Weekly Spotlight

PSA – if you haven’t thrown out your Thanksgiving leftovers, do that TODAY.

Welcome back from what we hope was a restful and festive holiday. DC has become a frozen tundra to better accommodate heated debates over Trump’s nominees for key health care positions in his Administration. Some top highlights are included below:

Trump team barred from agencies amid legal standoff

The president-elect’s continued foot-dragging on signing the standard trio of ethics and transparency agreements with the federal government has so far prevented the incoming administration from having any formal contact with federal agencies, including sending in groups of policy advisers known as “landing teams.” It also means they can’t access cybersecurity support or secure email servers for transition-related work, or request FBI background checks for their nominees.

HHS Secretary – RFK Jr.

RFK Jr. Says He Wants To Untie Links Between Industry And FDA

“FDA’s war on public health is about to end,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote on X just prior to the November election. “If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags.”

RFK Jr vow to purge FDA sets up collision with Big Pharma

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed to purge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shortly before being chosen as President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for health secretary. Any changes he wants to make will come up against a pharmaceutical industry that pays much of the regulator’s bills.

Public Scrutiny of Trump’s HHS Pick

Scott Gottlieb says the HHS nominee’s confirmation would ultimately ‘cost lives in this country’ Bloomberg calls on Republicans to reject his nomination. Bloomberg calls on the Senate to reject RFK. Eli Lilly Chief Says He Will Fight for the F.D.A., Challenging Kennedy’s Stance

HHS Deputy Secretary – Jim O’Neil

Trump taps biotech investor Jim O’Neill for HHS deputy secretary

President-elect Trump has nominated biotech investor Jim O’Neill for deputy secretary of the Health and Human Services department.

FDA –Marty Makary

Trump’s FDA pick Makary may be a relief for biotech and pharma, analysts say

Trump on Friday nominated Dr. Marty Makary, a pancreatic surgeon at Johns Hopkins University, as FDA commissioner. If confirmed by the Senate, Makary would be in charge of regulating food, thousands of vaccines and other drugs, medical devices and tobacco products. Makary served as the editor-in-chief of MedPage Today from January 2020 through the end of 2021.

CMS – Dr. Oz

Dr. Oz Invested in Businesses Regulated by Agency Trump Wants Him To Lead

Oz’s holdings, some shared with family, included a stake in UnitedHealth Group worth as much as $600,000, as well as shares of pharmaceutical firms and tech companies with business in the health care sector, such as Amazon. Collectively, Oz’s investments total tens of millions of dollars, according to financial disclosures he filed during his failed 2022 run for a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat. The heart surgeon turned TV star has championed healthy lifestyle habits. But he’s also promoted sham diet pills and ineffective Covid-19 treatments.

NIH – Jay Bhattacharya

President-elect Trump has chosen Stanford University professor Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health,

Other Regulatory News

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)

Vivek Ramaswamy: DOGE not planning cuts to Social Security, Medicare

Vivek Ramaswamy told Axios’ Mike Allen at the Aspen Security Forum that it would be premature for his new efficiency commission — which he’s co-leading with Elon Musk — to discuss sweeping cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.

#All

Drug Prices Negotiated by Medicare Still Higher Than Other Countries’

Prices for the first 10 drugs negotiated by Medicare fell from their initial net prices, but all drugs except one remained more expensive in the U.S. than in peer countries, researchers said.

#Drug, #PATIENT

21 systems launching physician residency programs

At least 20 hospitals and health systems have shared plans this year to launch new physician residency programs, though several are reducing or closing programs due to a range of factors.

#Hospital, #PROVIDER

RAND: Two-Thirds of the Growth in High Intensity Hospital Stays Not Explained by Changes in Patient Demographics or Pre-Existing Comorbidities

In five states over nearly a decade, hospitals have increased how frequently they document patients as needing the highest intensity carehttps://www.rand.org/news/press/2024/12/03/index1.html, which has led to hospitals receiving billions in extra payments from health plans and government programs, according to a new RAND study.

#Hospital, #Payer

Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

CDRH Pilot Program Aims To Speed Up Device Recall Notifications

FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) is initiating a pilot program that aims to provide swifter communications about corrective actions taken in response to high-risk recalls.

