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What We’re Reading: UNOS Extends Deadline; 2022 Year-End COVID-19 Exposure; Gavi Approves New Polio Vaccine
Lifesaving organ supply disruption avoided for now; approximately a quarter of the US population had not been exposed to COVID-19 by the end of 2022; Gavi will offer developing countries a new polio vaccine.
UNOS Extends Deadline to Avoid Organ Supply Disruption
Buckeye Transplant Services has been given a 2-week extension from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the nonprofit group association that manages the nationwide organ allocation system, to comply with UNOS transplant data use guidelines, reports The Washington Post. This extension evades a possible cutoff of the flow of organs vital to saving lives that could have started immediately. Buckeye now has until July 19 to conform with the UNOS requirements. Sixty-three hospitals and transplant centers currently use Buckeye for potential transplant organ evaluation.
Quarter of US Population Not Exposed to COVID-19 by End of 2022
Approximately a quarter of the US population had not been exposed to COVID-19 as recently as year-end 2022, according to CDC data reported by The Hill. For October through December 2022, the CDC estimates that about 77.5% of people possessed infection-induced antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The highest percentages of natural antibodies were seen among persons aged 16 to 29 years (87.1%) and Hispanic individuals (80.6%). A rate of 77% was seen among Black, White, and other racial/ethnic groups.
Vaccine to Prevent Polio and More Approved by Gavi
The governing board of Gavi, the international group that provides vaccines to developing countries, has included a new vaccine on its roster that could assist in eradicating polio globally, thereby stopping its resurgence, according to The New York Times. Unlike the current polio vaccines that are currently in use in some low- and middle-income countries that incorporate live viruses, this new vaccine has incorporated an inactivated polio component into a multifaceted injection that is already being used to protect young children against 5 other serious infections. A similar vaccine is already accessible in the United States and some countries in Europe.
Addressing the Demand for Mental Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic
May 25th 2021On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Gregory Harris, MD, MPH, DFAPA, senior medical director for behavioral health at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, about the challenges of meeting the demand for mental health service during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Long-Term Health Care Costs Following COVID-19: Implications for Pandemic Preparedness
November 1st 2023A difference-in-differences analysis of health care claims data evaluated excess health care costs in the 12 months following COVID-19 diagnosis among the general and older adult populations.
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Promoting Equitable Access to Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Crisis
January 19th 2021The authors of a Clinical research article in the January 2021 Health IT issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® discuss their findings and suggestions for making telehealth access more equitable for all.
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Medicare Part A and B premiums are set to increase by $9.80 next year; 20 experts from various specialties and institutions have developed updated brain death guidelines; many Black patients are strongly affected by multiple COVID-19 infections due to a lack of health insurance and health care access.
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Spending Patterns Among Commercially Insured Individuals During the COVID-19 Pandemic
October 11th 2023In this analysis of more than 97 million commercially insured individuals, investigators found that the COVID-19 pandemic induced a spending shock in 2020 and that health care spending did not recover to baseline until mid-2021.
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