Community News

 

WASHINGTON, DC – August 15, 2024 – The winter surge of respiratory infections, like COVID-19, has passed. However, over the past 3 years, COVID infections have also surged in August. This year appears to be no different than the previous three. COVID is surging in at least 84 countries, according to the World Health Organization, including the Paris Olympics.

There is less of a concern of getting sick with COVID-19 because a lot of people have already been infected with COVID or have been vaccinated, or both. Hospitals aren’t as full of seriously ill COVID patients and there have been fewer deaths. However, vaccine protection wanes over time and newer variants evolve to evade the body’s defenses. Persons in higher risk groups, like people ages 65 and older, with chronic health conditions and weakened immune systems, are more likely to develop severe COVID illness. Therefore, further surges can be reduced, and at-risk groups can be protected, with testing and keeping current with vaccination.

Americans will be able to obtain free at-home COVID tests from the federal government again. Persons will be able order up to 4 tests at COVIDtest.gov beginning in late September. Each test can detect the most common recent variants. 900 million home tests have been distributed to Americans in the past 3 years. The announcement was made on August 23^rd.

The previous day, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna pharmaceutical companies. They will be available within days of the announcement. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends these latest doses for everyone 6 months and older. They will target the most common recent variants and reduce the risk of persons becoming severely ill. The timing is optimal to protect against getting sick during the winter surge of respiratory illness, when it is more likely to spread as more people are indoors.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

RALEIGH, NC – August 7, 2024 – On last week’s health report, I discussed how every hospital in North Carolina will forgive medical debt. This was in response to Governor Cooper’s recent initiative to increase federal payments to participating NC hospitals who agree to forgive medical debt for low- and middle-income patients. Here’s a press release summarizing his initiative:  https://governor.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2024/08/12/north-carolina-hospitals-sign-relieve-medical-debt

In response to a deluge of questions about this new state initiative, I have decided to repeat this health report and include some more information for those people who want to better understand the program.

Each of the state’s 99 hospitals have signed up for a new state program to reduce medical debt. On July 1^st, Governor Cooper announced an initiative to increase federal payments to participating hospitals who agree to forgive medical debt for low- and middle-income patients. The sign-up deadline for hospitals was August 9^th. The medical debt program is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States. Uncollectible medical debt dating back to 2014 will be forgiven.

Our local hospitals, Mission Hospital, AdventHealth Hendersonville, and Pardee Memorial Hospital have signed on. The complete list of hospitals is on a hyperlink in the press release.

There is a medical debt crisis in North Carolina. According to 2022 credit bureau data analyzed by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit organization that shapes economic and social policy through research, 20% of North Carolina’s residents has medical debt in collections, the fourth highest state in the country. Black and Hispanic persons and people living in rural areas are disproportionately affected by having medical debt.

The medical debt program will be funded by federal money coming from the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program, or HASP, because the state Medicaid program shifted to managed care. It is estimated that 2 million low- and middle-income North Carolinians will have $4 billion of medical debt forgiven.

A list of frequently asked questions is at this website: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/medicaldebt  Former patients do not have to take any action now, because the hospitals will work with a third-party vendor to identify who is eligible for relief.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

ASHEVILLE, NC – August 28, 2024 – The CDC’s COVID Dashboard for the week ending on August 17^th shows:  

• Between 2-3% of the deaths in North Carolina were due to COVID, the 3^rd lowest level of 6 groups and increased since last week.
• Emergency department visits for COVID-19 are moderate in North Carolina, between 3-4% of all visits and stable since last week.

Wastewater monitoring can be used to provide early warning for COVID outbreaks. The Buncombe & Henderson counties wastewater data on the North Carolina COVID Dashboard for the week ending on August 14^th shows:

• The number of viral gene copies in each water sample is between 80-100%, the highest level of 5 groups.
• The 15-day rate of change of the number of viral gene copies in each water sample has increased from the previous week to between 10-99%, the middle level of 3 groups with a positive rate of change.

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

WASHINGTON, DC – August 15, 2024 – On August 15^th, the Biden administration announced the results of negotiations between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and pharmaceutical companies over the price of ten expensive and commonly prescribed medicines. The discounts range from about 40 to 80% of last year’s cost. The bargaining process took almost 1 year to complete. The new prices will begin on January 1, 2026.

Drug cost negotiation is one of the provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) that will make health care more affordable for seniors. The government sought to obtain the lowest maximum fair price while allowing the drug companies to make a profit. The Inflation Reduction Act allows 30 more medicines to be selected over the next 2 years for price negotiation.

Drugs were selected from 2 categories. Each has either been on the market for at least 7 years without a competing generic version or is a physician-administered “biologic” drug that has been on the market for at least 11 years. The drugs are: Eliquis & Xarelto (blood thinners), Jardiance, Januvia and Novolog (for diabetes treatment), Farxiga (for the treatment of diabetes and heart failure), Entresto (for heart failure), Enbrel (for the treatment of autoimmune disease), Imbruvica (for the treatment of blood cancer) and Stelara (for psoriasis and other inflammatory disorders).

CMS estimates that people enrolled in Medicare prescription drug coverage can save $1.5 billion, taxpayers can save $6 billion, and drug coverage premiums will decrease.

The cost for these 10 drugs was about 20% of the total spending for Medicare enrollees over the past year, over $50 billion for the year between June 1, 2022, through May 31, 2023, not including rebates and discounts. Medicare covered most of the cost; however, almost 9 million Medicare beneficiaries had to spend almost $3.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs.

According to research from the Commonwealth Fund, almost 1 out of 10 Medicare enrollees ages 65 and older did not fill their prescription or skipped taking a drug dose due to cost in 2021. In a statement last year by President Biden, “Millions of Americans are forced to choose between paying for medicines they need to live or paying for food, rent, and other basic necessities. Those days are ending.”

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

 

RALEIGH, NC – August 7, 2024 – Each of the state’s 99 hospitals have signed up for a new state program to reduce medical debt. On July 1^st, Governor Cooper announced an initiative to increase federal payments to participating hospitals who agree to forgive medical debt for low- and middle-income patients. The sign-up deadline was August 9^th. The medical debt program is believed to be the first one of its kind in the United States. Uncollectible medical debt dating back to 2014 will be forgiven.

The medical initiative includes some related benefits. It offers discounts to low-income patients who did not qualify for Medicaid. Caps interest rates on hospital medical debt. Hospitals agree not report medical debt to credit agencies.

There is a medical debt crisis in North Carolina. According to 2022 credit bureau data analyzed by the Urban Institute, a nonprofit organization that shapes policy through economic and social policy research, 20% of North Carolina’s residents has medical debt in collections, the fourth highest state in the country. Black and Hispanic persons and people living in rural areas are disproportionately affected by having medical debt.

The medical debt program will be funded by federal money coming from the Healthcare Access and Stabilization Program, or HASP, because the state Medicaid program shifted to managed care. It is estimated that 2 million low- and middle-income North Carolinians will have $4 billion of medical debt forgiven.

Cooper said in a news release, “Large medical bills from sickness or injury can cripple the finances of North Carolinians, particularly those who are already struggling. Freeing people from medical debt can be life-changing for families, as well as boost the overall economic health of North Carolina.”

 

Listen to the full report below:

 

 

Contact: Dr. Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour