Health Affairs This Week: Recent Episodes

Health Affairs

Health Affairs This Week places listeners at the center of health policy’s proverbial water cooler. Join editors from Health Affairs, the leading journal of health policy research, and special guests as they discuss this week’s most pressing health policy news. All in 15 minutes or less.

Learn more about the RWJF Health Policy Fellows program.

Applications are now open through November 1.

Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Kathleen Haddad discuss the shifting pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) landscape in the wake of Blue Shield of California's decision to shift some of its pharmacy business to new companies.

Read the ahead-of-print article, "The Forgotten Middle: Worsening Health and Economic Trends Extend to Americans with Modest Resources Nearing Retirement."

Related Links:

Blue Shield of California Press Release

Learn more about the RWJF Health Policy Fellows program.

Applications are now open through November 1.

Health Affairs' Marianne Amoss interviews Catherine Sharkey from NYU School of Law to discuss regulations and patient safety regarding laboratory developed tests (LDT).

View Health Affairs' current Request for Abstracts.

Related Links:

To Protect Patients And Spark Innovation, Codify The FDA’s Oversight Of Laboratory-Developed Tests (Health Affairs Forefront)
F.D.A. Warns Patients About Some Prenatal Genetic Tests (New York Times)
F.D.A. Wants to Regulate Prenatal Tests That Have Misled Parents (New York Times)
Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing: The FDA's Dual Role as Safety and Health Information Regulator (DePaul Law Review)
Regulatory and Medical Aspects of DTC Genetic Testing (Consumer Genetic Technologies: Ethical and Legal Considerations)

Learn more about the RWJF Health Policy Fellows program.

Applications are now open through November 1.

Health Affairs' Michael Gerber and Rob Lott discuss the latest developments at the FDA, including the first oral treatment for postpartum depression, the Accelerated Approval Program, and the agency being namechecked on the GOP presidential campaign trail.

Related Links:

Create An Economic Incentive For The Timely Completion Of Confirmatory Trials (Health Affairs Forefront)
The Conundrum Of Patient Access To Therapeutic Medical Devices (Health Affairs Forefront)
FDA Approves First Oral Treatment for Postpartum Depression
Request For Abstracts - Reimagining Public Health
Request For Abstracts - Perinatal Mental Health

Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available — and we’d like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

Listen to Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Kathleen Haddad discuss the recently-released merger guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission and its potential impacts on the health care industry.

Read the CVS Health-sponsored series "Private Sector Solutions for Health Equity."

Related Links:

Biden Declares War on the Cult of Efficiency (The Atlantic)
Who Pays for Health Care Costs? The Effects of Health Care Prices on Wages (SSRN)
Access, Quality, and Financial Performance of Rural Hospitals Following Health System Affiliation (Health Affairs)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Ryann Tanap and Vabren Watts discuss what policies and news developments have been shaping the health equity landscape this summer. They discuss the proliferation of LGBTQIA+ policies, affirmative action, Bebe Moore Campbell Minority Mental Health Month and the one-year anniversary of 988, the suicide and crisis hotline.

Read the "You're A Health Policy Wonk If..." submissions.

Read the new Ahead-of-Print article, "Early OxyContin Marketing Linked To Long-Term Spread Of Infectious Diseases Associated With Injection Drug Use."

Read the CVS Health-sponsored series "Private Sector Solutions for Health Equity."

Related Links:

Diversity & Health Equity (American Psychiatric Association)
Black men make up less than 3% of physicians. That requires immediate action, say leaders in academic medicine. (AAMC)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Rob Lott discuss President Joe Biden's proposed rules to reduce "junk insurance."

Read the "You're A Health Policy Wonk If..." submissions.

Read the Underemployment Health Policy Brief.

Related Links:

Administration Takes Action To Limit Junk Health Insurance (Health Affairs Forefront)
The Biden Administration Takes Aim At Medical Financing Products (Health Affairs Forefront)

Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available — and we’d like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

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Health Affairs' Ellen Bayer and Chris Fleming discuss the wide-reaching health care implications of the recent Supreme Court decision on affirmative action.

Join us July 10 for a virtual Lunch and Learn event on the Supreme Court

Related Links:

How Health Care May Be Affected by the High Court's Affirmative Action Ruling (KFF Health News)
Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College
Eliminating Racism In Health Care Before And After The Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Decision (Health Affairs Forefront)
Brief for Amici Curiae Association of American Medical Colleges

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Health Affairs' Marianne Amoss and Michael Gerber break down CMS's new primary care model, the Making Care Primary (MCP) Model.

Check out the first issue of Health Affairs Scholar.

Related Links:

The Changing Landscape of Primary Care: Effects of the ACA and Other Efforts Over the Past Decade (Health Affairs Forefront)
Making Care Primary Model Summary (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
CMS Launches New Pilot Program to Test Out Value-Based Primary Care in 8 States (FierceHealthcare)

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Health Affairs' Chris Fleming interviews Sara Rosenbaum from George Washington University to dive into the Supreme Court decision on Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v Talevksi.

Related Links:

A Victory for Medicaid Beneficiaries In Supreme Court’s Talevski Decision
Inside The Administration’s Proposed Medicaid Managed Care Rule: Steering A Behemoth
Is The Supreme Court Poised To Wipe Out Legal Rights For Medicaid Beneficiaries?

Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available — and we’d like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

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Health Affairs' Kathleen Haddad and Michael Gerber discuss the state of health policy related to the LBGTQ+ community in honor of Pride Month. They discuss state policies' impact on the community, the burgeoning data on gender, and more.

Related Links:

LGBTQ+ Health Is An Essential Component Of Public Health Equity Efforts (Health Affairs Forefront)
Health Insurance Coverage And Access To Care Among LGBT Adults, 2013–19 (Health Affairs)
Transgender Adults Have Higher Rates Of Disability Than Their Cisgender Counterparts (Health Affairs)
Anti-LGBTQ+ laws put U.S. in a state of emergency, Human Rights Campaign says (Los Angeles Times)
US judge blocks Florida ban on trans minor care in narrow ruling, says ‘gender identity is real’ (AP)

Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available — and we’d like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

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Listen to Pew Charitable Trusts' new "After the Fact" podcast.

Health Affairs' Ellen Bayer and Kathleen Haddad break down the under-discussed state ballot initiatives that focused on health care in the 2022 mid-term elections.

Related Links:

What The 2022 Midterm Results Might Mean for Health Care (Health Affairs Forefront)
What Recent State Elections Mean for Health Care (Health Affairs Forefront)
A Proposed Policy Agenda for Electronic Cigarettes in the US: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion (Health Affairs)
The FDA Stands By as the Vaping Industry Flout Its Orders (Stat News)

Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available — and we’d like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

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Listen to Pew Charitable Trusts' new "After the Fact" podcast.

Listen to Pew Charitable Trusts' new "After the Fact" podcast.

Health Affairs Kathleen Haddad and Vabren Watts discuss open enrollment season and Medicare provisions in the CMS Final Rule.

Related Links:

Previewing The 2023 Open Enrollment Period (Health Affairs Forefront)
HHS Finalizes Physician Payment Rule Strengthening Access to Behavioral Health Services and Whole-Person Care (CMS)
Shopping for ACA Health Insurance? Here's What's New This Year (Kaiser Health News)
An Overhaul for Medicare's Pay Transformation Program (Axios)

Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available — and we’d like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

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Listen to Pew Charitable Trusts' new "After the Fact" podcast.

Listen to Pew Charitable Trusts' new "After the Fact" podcast.

Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Jessica Bylander discuss the FDA's efforts to pull the pregnancy drug Makena from the market and the implications for drug policy.

Join us in D.C. for an in-person happy hour event on November 17

Related Links:

FDA Panel Recommends Pulling Preterm Birth Drug From the Market (New York Times)
Accelerated Approval of Cancer Drugs: No Economic Reward For Drug Makers That Conduct Confirmatory Trials (Health Affairs)
Delays in Confirmatory Trials for Drug Applications Granted FDA's Accelerated Approval Raise Concerns (Office of Inspector General)
Podcast: Prescription Drug Policy, Drug Pricing & Aduhelm With Rachel Sachs (Health Affairs This Week)

Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available — and we’d like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

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Join us in D.C. for an in-person happy hour event on November 17

Listen to Pew Charitable Trusts' new "After the Fact" podcast.

Listen to Pew Charitable Trusts' new "After the Fact" podcast.