#Device, #Patient, #Provider

Health and Human Services (HHS)

New Dashboard to Track Progress Toward 50 Percent Reduction in Patient and Workforce Harm

The National Action Alliance for Patient and Workforce Safety launched a new public-facing dashboard that aggregates federal safety data Dec. 5.

#HOSPITAL

Notable Notes

NYT Coverage of Shooting Death of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson

Mr. Thompson was on his way to an investors’ gathering when he was killed by a masked shooter who fled on an electric bike, the police said. An opinion piece published in the Atlantic explores the public fallout.

#All

Musk’s Slashing of the Federal Budget Faces Big Hurdles

The so-called Department of Government Efficiency, with Elon Musk as co-leader, has advantages that past budget-cutters did not, but laws and court challenges can still make change slow and difficult.

#All

View of U.S. Healthcare Quality Declines to 24-Year Low

A recent Gallup poll revealed that Americans’ perception of the quality of healthcare in the U.S. is the lowest it’s been since Gallup began checking the trending data in 2001.

#All

U.S. life expectancy to dip below other high- and some middle-income countries

The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington published new life expectancy projections in The Lancet yesterday, and the outlook for Americans is not good: Between 2022 to 2050, Americans’ life expectancies will only increase from 78.3 to 80.4 years. The modest increase will drop the U.S. life expectancy ranking from 49th to 66th of 204 countries.

#All

Healthcare Workers Compete on Social Media to Raise Money to Fight Hunger

Healthcare workers have been taking part in — and posting about — a physician-founded social media competition to raise funds for food banks and other organizations under the name “Healthcare Workers vs Hunger,” or HCWvsHunger…

#All

Pharmaceutical Instustry Profit Margins 10X Greater than Other Sectors of Supply Chain

The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) released the findings of an analysis demonstrating the pharmaceutical industry’s profit margins are ten times greater than other sectors of the prescription drug supply chain.

#Drug, #Patient

PBM-Funded Study on Understanding how employers manage prescription drug benefits and view pharmacy benefit managers

The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) commissioned a survey to gather insights on employer experiences with managing prescription drug benefits and the role of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). This research comes at a time of significant policy discussions about PBM practices and regulation. While previous studies have reported on employer experiences with PBM services, ongoing Congressional interest in PBM oversight has highlighted the need for additional research to better understand the complex relationships between employers, PBMs, and employee drug benefit management.

#Drug, #Patient

A twice-yearly shot could help end AIDS. But will it get to everyone who needs it?

The twice-yearly shot was 100% effective in preventing HIV infections in a study of women, and results published Wednesday show it worked nearly as well in men. Drugmaker Gilead said it will allow cheap, generic versions to be sold in 120 poor countries with high HIV rates — mostly in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. But it has excluded nearly all of Latin America, where rates are far lower but increasing, sparking concern the world is missing a critical opportunity to stop the disease

#Patient

Addressing Post-Acute/Late Effects and Other Cancer Survivorship Care Gaps

At the 2024 Annual Oncology Clinical Practice and Research Summit, Andrew M. Evens, DO, MBA, MSc, spoke with CancerNetwork® about strategies for potentially addressing current gaps in care for survivors of cancer. He discussed these gaps in the context of a presentation he moderated at the meeting, in which other expert panelists from his institution highlighted ongoing initiatives to improve cancer survivorship care.

#PATIENT

Johns Hopkins Medicine Awarded More Than $18 Million for Creation of New ECMO and Life-Support System

Researchers at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine are leading a federally-backed project to develop a portable extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and advanced life-support system device.

#Patient, #Provider

Health plans with high deductibles are becoming less popular

Less than 42% of people younger than 65 had a private health plan with a high deductible in 2023, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

#Payer

Are 3-year medical schools becoming the new standard?

In 2015, around eight medical schools were offering three-year medical programs. Today, that number has risen to more than 30.

#PROVIDER

How the new Trump administration could hurt provider finances

A report published this week from S&P Global Ratings said possible changes following the election’s “red wave” are likely to have a net negative impact on healthcare ratings, although near-term effects will be limited.

#PROVIDER