Hello,
Welcome to Insider Healthcare. I'm healthcare editor Leah Rosenbaum, and today in healthcare news:
- Firefly Health has a new plan to transform health insurance for small businesses;
- Merck says its COVID-19 antiviral pill is effective and plans to ask the FDA for emergency authorization;
- A right-wing group duped patients out of millions for fake COVID-19 treatments.
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How virtual primary-care startup Firefly Health wants to transform healthcare for small companies
- Digital health startup Firefly Health is launching a health plan for small companies.
- The plan is built around its virtual approach to providing primary, mental, and speciality care.
- Firefly is betting that its roots in care delivery will help it compete in the crowded health-plan market.
Molnupiravir is an experimental oral antiviral developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics that could treat COVID-19 Merck
- Merck and Ridgeback say they'll apply "as soon as possible" to get their COVID-19 pill authorized.
- The companies said the drug, molnupiravir, halved the risk of hospitalization or death in a trial.
- If given the OK, the drug would be the first authorized antiviral pill designed to treat COVID-19.
The horse medicine is packaged in a bulky plunger, designed to force the paste into the horse's mouth. Hollis Johnson/INSIDER
- America's Frontline Doctors, a group with right-wing ties, has been promoting fake COVID-19 treatments.
- It has referred people to a telemedicine site to procure those treatments for a fee.
- Its patients may have spent $6.7 million for medical advice and $8.5 million for prescriptions, The Intercept reported.
More stories we're reading:
- California will be the first state to require schoolchildren get the COVID-19 vaccine, Gov. Newsom announces (Insider)
- Over a third of patients who get COVID-19 still have symptoms months later (NPR)
- I got a 3rd Moderna vaccine shot at CVS because I have cancer. I was worried about the side effects, but it was worth it. (Insider)
- It's time to get better face masks — here's why and how (Scientific American)
-Leah