• President Joe Biden said in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that while the country still has “a problem” with COVID-19, “the pandemic is over,” comments that surprised administration officials, two senior health officials said. Biden’s apparent ad-lib was delivered as the administration continues to push Congress for more funding for COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and preventive measures, and as roughly 400 Americans are still dying from the disease per day. (The Washington Post)
• Dr. Anthony Fauci said in an interview with the Financial Times that he’s worried that vilification of COVID-19 vaccines by anti-vaxxers “might spill over into that kind of a negative attitude towards childhood vaccinations,” leading to “avoidable and unnecessary outbreaks” of preventable diseases. (Financial Times) Dr. Francis Collins, the White House science adviser and former National Institutes of Health director, expressed similar concerns about large swaths of the public losing trust in science and eschewing vaccines, floating the idea of “a Communication Corps for the United States” to combat health-related misinformation. (Stat News)
• Moderna Inc. signed off on a request from the U.N.-backed Medicines Patent Pool to provide the French government with use of its COVID-19 vaccine as part of a World Health Organization effort to increase the development of mRNA vaccines ticketed for poorer countries facing accessibility issues. Pfizer Inc. declined a similar ask, saying in a statement that it is “impossible to support” all of the “requests to collaborate on studies and other initiatives from many different worthy sources.” (Bloomberg)
• The Food and Drug Administration approved Bluebird Bio Inc.’s Skysona gene therapy, a first-of-its-kind treatment for a rare neurological disorder in boys known as cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy. Bluebird said the treatment should be available in a limited number of U.S. treatment centers by the end of the year. (Reuters)

Worth watching today (all times local): 

• 1 p.m. Fauci discusses the winter COVID-19 outlook at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event.
• 2:30 p.m. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra participates in a Clinton Global Initiative panel on reproductive and maternal health care.

The Current State of Hospital Finances: Fall 2022 Update

KaufmanHall

Have researchers hit a wall in the hunt for severe Covid drugs? 

Jason Mast, Stat News

Advances in treating the sickest Covid patients have stalled. Since February 2021, no new therapies for the hospitalized have emerged as decisively effective, even as over 2,000 patients continue to die daily around the globe, including 300 to 500 in the U.S. 

New Boosters Test Covid-Weary Nation.Do Americans Care? 

Jack Healy et al., The New York Times 

The new vaccine campaign is one of the country’s last remaining strategies, as masks have fallen away and quarantines have diminished. So far, the rollout is methodical but muted.

Parents hesitate to give kids under 5 covid vaccine, worrying health officials 

Sabrina Malhi, The Washington Post 

In June, when the Food and Drug Administration authorized emergency use of coronavirus vaccines for children younger than 5, physicians expected apprehension among parents — after all, 4 in 10 parents with young children said they would definitely not get their youngsters vaccinated, according to a July Kaiser Family Foundation survey.

America is skeptical of the ‘dark horse’ COVID vaccine others abroad can’t get enough of 

Erin Prater, Fortune 

However hesitant Americans are about Novavax, for whatever reasons, the situation is quite the opposite elsewhere. The vaccine has been approved in 38 other countries, including Australia, France, Ireland, Italy, Korea, and the U.K., according to the World Health Organization. And Japan and Australia have approved the vaccine for usage as a booster dose, according to the Journal of American Medical Association.

Hundreds of Americans Will Die From COVID Today 

Jacob Stern, The Atlantic 

Over the past week, an average of 491 Americans have died of COVID each day, according to data compiled by The New York Times. The week before, the number was 382. The week before that, 494. And so on.

Your boss is ordering you back to the office even though they have no idea if COVID is really over 

Erin Prater, Fortune

Labor Day marked the end of the total work-from-home era for many U.S. workers, with companies including Apple, Comcast, and Peloton demanding a return to the office after the long holiday weekend. The unspoken premise behind the edict was that the COVID pandemic as we know it is over—or at least a shadow of what it used to be.