Health Affairs This Week is on a break this week. Today, we are publishing an episode from A Health Podyssey, where Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil brings you in-depth conversations with leading researchers and influencers shaping the big ideas in health policy and the health care industry. Health Affairs This Week will return next week.

Subscribe to A Health Podyssey: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts

Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Northwestern University's Tara Lagu on the paper she published in the October 2022 issue of Health Affairs examining physicians attitudes toward patients with disabilities.

Order the October 2022 issue of Health Affairs on disability and health.

Health Affairs thanks the Ford Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for their financial support of this issue.

Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

Listen to Pew Charitable Trusts' new "After the Fact" podcast.

Listen to Pew Charitable Trusts' new "After the Fact" podcast.

Health Affairs' Ryann Tanap and Vabren Watts interview Tony Brunswick, executive director of Art Enables, about his organization and its work and impact on artists with disabilities.

Health Affairs thanks the Ford Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for their financial support of this issue.

Related Links:

Disability and Health Theme Issue
Creating Income Opportunities for Artists with Disabilities (Health Affairs Forefront)
Health Affairs Sunday Update Sign-Up
Art Studio Helps Adults With Disabilities Turn Their Passion Into a Career (NPR)
Disability & Health in 10 Exhibits: Themes from Health Affairs' October 2022 Issue (Health Affairs Forefront)

Order the October 2022 issue of Health Affairs on disability and health.

Sign up for Health Affairs Sunday Update.

Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available — and we’d like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

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Listen to Pew Charitable Trusts' new "After the Fact" podcast.

Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Ellen Bayer give a peek behind the curtain on Health Affairs' new Disability and Health theme issue.

Health Affairs thanks the Ford Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation,and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for their financial support of this issue.

Related Links:

Disability and Health Theme Issue
Tara Lagu on Physicians’ Attitudes on People With Disabilities (A Health Podyssey)
Patient And Coworker Mistreatment Of Physicians With Disabilities (Health Affairs)
Upcoming Health Affairs Events

Order the October 2022 issue of Health Affairs on disability and health.

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Health Affairs' Kathleen Haddad and Chris Fleming conduct a whistle-stop tour of the current health policy litigations flowing through the courts.

Related Links:

Providers Sue (Again) Over No Surprises (Health Affairs Forefront)
Lawsuit Challenges Federal Copay Accumulator Policy (Health Affairs Forefront)
Court Holds That Key ACA Preventive Services Requirements Are Unconstitutional (Health Affairs Forefront)
Will The US Supreme Court Strike Down The ACA's Preventive Services Coverage Requirement? (Health Affairs Forefront)

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Listen to Marianne Amoss and Rob Lott talk about Health Affairs' Forefront series on Medicare and Medicaid Integration and some of their favorite articles about the dual eligible population.

The series is produced with the support of Arnold Ventures. Included articles are reviewed and edited by Health Affairs Forefront staff; the opinions expressed are those of the authors. The series will run through October 31, 2022; submissions are accepted on a rolling basis.

Related Links:

Medicare and Medicaid Integration Landing Page
To Advance Health Equity For Dual-Eligibles Beneficiaries, We Need Culturally Appropriate Services (Health Affairs Forefront)
Congress Considers Strategies To Improve Medicare and Medicaid Integration For Dual-Eligible Individuals (Health Affairs Forefront)
Integrating Care In Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans: A Bigger Toolbox For States (Health Affairs Forefront)
Podcast: Eric Roberts on Dual Eligibles Coverage (A Health Podyssey)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Vabren Watts discuss a new partnership between Walmart and UnitedHealth Group - which will include efforts across retail health centers, Medicare Advantage plans, and social determinants of health - as well as other health care moves from big retailers like Amazon and CVS.

Related Links:

Press Release: Walmart and UnitedHealth Group Collaborate To Deliver Access to High-Quality, Affordable Health Care
CVS Makes $8 Billion Bet on the Return of the House Call (New York Times)
Gains Made By Walmart's Healthier Food Initiative Mirror Preexisting Trends (Health Affairs)
Walmart, UnitedHealth to Offer Preventive Healthcare Program for Seniors (Reuters)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Ellen Bayer and Rob Lott review the state of the health care workforce in this Labor Day themed episode of Health Affairs This Week.

