HEALTH SCIENCE INFO: December 2009

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Now Available in Aisle 3: H1N1 Vaccinations

After months of standing in line trying for adequate shipments of the H1N1 vaccine, pharmacies, supermarkets and other retailers with in-store clinics now are trying to make the most of an influx of supply now becoming more widely available.

“Right now there’s probably more supply than demand,” Troyen A. Brennan, chief medical officer at drugstore chain CVS Caremark, told the WSJ this morning. CVS is offering the swine-flu vaccinations in 23 states, while Rite-Aid has them in 30 states and Wal-Mart in 48 states. Walgreens, the No. 1 pharmacy chain by number of stores, will have them available in 49 states by year end, the WSJ says.

Of course, this ramp-up is happening while flu activity continues to decline in the U.S., according to the CDC. But the government push for people to still get H1N1 shots, especially now that there are enough supplies to give the vaccine to lower-risk groups.

For the retailers, vaccines may not be a huge profit center (most providers are charging $10 to $18 for a H1N1 shot), but they can build traffic. “We clearly see potential opportunity” in the vaccinations, spokesman Brian Dowling of supermarket operator Safeway told the WSJ. “The vast majority of our pharmacy customers shop the rest of the store.”

Booster Shot: WHO head Margaret Chan told a Geneva newspaper that “it is too soon to say that we have passed the peak of the [H1N1] flu pandemic on a worldwide scale….Winter is still long.” See more here.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Just How Big Is the Hole in the Medicare Doughnut?

Congress and the White House have set their sights on plugging the “doughnut hole,” the gap in Medicare drug coverage that can leave seniors liable for thousands of dollars a year in prescription costs. Bridging the gap might be easier if there were more data on how big the hole was and its closing costs down the road.

The Congressional Budget Office, the usual scorekeeper for tracking federal spending, hasn’t predicted how much it would cost to close the doughnut hole, a Washington Post article notes this morning. The paper says the only estimate of the cost of filling the gap comes from the Medicare program’s chief actuary, who put the figure at $31 billion over the next decade. There aren’t any budget forecasts going far enough into the future to predict what expanded drug benefit would cost the government once the gap is fully closed, the Post adds.

The House overhaul bill passed in November would gradually eliminate the doughnut hole over 10 years starting with adding $500 to cover drug costs covered by Medicare in 2010. The health overhaul passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve is missing that language, but Senate Leader Harry Reid said this month he wanted to adopt the House goal of closing the coverage gap in the final version of the legislation that Congress sends to President Obama for signing.

Drug makers said earlier this year they would offer a 50% discount on brand name drugs purchased by seniors in the doughnut hole. That’s part of the drug industry’s deal with Democrats to contribute $80 million over 10 years to the cost of the health overhaul. Here’smore on that.

Meanwhile, CBO did do a study in August on how plugging the doughnut hole would reduce what seniors’ total spending on prescription drugs but their Medicare premiums would increase. That study is detailed here.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

[MV] Happy Holidays from DDO Dance!

Hello there and thank you for your email. The LA Dance Department will be out of the office observing the holiday weekend from 12/23 and will return 12/28. If this is a casting emergency or of an urgent matter and you need to reach us right away, please call my cell at 323-304-5635. All others, your emails will be responded to when we return on Monday. Happy Holidays.