Health

Blue Cross returning $101M in premiums Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the state's largest pri- vate health insurance provider, said it will return $101 million in premium refunds and anticipated rebates to its members because of lower-than- expected healthcare costs during the coronavirus pandemic. Blue Cross Blue Shield, which has 2.8 million members, said the savings came in part from elective procedures and routine visits that have been deferred during the pandemic. The credits will be applied in September for most members, and for Medicare Advantage members, they'll receive a month of coverage without charge. Central Mass. hospitals rated highly for specialties Four Central Massachusetts hospi- tals have been ranked as some of the best places to receive specialty care services by the U.S. News & World Report, a publication whose guides for hospitals, colleges and others can be highly sought. UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester was included for colon can- cer, colon cancer surgery, heart fail- ure, aortic valve surgery and heart bypass surgery. Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester was rated for heart fail- ure, hip replacement, knee replace- ment and chronic obstructive pulmo- nary disease, or COPD. MetroWest Medical Center and Milford Regional Medical Center were both included for heart failure and COPD. Worcester County COVID death toll reaches 1,000 Worcester County's death toll from the coronavirus pandemic has reached a morbid milestone: 1,000 deaths. The total was reported Aug. 8 by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, about four and a half months after the first death was reported, on March 23. The most deaths took place in May, with 502. April had 257, June had 153, July had 70 and March had eight. August through the 10th had 10, giv- ing Worcester County an even 1,000. Massachusetts has recorded 8,500 deaths since the pandemic began. State legislation would license midwives The Massachusetts Senate at the end of July signed off on the creation of a licensing system for midwives, a measure supporters say will make home births more accessible and reduce racial disparities. "This is a maternal justice bill," Sen. Becca Rausch said before the Senate's 39-0 vote on a bill to establish a board of registration in midwifery to license certified professional midwives. Rausch said a home birth with a midwife can help reduce the strain on hospitals caring for COVID-19 patients, and licensing midwives will help them access the personal protec- tive equipment available to healthcare workers. Sen. Jo Comerford said mid- wifery has been linked to more breast- feeding and fewer infant deaths, pre- term births and C-sections. Health Care Br iefs Public health officials are anxiously awaiting a vaccine to help end the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, and pharmaceutical companies are racing to bring something to the market. According to a national survey, about two-thirds of American adults say they're likely to get a vaccine for the coronavirus. In Massachusetts, the rate is 71%, according to a report by researchers at Northeastern University, Harvard University, Northwestern University and Rutgers University. That lands Massachusetts 10th nationally and five percentage points better than the national average of 66%. Rates were generally lowest in the South, including in Arkansas, M evion Medical Systems of Littleton, which makes proton therapy systems for use in radiation therapy for cancer patients, has signed a deal to bring its technology to a new collaboration in Spain. The initiative, announced in early August, joins Mevion with Cordoba, a Spanish city of about 325,000, as well as the the Ministry of Health and Families of Andalusia, the region where Cordoba sits, and the University of Cordoba. Those four will establish an alliance with the Andalusian Health Service and the University Institution. In the initiative, Mevion will provide its proton therapy technology to Andalusian Health Service patients in a new proton therapy center costing 46 million euros ($55 million in U.S. dollars) to be built next to the University of Cordoba. Proton therapy is a more precise therapeutic radiation to tumors and less damaging to nearby organs, Mevion said. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. The company has signed similar deals in the Netherlands and Taiwan. Mevion received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in 2018 for a system called the S250i delivering radiation therapy treatments to cancer patients using focused scanning technology. In February, Mevion appointed its first chief operating officer, Curt Kienast, a move it said became necessary with 22% growth last year. I n n o v a t i o n Mevion Medical Systems joins $55M Spanish proton therapy program Survey: 71% of Mass. residents likely to get coronavirus vaccine which tied Oklahoma with the lowest rate at 52%. The likelihood of seeking vaccination varied by racial and ethnic group. Among white respondents, 67% said they were likely to get vaccinated, but only 52% of Black respondents. Among others, 71% of Hispanics and 77% of Asian American respondents say they were likely to seek a vaccine. Estimates suggest 70% to 90% of the public would need to get vaccinations to keep the virus from spreading, the report said. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has said vaccines could first become available early next year. UMass Memorial Health Care set up a test- ing facility at its University Campus dur- ing the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. B r i e f s H Mevion's S250i machine 4 HE ALTH • Fall 2020 H Healthcare workers operate a Mevion S250i machine.

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