Related Links:

Primary Care Beyond COVID-19 (Health Affairs Forefront)
New Behavioral Health Workforce Database Paints A Stark Picture (Health Affairs Forefront)
Addressing Health Worker Burnout (U.S. Surgeon General)
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Hospital and Outpatient Clinician Workforce (HHS)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Chris Fleming discuss the Moderna lawsuit against Pfizer regarding its mRNA technology in relation to the COVID-19 vaccine and its potential impact on the future of biopharmaceutical markets.

Related Links:

Covid Vaccine ‘Windfall Profits’ Under Attack by Patent Holders (Bloomberg Law)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Kathleen Haddad and Jessica Bylander discuss the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's steps to revamp the agency, citing mistakes the agency made during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Related Links:

Walensky, Citing Botched Pandemic Response, Calls for CDC Reorganization (New York Times)
A Vision For Supporting and Reforming The CDC (Health Affairs Forefront)
Fix The CDC But Don't Ignore The Rest of Our Public Health System (Health Affairs Forefront)
Statement by Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. (National Institutes of Health)
Can the CDC Save Itself? (New York Times Opinion)

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Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Rob Lott dive into the health care and climate change provisions in the newly signed Inflation Reduction Act.

Related Links:

Understanding The Democrats’ Drug Pricing Package (Health Affairs Forefront)
Congress Poised To Extend Enhanced Marketplace Subsidies Through 2025 (Health Affairs Forefront)
FACT SHEET: Inflation Reduction Act Advances Environmental Justice (White House)

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Health Affairs' Vabren Watts discusses the latest on monkeypox with Syra Madad and Andrew Wallach, both from NYC Health + Hospitals.

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This week, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) updated measures in the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS). This year, the organization included measures related to health equity for data and quality measurement.

NCQA Executive Vice President Eric Schneider joins Health Affairs' Rob Lott on today's episode of Health Affairs This Week to discuss the measurement changes.

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Related Links:

HEDIS MY 2023: See What's New, What's Changed and What's Retired (NCQA)
A New Effort To Address Racial and Ethnic Disparities In Care Through Quality Measurement (Health Affairs Forefront)

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Listen to Katie Keith, Jessica Bylander, and Leslie Erdelack unpack the latest proposed rule from HHS implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.

Section 1557 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability in certain health programs and activities. The proposed rule would reinstate civil rights protections for patients and consumers after the 2020 version of the rule limited the scope of these protections.

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Related Links:

HHS Proposes Revised ACA Anti-Discrimination Rule (Health Affairs Forefront)
Proposed Rule Press Release
Fact Sheet
Supreme Court Finds LGBT People Are Protected From Employment Discrimination: Implications For The ACA (Health Affairs Forefront)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Kathleen Haddad and Ellen Bayer discuss the new hotline and mental health initiatives in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

If interested in the Amazon-One Medical news from the week, listen to the limited podcast series Piecemeal produced for Health Affairs by Lalita Abhyankar.

Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available — and we’d like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

Related Links:

US Transition to 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Begins Saturday (HHS)
Transforming Mental Health and Addiction Services (Health Affairs)
Strengthening Behavioral Healthcare To Meet The Needs Of Our Nation (Health Affairs Forefront)
Bipartisan Safer Communities Act
Podcast: The Mental Health Crisis (Health Affairs Pathways)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Rob Lott and Vabren Watts discuss the federal and state aftermath following the Supreme Court overturn of Roe v. Wade.

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Related Links:

Women's Live and Health: Mere Abstractions In The Leaked Dobbs Abortion Opinion (Health Affairs Forefront)
As Mississippi Debates Abortion, Maternal Mortality Remains High (Jackson Free Press)
HHS Secretary Letter to Health Care Providers About Emergency Medical Care
FACT Sheet: President Biden To Sign Executive Order Protection Access to Reproductive Health Care Services (White House)
Biden Admin to Pharmacies: Refusing to Fill Contraception and Abortion Pill Prescriptions Could Break Federal Law (Politico)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Kathleen Haddad discuss the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services latest measures regarding rural emergency hospitals and price transparency for hospitals and payers.

