Axios Vitals: Long COVID labor crunch

Plus: A cancer "cure" | Thursday, February 03, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By PhRMA   Axios Vitals By Tina Reed ·Feb 03, 2022 Good morning, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter is 758 words or a 3-minute read. 😎 1 fun thing: Have you gotten your free COVID tests in the mail from the federal government yet? I haven't, but fellow Axion Chelsea Cirruzzo did, and had some fun unboxing hers...     1 big thing: Long COVID contributes to labor shortage Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios   Long COVID is likely keeping a lot of Americans out of the workforce, experts say, — and that could continue for years as people struggle with persistent health problems, Axios' Emily Peck and I write. The big picture: Long COVID isn't confined to older patients, and its symptoms can vary. The U.S. also doesn't have particularly strong support systems for people who need long-term COVID treatment. 1.6 million workers could be missing from the labor market right now because of long COVID, accounting for account for upwards of 15% of unfilled jobs, according to an estimate from Katie Bach, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. This makes every aspect of the labor shortage "more severe," she told Axios. Details: Studies have estimated long COVID prevalence falls anywhere from 5% to 60% of COVID cases. Splitting the difference at 30%, more than 22 million Americans may be suffering from long COVID symptoms, according to the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. "Many of the patients we're seeing are in the 40-year-old range. They're people who are still working ... and then they got COVID," Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, director of the COVID Recovery Clinic at University Health in Texas, told Axios. Read the rest.     2. Deaths rising even as Omicron dies down Data: N.Y. Times; Cartogram: Kavya Beheraj/Axios Omicron is finally on its way out, but it's leaving behind a death toll that is still rising, Axios' Sam Baker and Kavya Beheraj report. By the numbers: New cases are plunging. The U.S. is now averaging just under 425,000 new cases per day, down from over 750,000 per day just two weeks ago. And for the first time since the Omicron wave set in, almost the whole country is sharing in that improvement. Average daily cases have fallen over the past two weeks in all but five states. Where it stands: Maryland and Washington, D.C., have the lowest rates of COVID spread in the country, each with fewer than 45 cases per 100,000 people. New York and New Jersey aren't far behind. Alaska has the country's biggest COVID outbreak, with 310 cases per 100,000 people. Most states are still well above 100 cases per 100,000 people. So there's still a long way to go. But that improvement is happening quickly. Yes, but: Deaths are still on the rise. The virus is killing roughly 2,600 Americans per day, on average. What's next: Cases still need to decline a lot more in order to reach safe levels of transmission. But if their rapid descent continues — and if another new variant doesn't spring up and wreak havoc all over again — the U.S. could soon be back to the relatively safe place it experienced last fall.     3. Medicare Advantage plans get a pay bump CMS estimates it will pay Medicare Advantage plans 4.5% more in 2023 on average, Axios' Bob Herman writes. Depending on how aggressively insurers document seniors' ailments, rates could soar by at least 8% on average. The bottom line: Medicare will be doling out at least $19.2 billion more to MA insurers next year, in what appears to be a very industry-friendly preliminary regulation for a controversial program that just keeps growing. What to watch: The final regulation always comes out in April, and the final rates are never the same as the preliminary ones. CMS is also asking for help on ways to grade MA plans who care for more "socioeconomically disadvantaged, disabled or more complex" patients by creating a "health equity index."     A message from PhRMA Patients need affordable medicines     Government price setting threatens patient access to medicines and innovation. Instead, let's cap out-of-pocket costs and stop middlemen from pocketing discounts. Learn more about how these proposals have potentially devastating consequences for patients.     4. CAR-T "cures" cancers A lab technician works on a research process to find new CAR-T cells and RNA. Photo: Thomas Coex/AFP via Getty Images   10 years after receiving a treatment that modifies a patient's own immune cells to attack cancer, two patients who had a form of blood cancer show no signs of the disease, Axios' Alison Snyder writes. Why it matters: The patients' remissions hint at how long the effects of CAR-T therapy — a promising but currently very costly treatment— may persist in some people. "We can now conclude CAR-T cells can cure patients with leukemia based on these results," Carl June, an immunologist and oncologist at the University of Pennsylvania and an author of a paper about the cases published Wednesday in Nature. "We need many more patients to be followed but at least in these two patients there is no more leukemia." Go deeper.     5. Catch up quick NPR went through the contract the government made with Pfizer for its COVID antiviral and found some surprises in the deal. (NPR) In another surprise story from NPR yesterday, Cuba has one of the best COVID vaccination rates in the world because it's quietly come up with five of its own vaccines. (NPR) PointClickCare is set to buy Audacious Inquiry in a deal valued north of $400 million, sources say. (Axios Pro)     A message from PhRMA Health care should help patients     Government price setting won't stop insurers from shifting the cost of medicines to patients while they pocket the savings. Instead, let's cap out-of-pocket costs and make insurance work for you. Learn more about how these proposals have potentially devastating consequences for patients.   👋 I'd love to hear from you. Send me your tips — or your own unboxing videos — on Twitter @TreedinDC or by replying to this email. Like this email style and format? Bring the strength of Smart Brevity® to your team — more effective communications, powered by Axios HQ.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Suite 1300, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. 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