set records, Becerra says | | Enrollment in Affordable Care Act marketplaces is on pace to set a new record, with subsidies that Congress renewed through 2025 softening the blow of premium increases, Health Secretary Xavier Becerra told Axios' Oriana Gonzalez on Tuesday. By the numbers: Nearly 3.4 million people have signed up for individual coverage between from Nov. 1 to 19 — a 17% increase from last year, according to HHS data. What they're saying: "So far, we're on pace to see another record," Becerra said. "I think we're going to continue to see sign-ups and this may be a very good Christmas for a lot of Americans." Catch up fast: With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, Congress extended enhanced ACA subsidies — premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions — through 2025. - Though lawmakers have resisted making these subsidies permanent, HHS "would encourage Congress to continue to make progress on making health care affordable for everyone," Becerra said.
Between the lines: Enrollment this year comes without the "family glitch," a provision in the ACA that prevented some families from getting subsidized health insurance. - But to navigate eligibility requirements, individuals will need information from their employers that the companies are not required to give, potentially adding hurdles, according to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation brief.
- Becerra told Axios that HHS wants to ensure that the information is available and will make "navigators" available to help people make that decision.
| | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Looking to meet your goals with performance advertising? | | |  | | | | In a world of info overload, it's hard to break through the noise. The Axios solution is twofold - our Smart Brevity style engages high-value readers - with marketing outcomes billed on a performance basis. Want to learn more? Let's chat! | | | | | | 4. Quote du jour: Fauci heads for the exit |  | | | Anthony Fauci speaks at a White House briefing on Tuesday. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images | | | | "I'll let other people judge the value or not of my accomplishments ... but what I would like people to remember about what I've done is that every day for all of those years I've given it everything that I have and I've never left anything on the field." — NIAID director Anthony Fauci at his last briefing at the White House as he prepares to retire following 50 years in government, CBS News reports. | | | | | | | | 5. Shortages of flu medicines |  | | | Photo: Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP via Getty Images | | | | Drugs and antibiotics commonly used for treating everything from the flu to childhood ear infections are getting hard to find in many parts of the country, CNN reports. Driving the news: Amid a surge in respiratory diseases including RSV and the flu, pharmacists in states around the country are reporting trouble keeping Tamiflu in stock for both children and adults. - Meanwhile, manufacturers of amoxicillin say they're ramping up production to catch up to unexpectedly high demand.
What they're saying: "Anytime respiratory viruses kick up, people start prescribing antibiotics, even inappropriately, and that's created a lot of demand. That wasn't anticipated by the manufacturers of amoxicillin, so that's led to shortages," Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told CNN. Related: New Covid boosters work better against infection than previous shots, CDC finds | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Looking to meet your goals with performance advertising? | | | | | | | | In a world of info overload, it's hard to break through the noise. The Axios solution is twofold - our Smart Brevity style engages high-value readers - with marketing outcomes billed on a performance basis. Want to learn more? Let's chat! | | | | Thanks for reading, and thanks to senior editor Adriel Bettelheim and copy editor Nick Aspinwall for the edits. Did someone forward this email to you? Here's how to sign up. |  | | Your personal policy analyst is here. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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