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Related Links:

CMS's Proposed Rule for Conditions of Participation for Rural Emergency Hospitals and Critical Access Hospital Updates
Podcast: Hospitals At Large Are Failing At Price Transparency (Health Affairs This Week)
Now Insurers and Employers Have To Reveal Health Care Prices (The Washington Post)
Offering A Price Transparency Tool Did Not reduce Overall Spending Among California Public Employees And Retirees (Health Affairs)
Price Transparency - Promise and Peril (JAMA)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Chris Fleming interview Manatt Health's Cindy Mann on budget neutrality requirements for Medicaid 1115 demonstrations.

This episode was recorded on June 23, 2022.

Related Links:

Rethinking The Budget Neutrality Requirement for Medicaid 1115 Demonstrations (Health Affairs Forefront)

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As part of Pride Month, listen to Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Kathleen Haddad discuss the White House's executive order on LGBTQI+ equality and its impact on health care.

Related Links:

Privately Insured Transgender People Are At Elevated Risk For Chronic Conditions Compared With Cisgender Counterparts (Health Affairs)
Podcast: A Health Podyssey with Landon Hughes
Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Adults Report Continued Problems Affording Care Despite Coverage Gains (Health Affairs)
The Battle Over Gender Therapy (The New York Times Magazine)
2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health (The Trevor Project)

Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available — and we’d like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

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Last week, the Federal Trade Commission launched a formal inquiry into pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).

Listen to Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Vabren Watts discuss the FTC's probe into PBMs and how vertical integration and consolidation may affect patients and health care consumers.

Related Links:

FTC Launches Investigation Into Major Pharmacy Benefit Managers' Business Practices (FierceHealthcare)
A Six-Step Solution To The PBM Problem (Health Affairs Forefront)
On Drug Prices, Pharmacy Benefit Managers Are Not The Problem (Health Affairs Forefront)
PBM Oversight, Insulin Cost-Sharing Provisions Among Build Back Better Act (Health Affairs Forefront)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Ellen Bayer go over the big health policy headlines from this week, including what we know about Monkeypox, the implications of the latest Medicare Trustees Report, and nursing home workforce shortages.

Related Links:

2022 Medicare Trustees Report (CMS)
Medicare's Supplementary Medical Insurance Fund: A Growing Burden on Taxpayers (Health Affairs Forefront)
The Coming Crisis For The Medicare Trust Fund (Health Affairs Forefront)
Fact Sheet: Protecting Seniors by Improving Safety and Quality of Care in the Nation's Nursing Homes (White House)
The Waltz: To Improve Nursing Home Care, Invest In The Workforce (Health Affairs Forefront)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Rob Lott and Chris Fleming put the FDA under the microscope on user fees and baby formula shortages.

Related Links:

FDA User Fee Reauthorization Bill Emerges In Both Chambers (Health Affairs Forefront)
Fact Sheet: President Biden Announces New Actions to Address Infant Formula Shortage (White House)
Biden Invokes the Defense Production Act for the Baby Formula Shortage (NPR)

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TRIGGER WARNING: This episode discusses the subject of gun violence and death.

Health Affairs's Jessica Bylander and Vabren Watts discuss this week's school shooting in Uvalde, Texas and the recent history of gun policy in the United States.

Violence permeates our society. One response to violence is to better understand its origins and how to prevent it.

We invite you to read the Violence and Health issue of Health Affairs from 2019to better understand the impacts that gun violence has on communities. The issue will be open access and free to read until June 1, 2022.

For Mental Health Awareness month, we'd like to share the reminder that if you are experiencing a mental health emergency, you can call the national helpline at 1-800-662-HELP for support.

Related Links:

Violence and Health (Health Affairs)
Adolescent Exposure To Deadly Gun Violence Within 500 Meters Of Home Or School: Ethnoracial And Income Disparities (Health Affairs)
From Sandy Hook to Buffalo and Uvalde: Ten years of failure on gun control (The Washington Post)
Current Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States (New England Journal of Medicine)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Chris Fleming and Tim Jost discuss Supreme Court cases that could strip enrollees in Medicaid and other programs of the right to sue to enforce their rights.

Related Links:

Is The Supreme Court Poised To Wipe Out Legal Rights For Medicaid Beneficiaries? (Health Affairs Forefront)

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“In addition to this being a public health issue, these questions around health equity appear to have motivated FDA’s decision to move on developing these new product standards.” – Leslie Erdelack

On today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Ellen Bayer unpack the FDA's proposed ban on menthol cigarettes and its public health implications including concerns for health equity.

