Exciting New COVID Research & How to Rein in Private Equity in Healthcare

A free public service for a better community

Alan Unell Ph.D.

Aug 07, 2024

A Good Day To Advocate for Better Healthcare

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Respiratory Infection Good News

A team of researchers, led by the University of Houston, has discovered two new ways of preventing and treating respiratory viruses. In back-to-back papers in Nature Communications (NanoSTING and NanoSTING-SN), the team — from the lab of Navin Varadarajan, M.D. Anderson Professor of William A. Brookshire Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering - reports the development and validation of NanoSTING, a nasal spray, as a broad-spectrum immune activator for controlling infection against multiple respiratory viruses; and the development of NanoSTING-SN, a pan-coronavirus nasal vaccine, that can protect against infection and disease by all members of the coronavirus family. (University of Houston)

NanoSTING Highlights

NanoSTING is a nasal spray and can prevent multiple respiratory viruses by activating the immune system and preventing infection from viruses. It can also protect against SARS-CoV-2 reinfection.
A single intranasal dose of the NanoSTING has proven effective against strains of SARS-CoV-2 and the flu virus.
NanoSTING is complementary to vaccines and enables cells to be in a heightened state of alert to prevent attack from respiratory viruses.

NanoSTING-SN Highlights

NanoSTING-SN is a nasal vaccine that prevents transmission to the unvaccinated and fights multiple COVID variants.
NanoSTING-SN provides the exciting potential towards a universal coronavirus vaccine and may end the cycle of onward transmission and viral evolution in immunocompromised people.
Intramuscular vaccines prevent disease but are less efficient in preventing infections. NanoSTING-SN can provide improved protection against transmission for COVID variants and related sarbecoviruses.

The nasal vaccine was 100% effective at preventing transmission of the Omicron variant to unvaccinated hosts.

WOW!!!!

Affordable Care Act Premiums

ACA Marketplace insurers are proposing a median premium increase of 7% for 2025, similar to the 6% premium increase filed for 2024, according to a new KFF analysis of the preliminary rate filings. Insurers’ proposed rate changes – most of which fall between 2% and 10% – may change during the review process.

Although the vast majority of Marketplace enrollees receive subsidies and are not expected to face these added costs, premium increases generally result in higher federal spending on subsidies.

Here is a table from the KKF report showing the distribution of proposed rate changes

Will My Rate Change?

Good question. If you follow this link, the bottom of the article is linked to a 17 page spreadsheet that details the proposed changes by insurer and state.

EPA Emergency Order

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Aug 6, 2024 the emergency suspension of all registrations of the pesticide dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA or Dacthal) under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). This is the first time in almost 40 years EPA has taken this type of emergency action, following several years of unprecedented efforts by the Biden-Harris Administration to require the submission of long-overdue data and then assess and address the risk this pesticide poses.

EPA has taken this action because unborn babies whose pregnant mothers are exposed to DCPA, sometimes without even knowing the exposure has occurred, could experience changes to fetal thyroid hormone levels, and these changes are generally linked to low birth weight, impaired brain development, decreased IQ, and impaired motor skills later in life, some of which may be irreversible.

Here is a link to the EPA news release. Here is the official DCPA Emergency Order.

Action 1

We can thank the EPA administrator for issuing the emergency order halting the use of DCPA and looking out for our health.

Click here to send him an email. You can of course customize it. Make sure to insert your name, city and state at the bottom.

Rural Hospitals at Risk

A new report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform estimated 703 hospitals — or more than one-third of rural hospitals — are at risk of closure, based on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services financial information from July, 2024. Losses on privately insured patients are the biggest culprit.

This amounts to a dangerous situation for patients. These smaller hospitals may still be there, but there will continue to be a steady erosion of the kinds of services they offer, such as obstetrics, cancer care and general surgery.

This will leave patients with an increased burden to find care and then travel hours to get there.

Note that private equity investment in rural health care is already booming and with it, prospects for service and staffing cuts.

