News Briefs

✦ The U.S. Senate on March 25 passed a $2 trillion stimulus package aiming to lessen the economic blow of the COVID-19 pandemic on Americans and businesses — including the health care industry. America’s Health Insurance Plans praised the legislation, which sets aside $100 billion for hospitals, but hinted that more relief is needed for the managed care industry. “Now more than ever, we must ensure that people are able to access the care they need by assuring that their current coverage is — and remains — strong and stable,” AHIP President and CEO Matt Eyles said in a statement. “We are committed to collaborating with policymakers to take action on the solutions necessary to achieve this goal, and we call on Congress to swiftly take additional action to secure and stabilize coverage for families, businesses, and workers.” Read the stimulus bill at https://bit.ly/2JubLw1.

✦ A clinical research team “has demonstrated that a simple, self-collected test is as effective in identifying COVID-19 infections as the current clinician-collected test,” leading the FDA to update COVID-19 testing guidance, according to a UnitedHealth Group press release. The peer-reviewed study, which was conducted jointly by the University of Washington, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Quest Diagnostics Inc., and UnitedHealth researchers, concludes that the new test “accurately detected COVID-19 in more than 90% of positive patients,” a rate in line with a practitioner-administered test, the release said. Read more at https://bwnews.pr/3dGMMn0.

0

0

0 Comments

0

0

• Health Plan Weekly