- Center on Health Equity & Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
What We're Reading: Fauci in Modified Quarantine; Reasons for Halting Remdesivir Study; Unemployment Rate Projections
The nation’s top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, MD, and other health officials are entering various levels of quarantine after potential exposure to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases details how and why it halted a study on remdesivir in patients with COVID-19 early; the president’s economic advisers project rising unemployment rates.
Top Health Officials Undergo Quarantine After Potential Exposure
After potential exposure to a White House staffer who tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci, MD, said he will begin a “modified quarantine” as he was not in close proximity with the person infected, while other top health officials, such as FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, MD, and CDC Director Robert Redfield, MD, will undergo full quarantines. As reported by CNN, Fauci will still testify at a Senate hearing about COVID-19 next week by wearing a mask. Conversely, Hahn and Redfield will now testify by video conference.
Behind NIAID’s Decision to Halt Remdesivir Study
After halting its study 2 weeks ago examining the efficacy of Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug remdesivir in patients with COVID-19, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) discussed in a piece by STAT how it decided to stop the trial, which then limited researchers’ ability to collect more data on whether the drug saves lives. As indicated in the trial, the difference in mortality between patients with COVID-19 given remdesivir (8%) and placebo (11.6%) was not statistically significant when it was halted. However, officials at NIAID indicate that the potential of putting patients at risk of dying outweighed the need for proof of the drug’s efficacy.
Economic Advisers Note Unemployment Rate May Surpass 20%
Yesterday, 2 of President Donald Trump’s top economic advisers, Kevin Hassett and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, projected that the unemployment rate will continue to rise nationwide amid the pandemic, with Hassett predicting that it may reach 20% by next month. According to The Washington Post, Hassett said that it is unknown when those who lost their jobs will be able to return to work—a sentiment echoed by Mnuchin, who expects the second quarter of this year to be worse than the first. As of Friday, the US economy lost 20.5 million jobs in April.
Urticaria Diagnosis Challenged by Overlapping Pruritic Skin Conditions
April 23rd 2025Urticaria is complicated to diagnose by its symptomatic overlap with other skin conditions and the frequent misclassification in literature of distinct pathologies like vasculitic urticaria and bullous pemphigus.
Read More
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.
Listen
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.
Listen
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.
Read More
