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What We're Reading: J&J Blood Clot Concerns; Abortion Pill Access; Pandemic Health Spending
The CDC is recommending that people at risk of developing blood clots receive the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines instead of Johnson & Johnson (J&J); the FDA lifts restrictions on mail order access to abortion pills; US health care spending more than doubled during the first year of the pandemic.
Moderna, Pfizer Vaccines Recommended Over J&J
As reported by NPR, the CDC accepted recommendations by a panel of experts yesterday who said that the COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech should be preferred over the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) shot due to growing concerns of rare blood clots. Cases of rare and potentially fatal thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), as well as cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, have been indicated to be prevalent in about 1 in every 100,000 cases among at-risk women aged 30 to 49 years. Approximately 15% of TTS cases have been fatal.
Restrictions Lifted on Abortion Pill Access by Mail
As the Supreme Court hears challenges to laws that would limit access to abortions, the FDA announced yesterday it will permanently lift nationwide restrictions on access to abortion pills, which will allow patients to receive the medication by mail instead of having to go in person to a certified health provider. Reported by The New York Times, the move will also allow providers to prescribe abortion pills and send via mail to patients through telemedicine appointments, an action that is banned in 19 states. The FDA said that pharmacies could begin dispensing the abortion pill mifepristone if they become certified by the drug’s manufacturer and if they receive the prescription from a certified health provider.
US Health Care Spending More Than Doubled in Year One of Pandemic
According to a report published this week in Health Affairs, data from CMS’ Office of the Actuary shows that US health care spending more than doubled in the first year of the pandemic: from a 4.3% increase in 2019 to 9.7% last year. Reported by Politico, most of the increase was attributed to efforts made to contain the spread of COVID-19, with assistance to health care providers, public health programs, and Medicaid payments rising 36% last year. The increase in health care spending was noted to come while the overall economy contracted by 2.2%, in which the medical system accounted for just less than one-fifth of the entire US economy at the end of 2020.
ACOs’ Focus on Rooting Out Fraud Aligns With CMS Vision Under Oz
April 23rd 2025Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are increasingly playing the role of data sleuths as they identify and report trends of anomalous billing in hopes of salvaging their shared savings. This mission dovetails with that of CMS, which under the new administration plans to prioritize rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse.
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New Research Challenges Assumptions About Hospital-Physician Integration, Medicare Patient Mix
April 22nd 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Brady Post, PhD, lead author of a study published in the April 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care®, challenges the claim that hospital-employed physicians serve a more complex patient mix.
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Contributor: For Complex Cases, Continuity in Acute Care Is Necessary
April 23rd 2025For patients with complex needs and social challenges like unstable housing, the hospital has become their de facto medical home—yet each visit is a fragmented restart, without continuity, context, or a clear path forward.
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Personalized Care Key as Tirzepatide Use Expands Rapidly
April 15th 2025Using commercial insurance claims data and the US launch of tirzepatide as their dividing point, John Ostrominski, MD, Harvard Medical School, and his team studied trends in the use of both glucose-lowering and weight-lowering medications, comparing outcomes between adults with and without type 2 diabetes.
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