UnitedHealth is underpaying for vaccines

Hello,

Welcome to Insider Healthcare. I'm Lydia Ramsey Pflanzer, and today in healthcare news:

• Pediatricians say UnitedHealthcare is underpaying for coronavirus vaccines;
• Cancer drug prices are rising in the US, while in other countries they're falling;
• We took a closer look at the Mu variant, which doesn't seem to be posing a greater threat than Delta.

If you're new to this newsletter, sign up here. Comments, tips? Email me at lramsey@insider.com or tweet @lydiaramsey125. Let's get to it...

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Malikai McPherson, 16, receives Pfizer's vaccine at a vaccination clinic in Melbourne, Florida on May 17, 2021.

Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

Health-insurance giant UnitedHealthcare is paying doctors less than their costs to give COVID-19 vaccines to kids, and it could hinder efforts to end the pandemic

• Pediatricians say UnitedHealthcare is underpaying them for giving COVID-19 shots to kids.
• The country's biggest insurer pays for the shots at about half the rate of Medicare, they said.
• The low payments could reduce access to COVID-19 vaccines and hinder efforts to end the pandemic.

Get the full story>>

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Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images

One key study highlights how cancer-drug prices continue to rise in the US - even if they don't elsewhere

• There is increasing interest in the federal government in lowering prescription drug prices.
• The US spends more than twice what other countries with similar income levels do on prescriptions.
• US cancer-drug prices are rising faster than inflation, while European countries' are falling.

Find out more>>

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Health care worker Elizabeth Cameros, right, administers a deep nasal coronavirus test to traveler Wade Hopkins at a COVID-19 testing station at LAX on Monday, November 23, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.

Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The Mu coronavirus variant shares key similarities with Delta, but it doesn't pose a greater threat

• Scientists are closely watching the Mu coronavirus variant.
• Mu has the potential to resist protection from vaccines or a prior infection.
• But Mu isn't becoming more prevalent - a sign that it's less concerning than Delta.

Check out the full breakdown>>

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More stories we're reading:

• The CDC says vaccine protection is tumbling for older Americans, though they still work very well for younger people (Insider)
• The Senate is considering a plan that pegs Medicare drug prices to the VA's discounted rates (Stat News)
• CDC: Unvaccinated people are 11 times more likely to die of COVID-19 than people who got shots (Insider)
• Mammoth Biosciences raises $195 million (Forbes)

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- Lydia

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