A new study found that anticontagion policies implemented worldwide prevented hundreds of millions of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections; reports of child abuse have fallen by more than 50% in New York City as a result of the pandemic; Texas reopens its economy and sees a spike in infections.
Anticontagion policies across China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, France, and the United States effectively prevented or delayed hundreds of millions of additional infections, according to a new study published in Nature. Researchers collected data from 1717 local, regional, and national nonpharmaceutical interventions deployed in the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Had the United States not adopted the social distancing measures it did, the country would have experienced roughly 60 million additional infections. That figure rises to 285 million in China. Without any policy interventions, investigators estimate early exponential infection rates of COVID-19 could have reached 38% per day.
Reports of child abuse in New York City dropped by 51% as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, The New York Times reports. This steep drop-off has authorities worried, as children may be confined to troubled homes with perpetrators or in foster care facilities. Usually, teachers report child abuse to authorities, but as schools shut down and shifted to online class, it became more challenging to detect signs of mistreatment. An average of 1374 cases of child abuse or neglect were reported in the first 8 weeks of spring 2019, but during the same period in 2020, that average fell to 672.
As Texas begins its economic reopening, the state faces record-breaking hospitalizations of individuals with COVID-19, NPR reports. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, on May 5 there were 1888 patients admitted for COVID-19. On June 8, 1935 individuals were admitted. Despite the uptick, Governor Greg Abbott plans to continue reopening bars, restaurants, and other businesses at 50% capacity. Spikes in cases are not confined to the United States, as on June 8 the World Health Organization reported the highest daily jump in cases at 136,000.
CMS' 340B Repayment Proposal May Harm Vulnerable Hospitals, Reward Those With Higher Revenues
April 26th 2024The 340B hospitals not receiving an offsetting lump-sum payment from CMS following 2018-2022 cuts later ruled unlawful are disproportionately rural, publicly owned, and nonacademic, according to a new study.
Read More
Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen
Empowering Community Health Through Wellness and Faith
April 23rd 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. In the third episode, Camille Clarke-Smith, EdD, MS, CHES, CPT, discusses approaching community health holistically through spiritual and community engagement.
Listen
Kaiser Permanente was hit by a data breach in mid-April, impacting 13.4 million health plan members; GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) sued Pfizer and BioNTech for allegedly infringing on its messenger RNA technology patents in the companies’ COVID-19 vaccines; the CDC announced the first-known HIV cases transmitted via cosmetic injections.
Read More