Related Links:

FDA Proposes Action On Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars (Health Affairs Forefront)
FDA Proposes Rules Prohibiting Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars to Prevent Youth Initiation, Significantly Reduce Tobacco-Related Disease and Death (FDA)
Opinion: How the Tobacco Industry Hooked Black Smokers on Menthols (New York Times)

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Early this week, Politico published a draft opinion from the Supreme Court that would overturn abortion rights in the United States.

On today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Health Affairs' Senior Editors Jessica Bylander and Chris Fleming unpack the leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade and could have sweeping health care implications beyond just abortion care.

Related Links:

Supreme Court Has Voted To Overturn Abortion Rights, Draft Opinion Shows (Politico)
Penalizing Abortion Providers Will Have Ripple Effects Across Pregnancy Care (Health Affairs Forefront)
26 States Are Certain or Likely to Ban Abortion Without Roe: Here's Which Ones and Why (Guttmacher Institute)
Can Congress Resurrect Roe If It's Overturned? Well, It Could Try (The Washington Post)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Rob Lott go over the big health policy headlines from this week, including details on childhood vaccinations, Title 42 and the intersection of public health and border policies, and federal drug control strategies.

Related Links:

Borders, Immigrants & Health Theme Issue (Health Affairs)
Health Care Gaps For Migrants & Asylum Seekers On The Mexico Border During COVID-19 (A Health Podyssey)
Vaccination Coverage with Selected Vaccines and Exemption Rates Among Children in Kindergarten - United States, 2020-21 School Year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Fact Sheet: 2022 National Drug Control Strategy That Outlines Comprehensive Path Forward To Address Addiction and the Overdose Epidemic (White House)
Key Facts About Title 42, The Pandemic Policy That Has Reshaped Immigration Enforcement At US-Mexico Border (Pew Research Center)

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Health Affairs This Week is on a break this week. Today, we are publishing an episode from A Health Podyssey, where Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil brings you in-depth conversations with leading researchers and influencers shaping the big ideas in health policy and the health care industry. Health Affairs This Week will return next week.

Subscribe to A Health Podyssey: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts

The United States is facing a drug affordability crisis.

Even as we celebrate scientific discovery, the health benefits of drugs are limited due to barriers of affordability, often even for people with health insurance. The RAND Corporation reports that on average drug prices in the United States are more than two and a half times those in 32 other nations studied. The disparities are even wider when we focus just on brand name drugs.

Drug pricing is the subject of seemingly perennial debates. One side focuses on access barriers due to high prices while the other side argues that lower prices threaten future innovation.

Stacie Dusetzina from Vanderbilt University Medical Center joins A Health Podyssey to talk about the complex world of drug pricing.

She and colleagues published a paper in the April 2022 issue of Health Affairs examining the degree to which people with Medicare prescription drug benefits use the drugs that are prescribed to them.

In the paper, the authors found non-initiation rates among some beneficiaries of greater than 50 percent for certain treatments.

If you enjoy this interview, order the April 2022 Health Affairs issue to get research on access to care, hospitals and more.

Listen to Health Affairs' Senior Editor Kathleen Haddad and Health Equity Director Vabren Watts discuss advancing health equity in health policy and publishing.

“Once you start advancing one aspect of equity, you start advancing other aspects of equity,” says Watts.

The two highlight Health Affairs' work on health equity since launching a formal plan in January 2021 and research highlights from our digital publication Health Affairs Forefront as well as our February 2022 theme issue on Racism And Health.

Related Links:

COVID-19 Data On Trans And Gender-Expansive People, Stat! (Health Affairs Forefront)
Structural Racism And Black Women's Employment In The US Health Care Sector (Health Affairs)
Walmart Opening 5 Health 'Superstores' In Delayed Florida Launch (Healthcare Dive)
Health Equity (Health Affairs)
Racism and Health Theme Issue (Health Affairs)

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President Joe Biden's administration this week published a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend the "family glitch" in the Affordable Care Act. In essence, the rule would revise the eligibility for premium tax credits for families.

It's a wonky but important policy measure. In today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Georgetown University's Katie Keith break down the proposed rule, what the "family glitch" is, how the Biden administration seeks to amend it, and what impact that may have on families including access to affordable care.