Biden Cancer Moonshot Aims to Close Access Gaps, Speed Treatment

Jeannie Baumann, Bloomberg Law 

President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot will pour resources into advancing equity in the health system while speeding up the time it takes for a discovery to reach the bedside, the moonshot coordinator said.

Lindsey Graham Defends Abortion Proposal Despite GOP Worries

Alex Leary, The Wall Street Journal

“I’m pro-life, even in an election year,” Mr. Graham said on “Fox News Sunday.” “And to those who suggest that being pro-life is losing politics, I reject that. So, listen to what I’m saying and you decide today who you’re with.”

White House pushes for monkeypox funding as cases fall 

Nathaniel Weixel, The Hill 

Monkeypox cases are declining in many areas of the country, but the Biden administration is warning that the virus still poses a danger and pushing for lawmakers to approve its multibillion-dollar funding request to combat it.

The Vaccine Loophole in Polio Eradication 

Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic 

The world has been so close to eradicating polio for so long—which is exactly why the virus is staging a comeback now.

Drinking tea may lower risk of diabetes, heart disease and death

Aria Bendix, NBC News 

Mounting evidence suggests that drinking several cups of tea per day has numerous health benefits, including lowering one’s risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and overall mortality.

After abortion restrictions, Texas recasts sex education

Emmarie Huetteman, Kaiser Health News 

Texas schools will teach about contraceptives, instituting the first new standards for teen sexual health education in more than 20 years.

Nicotine gummies are a ‘public health crisis just waiting to happen,’ FDA says 

Jen Christensen, CNN 

First, there were flavored cigarettes that tasted like chocolate or grape. Then came the e-cigarettes in flavors like cotton candy or gummy bear. Now, there are flavored gummies made with nicotine, and the US Food and Drug Administration isn’t happy about it.

Study: Lack of Access Leads to Racial, Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities in Vision Health 

Steven Ross Johnson, U.S. News & World Report

New research suggests a lack of access to vision care services has contributed to racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in visual function among Black, Hispanic and poorer adolescents.

Senators ask Biden admin to loosen testosterone restrictions for trans people

Orion Rummler, The 19th 

Current restrictions can hurt transgender patients’ access to a hormone they need to maintain their health, Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren said.

West Virginia enacts near-total abortion ban 

Oriana Gonzalez, Axios

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) on Friday announced that he has signed into law a near-total abortion ban that is now enforceable in the state.

GOP Sen. Mike Rounds says he doesn’t support Sen. Lindsey Graham’s abortion bill 

Sareen Habeshian, Axios

Republican Sen. Mike Rounds joined several other prominent Republicans in saying he won’t support Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) new bill that would ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks, the South Dakota senator said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

Families destroyed by fentanyl deaths rally near the White House 

Meryl Kornfield, The Washington Post 

April Babcock and Virginia Krieger both lost children to the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl and have pleaded with lawmakers and officials to ramp up enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border to stop the flow of illicit drugs.

China Says No Touching Foreigners Skin-to-Skin After Monkeypox Case 

Bloomberg 

A top Chinese health official warned people against having skin-to-skin contact with foreigners to avoid contracting monkeypox, spurring a backlash among the country’s dwindling expatriate community. 

Humana to spend $550M on CenterWell clinics 

Nona Tepper, Modern Healthcare 

Humana will spend up to $550 million to acquire the first set of clinics it built with a private equity firm, Chief Financial Officer Susan Diamond said during a meeting with investors Thursday. 

States may need up to a year to finish Medicaid redeterminations 

Robert King, Fierce Healthcare

Several state insurance regulators believe it could take up to one year to fully finish redetermining eligibility for their Medicaid populations after the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) ends. 

Data wonks struggle to glean insights from insurer info 

Frank Diamond, Fierce Healthcare 

Everybody knew the storm was coming. Health insurance plans in July released a blizzard of data about what they charge employers and providers for covered services. Stakeholders knew that the volume could be overwhelming.