The South generally has the highest concentration of private equity-owned rural hospitals, often with lower patient satisfaction and fewer full-time staff compared with non-acquired hospitals, according to the Private Equity Stakeholder Project.

Congress has seen the problem and Senator Markey and Representative Jayapal have put forward the Health Over Wealth Act (July 25, 2024). Here is what it would do:

Require that private equity-owned health care facilities publicly report on their debt and executive pay, lobbying and political spending, health care costs for patients and insurance plans, and any reductions in services, wages, or benefits.
Require that private equity-owned firms set up escrow accounts to cover five years of expenses to ensure continuation of care in the event of a hospital closure or service reduction
Authorize the Department of Health and Human Services to revoke investment licenses from private equity firms that price gouge, understaff, or create access barriers to care
Establish a task force to review the role of private equity and consolidation in health care, including how market trends create or exacerbate health care disparities
Prohibit private equity firms from stripping assets from health care entities or undermining the quality, safety, or access to health care
Close tax loopholes for real estate investors in order to disincentivize health care entities from selling their property and then paying exorbitant rents to these investors

Here is the chairman’s report from Senator Sanders’ Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee investigation into the Steward Health Bankruptcy. In it you can read how Ralph de la Torre, the CEO, working with private equity executives, became obscenely wealthy by loading up hospitals from Massachusetts to Arizona with billions in debt and selling the land underneath these hospitals to real estate executives who charge unsustainably high rent.

Whether we have universal healthcare or not WE NEED THIS BILL TO BECOME LAW.

A copy of the legislation can be found HERE.

ACTION 2

Call or email your Senators and Members of Congress and let them know that the Health Over Wealth Act authored by Representative Jayapal and Senator Markey will protect patients from private equity firms bleeding healthcare facilities to squeeze out quick profits for investors. You can reach them here, https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials.

Or use RESISTBOT via [Apple Messages / WHATSAPP / MESSENGER] or by texting SIGN PQGKXK to 50409 on your cell phone to send this message.

“I am your constituent and I want you to know that when private equity purchases a medical facility they use a variety of tactics to bleed out money to pay investors, often risking the health of patients to do it. Ob/gyn facilities close, there are staff cuts, and there is creative restructuring of the facilities so that they have to pay for rent on land, buildings and equipment that they once owned.

The chairman’s report from Senator Sanders’ Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee investigation into the Steward Health Bankruptcy. In it you can read how Ralph de la Torre, the CEO, working with private equity executives, became obscenely wealthy by loading up hospitals from Massachusetts to Arizona with billions in debt and selling the land underneath these hospitals to real estate executives who charge unsustainably high rent.

Senator Markey and Representative Jayapal have a bill in the Senate and House that can fix this. It makes sure that when a facility is purchased, an escrow account is established so that the facility can stay open and serve in the event of financial setbacks. It also increases oversight and reporting and changes real estate loop holes so it is harder to bleed these facilities dry.

Look, 700 medical facilities are in financial trouble in the US according to a new report from the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform. A huge of these are in rural America. I want you to actively support Senator Markey’s and Representative Jayapal’s Health Over Wealth Act and give patients a fighting chance.”

Reference: https://www.help.senate.gov/chair/newsroom/press/news-with-bipartisan-vote-sanders-leads-help-committee-investigation-into-bankruptcy-of-steward-health-care-and-subpoenas-its-ceo.”

Resources

Find My Elected Officials

Contact State and Federal Representatives - phone and email

https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials

Healthcare Advocacy (Us) Website

Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare - Healthcare Advocacy Reading List

Important Healthcare Resources

League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit

Organizations to Contact

National Nurses United Medicare4All

Physicians for a National Health Program

One Payer States

Healthcare Now

Reproductive Health

NARAL - Pro Choice America

Charley. chatbot abortion resource - make sure to use a secure incognito browser if you live in a state that has banned abortion

Planned Parenthood

Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.

United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.

Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.