Sign up for Katie Keith's Health Reform newsletter.

Related Links:

New Biden Executive Order Aims To Build On Coverage Gains (Health Affairs Forefront)
Biden Administration Proposes To Fix The Family Glitch (Health Affairs Forefront)
President Biden Moves To Fix a 'Glitch' in the Affordable Care Act (TIME)
Health Policy Brief on The Family Glitch (Health Affairs)

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A new ahead-of-print from Health Affairs features the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) annual projections of national health expenditures. John Poisal and colleagues estimate national health spending growth will moderate from 9.7 percent in 2020 to 4.2 percent in 2021 as COVID-19 impacts wane.

Listen to Health Affairs' Ellen Bayer and Chris Fleming dissect the latest national health spending projections on today's Health Affairs This Week.

Pre-order the April 2022 issue where the CMS report will be published in the Health Affairs journal.

Related Links:

National Health Expenditure Projections, 2021–30: Growth To Moderate As COVID-19 Impacts Wane (Health Affairs)
National Health Expenditures Post COVID: Hints Of A New Normal? (Health Affairs Forefront)
National Health Expenditure Projections And A Few Ways We Might Avoid Our Fate (Health Affairs Forefront)
National Health Care Spending In 2020: Growth Driven By Federal Spending In Response To The COVID-19 Pandemic (Health Affairs)

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This month, three US credit reporting agencies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion - announced changes to medical collection debt reporting, which will remove nearly 70% of medical collection debt tradelines from consumer credit reports.

As financial security is a major social determinant of health, Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Chris Fleming join Health Affairs This Week to discuss medical debt changes and their potential impact of the changes on health.

Related Links:

No Surprises Act: Known Impacts on Surprise Medical Bills & What's Next (Health Affairs This Week)
Medical Debt Burden In The United States (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau)
Charity Care Needs To Be Better Than This (Health Affairs)
The Burden of Medical Debt in the United States (Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker)

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Late last month, the White House called out private equity firms in a fact sheet on the safety and quality of nursing homes.

"Private equity firms have been buying up struggling nursing homes, and research shows that private equity-owned nursing homes tend to have significantly worse outcomes for residents," the fact sheet reads, adding that "Private equity firms’ investment in nursing homes has ballooned from $5 billion in 2000 to more than $100 billion in 2018, with about 5% of all nursing homes now owned by private equity firms."

Listen to Health Affairs' Kathleen Haddad and Rob Lott discuss the role of private equity in health care service lines.

Related Links:

FACT SHEET: Protecting Seniors by Improving Safety and Quality of Care in the Nation’s Nursing Homes (White House)
Private Equity Investments In Health Care: An Overview Of Hospital And Health System Leveraged Buyouts, 2003–17 (Health Affairs)
Hospital Service Offerings Still Differ Substantially By Ownership Type (Health Affairs)
Private Equity Acquisition And Responsiveness To Service-Line Profitability At Short-Term Acute Care Hospitals (Health Affairs)
Podcast: Jill Horwitz Questions the Role of Nonprofit Hospitals (A Health Podyssey)

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Late last month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its redesign of its Global and Professional Direct Contracting Model to its now-branded Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (REACH) Model. The agency stated the redesign is meant to advance health equity and was in response to stakeholder feedback and participant experience.

On today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Harvard Medical School's Michael Chernew joins Health Affairs Forefront Editor Chris Fleming to talk about the new CMS model for ACOs, and where Medicare Advantage could improve.

Related Links:

Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (REACH) Model (CMS)
The Case For ACOs: Why Payment Reform Remains Necessary (Health Affairs Forefront)
Podcast: Michael Chernew Makes The Case for Payment Reform (Health Affairs This Week)
Medicare Advantage, Direct Contracting, And The Medicare 'Money Machine,' Part 2: Building On The ACO Model (Health Affairs Forefront)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Rob Lott outline President Joe Biden's health care aspirations outlined in his State of the Union Address, which includes information on COVID-19, health care costs, nursing homes, opioid epidemic, the cancer moonshot, and mental health.

