HOW OMICRON COULD TEST OUR TESTING SUPPLY — The Biden administration is bracing for a bad winter — and health officials privately worry it could stretch the nation’s testing stockpile to the limit. Health officials are warning test makers and laboratories that demand for Covid-19 tests could double or even triple in the next 60 days as Omicron drives a surge in cases, POLITICO’s David Lim and Adam scooped. Those concerns are fueled by internal HHS modeling that projects the U.S. could need to conduct 3 to 5 million tests a day by February, up from the current daily level of 1.6 million. What’s driving the projected demand: The model assumes Omicron is three to five times more transmissible than Delta and that it’ll become the dominant strain within four weeks. During a separate public briefing Wednesday, the administration estimated that Omicron infections are doubling every two days. The rising caseload could prompt more people to seek out tests either to confirm an infection or for peace of mind — a prospect that’s raised fresh worries about whether current manufacturing can keep pace. An HHS official said the department is modeling for a range of scenarios and is focused on ensuring plenty of tests will be available. Yet the administration has so far declined to make the kinds of massive purchases of at-home tests that health experts and some in the industry say could make them more widely accessible. “In order to stay ahead of future stockpiles in testing, a clear policy to stockpile tests and/or guarantee purchase of tests would help to stabilize supply and keep this industry’s massive mobilization where it needs to be,” said AdvaMed CEO Scott Whitaker. Whitaker and other diagnostics industry sources are still confident they’ll be able to keep pace with demand. But Biden administration officials aren’t yet so sure. “This is different than any conversations that we’ve had with this administration in terms of the urgency,” said William Morice, president of Mayo Clinic Laboratories. HEALTH SPENDING GROWTH DOUBLED IN 2020 — Spending on health care jumped by 9.7 percent as the pandemic took hold in 2020, more than double the prior year’s growth rate and the fastest year-over-year jump in almost two decades, POLITICO’s Rachael Levy reports. The increase means that the medical system accounted for nearly one-fifth of the U.S. economy by the end of last year, as the government shelled out billions of dollars in an effort to contain the coronavirus. The spending surge — calculated by CMS researchers — occurred while the broader economy contracted by 2.2 percent. Nearly all the health system’s increase came from federal aid, such as assistance for health care providers, public health programs and Medicaid payments. One health sector that spent less in 2020: Private insurance, which spent 3.5 percent less on medical goods and services compared to 2019. Medicare also grew at a slower pace than the prior year. Medicaid, meanwhile, saw its biggest jump in enrollment since 2015, driving a 9.2 increase in spending. The pandemic also shifted the nation’s coverage picture. More than 2 million fewer people got insurance from work as a result of Covid-induced job cuts. In addition to the greater Medicaid enrollment, 600,000 more people picked Obamacare plans. | 