US employers expect big increases in healthcare costs

Frank Diamond, Fierce Healthcare 

Businesses continue to struggle with ever-rising healthcare costs with 7 in 10 employers expecting moderate to significant increases in what they pay for healthcare benefits over the next three years.

IRS Rule to Strengthen Obamacare Under White House Review 

Sara Hansard, Bloomberg Law

A final rule to ensure that IRS regulations are consistent with “the policy to protect and strengthen” the Affordable Care Act has gone to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review.

Hospitals sending ‘distress flare’ after billions in projected 2022 losses 

Sydney Halleman, Healthcare Dive 

The report’s most optimistic projections still has hospitals operating at margins 37% below pre-pandemic levels, with pessimistic projections falling to an overall margin decrease of 102%.

Private equity’s drive for eye care pushes up costs 

Lauren Weber, Kaiser Health News 

In the past decade, private equity groups have gone from taking over a handful of practices to working with as many as 8% of the nation’s ophthalmologists, said Dr. Robert E. Wiggins Jr., president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Doctors Rush to Use Supreme Court Ruling to Escape Opioid Charges 

Brett Kelman, Kaiser Health News 

The court’s unanimous ruling complicates the Department of Justice’s ongoing efforts to hold irresponsible prescribers criminally liable for fueling the opioid crisis. Previously, lower courts had not considered a prescriber’s intention. Until now, doctors on trial largely could not defend themselves by arguing they were acting in good faith when they wrote bad prescriptions. Now they can, attorneys say, although it is not necessarily a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Patients for Affordable Drugs taps new leader

Rachel Cohrs, Stat News

Merith Basey, who most recently led a group that promotes access to medicine by pressuring universities, took the helm of Patients for Affordable Drugs as the group is fighting to defend implementation of Democrats’ major drug pricing reform package, including a brand-new Medicare drug price negotiation program.

Teva expects to start paying U.S. opioid settlement in 2023 

Steven Scheer, Reuters 

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA.TA) expects to finalise an opioid settlement in the United States by year-end and start paying in 2023, its chief executive said on Sunday, while confirming he was unlikely to renew his contract next year.

Every Cure to seek new uses for generic drugs to treat rare diseases

Karen Weintraub, USA Today

Every Cure aims to raise $55 million to coordinate drug data, identify generics that might offer hope for patients with a rare disease and bring the most promising drugs through clinical trials. 

Abbott Faces Competition From Heart Valve Device Cleared by FDA 

Peter Loftus, The Wall Street Journal

A new heart valve repair device from Edwards Lifesciences Corp. was as effective as the market-leading device from Abbott Laboratories in a clinical study of heart-disease patients, a finding likely to intensify competition in a growing device market.

The meth crisis is worse than ever, but new treatments could be near 

Lev Facher, Stat News

When it comes to meth addiction, Thomas Robey has long been at a loss. As an emergency room doctor, he treats a steady stream of patients who show up at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Wash., after experiencing a methamphetamine overdose.

Games That Push the Brain to the Limit Get Scientists’ Attention in Fight Against Dementia

Betsy Morris, The Wall Street Journal

You may be able to prevent or delay dementia with changes in diet and exercise, research has found. Now another possible tool for avoiding dementia is getting researchers’ attention: specially designed videogames.

Intellia’s CRISPR treatment corrects DNA of 6 patients with rare disease

Megan Molteni, Stat News 

Intellia Therapeutics said Friday the first six patients to receive its CRISPR-based treatment for a genetic swelling disorder have safely had small, corrective changes made to dysfunctional DNA inside their liver cells.

Food may be best medicine to improve the nation’s health 

Bechara Choucair, Modern Healthcare 

With the second Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health set for Sept. 28 in Washington, D.C., the healthcare sector has a chance to meaningfully contribute to the conversation and positively impact the health of the more than 42 million Americans facing food insecurity today.