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| Presented By Better Medicare Alliance |
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| Axios Vitals |
| By Tina Reed · Feb 17, 2023 |
| It's Friday, Vitals readers! Today's newsletter is 908 words or a 3½-minute read. Situational awareness: HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra waded into the fight over Medicare on Friday, assailing "deep-pocketed insurance companies and industry front groups" for misleadingly characterizing this year's Medicare Advantage payments as a cut. Programming note: Vitals will not publish on Monday in observance of Presidents Day. We'll be back in your inbox on Tuesday. |
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| 1 big thing: House GOP's overlapping COVID investigations |
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| Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios |
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| Two House committees, and potentially several more, are investigating the origins of COVID — setting them up for a lot of overlap, and even friction, Axios' Victoria Knight writes. Why it matters: What comes out of these COVID-origin investigations could have implications for research funding, vaccination campaigns and future pandemic responses — as long as the committees don't blunt the impact by stepping on each other. - There's also the potential for the spread of COVID misinformation, depending on how the hearings are focused and whether far-right members decide to push into those waters.
The main investigations: - The House Energy and Commerce Committee kicked off the first COVID origins hearing this month in its Oversight subcommittee, overseen by Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.). Its jurisdiction: public health and research.
- The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic claims jurisdiction of "pretty much everything related to COVID," as the subcommittee's new chair, Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), put it in an interview with Axios. That includes vaccines.
What they're saying: So far, key Republicans on those panels haven't cited a plan for how they'll steer the investigations apart. - "We're going to work together," Griffith told Axios. Asked how the committees are going to differentiate from each other, he said: "I'm going to let the staff figure that out."
Yes, but: Two former House Republican senior leadership staffers told Axios that GOP leadership had set up the COVID select subcommittee specifically to head up investigations into the origins of COVID and that there is some annoyance that Energy and Commerce Oversight is still continuing to look into the matter. - One of the former aides added the COVID subcommittee made its mark on COVID origins with a minority forum on the subject in 2021 and Energy and Commerce oversight could extend into many areas beyond COVID origins.
A version of this story was published first on Axios Pro. Get news like this by subscribing. Use code POLICY100 which gives you $100 off. |
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| 2. Study quantifies value of natural COVID immunity |
| The risk of hospitalization or death for someone who previously had COVID-19 was 88% lower compared to someone who was never infected, according to a systematic review published Thursday in The Lancet. Why it matters: It's the most comprehensive analysis to date examining the value of natural immunity over at least 10 months, showing the body's antibody protection remains strong and durable, even across different variants of COVID. Zoom in: Looking at data across 65 studies from 19 countries, researchers led by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation found that protection from past infection declined over time but still was a potent defense against symptomatic disease for ancestral, alpha and delta variants. - For example, they estimated protection from a pre-Omicron variant against reinfection from a pre-Omicron variant was about 85% at one month and fell to about 79% at 10 months.
- Protection from a pre-Omicron variant infection against reinfection from the Omicron BA.1 variant was 74% at one month and felt to 36% after 10 months.
The bottom line: Vaccines are still the safest way to acquire immunity, researchers said. - "Decision makers should take both natural immunity and vaccination status into consideration to obtain a full picture of an individual's immunity profile," said IHME co-author Caroline Stein in a statement.
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| 3. Data du jour: Eat your vegetables |
 Nearly half of young kids aren't eating a daily vegetable and 1 in 3 aren't getting at least one daily fruit in their diets, the CDC reported Thursday. Why it matters: The data offers a glimpse at the quality of kids' diets — which impact growth and development — at a time of increased interest in addressing childhood nutrition, as well as concerns about the pending loss of pandemic-era food benefits. Details: Researchers examined more than 18,000 responses from parents to the 2021 National Survey of Children's Health regarding what kids ages 1 to 5 consumed in the previous week. - Just under half (49.1%) said their child did not eat a daily vegetable and 32.1% indicated a daily fruit wasn't consumed.
- Meanwhile, 57.1% said a sugar-sweetened beverage had been consumed by their child in the last week.
The big picture: Results varied greatly by state. - For example, in Vermont, 30.4% of children in Vermont did not eat a daily vegetable in the prior week, compared with 64.3% in Louisiana.
- About 40% of children in Maine consumed a sugar-sweetened beverage in the prior week compared to nearly 80% in Mississippi.
- There also were differences by race and ethnicity, with non-Hispanic Black children likeliest to not consume a daily fruit or vegetable.
The bottom line: States can use the findings to prioritize efforts to improve early childhood nutrition, the authors wrote. |
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| A message from Better Medicare Alliance |
| Proposed Medicare Advantage cuts would hurt 30 million seniors |
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| 30 million seniors rely on Medicare Advantage for high-quality care at a lower cost. Now, the administration is proposing deep cuts, meaning higher premiums and fewer benefits. With inflation so high, seniors can't afford higher health care costs. Protect 30 million seniors and stop the cuts. |
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| 4. Catch up quick |
| 🩺 Biden's physical exam "straightforward," White House says, as re-election bid looms. (Reuters) 👉 Sen. Fetterman checks into the hospital for clinical depression treatment. (Axios) 🧠 What we know about frontotemporal dementia following Bruce Willis' FTD diagnosis. (Axios) 🌎 Will global warming make temperature less deadly? (Washington Post) |
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| 5. Dog of the week |
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| Mabel. Photo: Emily Shirden |
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| Meet Mabel, a 3-year-old Maltese/poodle mix who lives with her human, health care consultant Emily Shirden. - Mabel enjoys splashing in the water and is a natural swimmer, Shirden writes. (And that pool sure looks nice this time of year!)
Do you have a furbaby you think would make a great dog of the week? Reply to this email with their photo and some details — and you might see them featured here! |
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| A message from Better Medicare Alliance |
| Why the proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage will hurt seniors |
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| The proposed cuts to Medicare Advantage are unprecedented and will drive up premiums and cut benefits for seniors at a time of high inflation. Now isn't the time for cuts. The administration must protect the stability of this vital program, which 30 million seniors rely on every day. See why. |
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| Have a news tip? Just reply to this email. Did someone forward this email? Subscribe here. Thanks for reading, and thanks to senior editor Adriel Bettelheim and senior copy editor Bryan McBournie for the edits. |
 | | Your personal policy analyst is here. | | |
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