Related Links:

President Biden's State of the Union Address (White House)
Fact Sheet: President Biden to Announce Strategy To Address Our National Mental Health Crisis, As Part of Unity Agenda in his First State of the Union (White House)
Fact Sheet: Addressing Addiction and the Overdose Epidemic (White House)
Fact Sheet: Protecting Seniors and People with Disabilities by Improving Safety and Quality of Care in the Nation's Nursing Homes (White House)
The Speech That Mentioned It All (Politico Pulse)

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Listen to Health Affairs' Ellen Bayer and Rob Lott discuss possible implications for health policies related to Medicaid and telehealth when the COVID-19 public health emergency sunsets.

Related Links:

Is It Fair? How To Approach Professional Scope-Of-Practice Policy After The COVID-19 Pandemic (Health Affairs Forefront)
Medicare Beneficiaries' Use of Telehealth in 2020: Trends By Beneficiary Characteristics and Location (ASPE)
Opinion: In This Next Phase of the Pandemic, Beware of the Extremes (The Washington Post)
2/15/22: Extending the Public Health Emergency Remains Complicated (Politico Pulse)

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Last week, the Kaiser Family Foundation released a report showing that outpatient telehealth use has decreased after an initial spike in use during the COVID-19 pandemic's early months.

This week, a new Stat News report examines whether telehealth services actually lowers health care costs and spending.

It's known that telehealth use was low before the COVID-19 pandemic. Historically, it has been challenging to scale and integrate telemedicine and virtual care models within the broader health care system.

Dr. Thomas Lee, founder and CEO of Galileo Health, joins Health Affairs This Week host Leslie Erdelack to discuss the state of telehealth, access to care, and health equity. Before starting Galileo, Dr. Lee founded One Medical, a primary care company.

Related Links:

Outpatient telehealth use soared early in the COVID-19 pandemic but has since receded (Kaiser Family Foundation)
What we know - and still don't know - about whether telehealth can cut costs (Stat News)
Variation In Telemedicine Use and Outpatient Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States (Health Affairs)
Seizing The Moment For Telehealth Policy and Equity (Health Affairs Forefront)

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“Racism is an uncomfortable subject for a lot of people in academia and academic publishing itself is part of the problem, in that a lot of journals including Health Affairs have neglected to name racism and publish research about how racism harms health.” - Leslie Erdelack.

In February, Health Affairs published a theme issue dedicated to racism and health.

Understanding and addressing the impact of racism, particularly structural racism, on health is essential to building equity in health. As Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil wrote on Health Affairs Forefront in June 2020, the legacy of racism “is baked into our institutions, our thinking, and our policies.”

Racism must be explored as a key driver of health outcomes and health disparities.

In today's episode, Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Leslie Erdelack discuss the publication process, main findings, and research insights from the Health Affairs February 2022 theme issue on racism and health.

Health Affairs thanks Rachel Hardeman of the University of Minnesota and José Figueroa of Harvard University, who served as theme issue advisers. Health Affairs also thanks the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the California Wellness Foundation, the Episcopal Health Foundation, the New York State Health Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for their generous support of this issue.

Order the February 2022 Health Affairs Racism and Health themeissue.

Related Links:

Health Affairs Racism and Health Theme Issue
Health Affairs' Interview with Harriet Washington, author of Medical Apartheid
Systemic and Structural Racism: Definitions, Examples, Health Damages, And Approaches To Dismantling (Health Affairs)
Sick And Tired Of Being Excluded: Structural Racism In Disenfranchisement As A Threat To Population Health Equity (Health Affairs)
The Mutually Reinforcing Cycle Of Poor Data Quality And Racialized Stereotypes That Shapes Asian American Health (Health Affairs)

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This week, a major development in health care reform occurred in California.

Listen to Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Rob Lott talk about the headlines in health policy news (including President Joe Biden's revived Cancer Moonshot initiative) and the latest in California's fight for single-payer health insurance where they ask, as California goes, so goes the country?

Related Links:

Single-Payer Healthcare Proposal Fizzles in California Assembly (Los Angeles Times)
California Theme Issue - September 2018 (Health Affairs)
What We Talk About When We Talk About Single Payer (Health Affairs Forefront)
Could States Do Single-Payer Health Care? (Health Affairs Forefront)
Single Payer Or Not: Matching Problems With Solutions (Health Affairs Forefront)

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This week on Health Affairs Forefront (formerly known as the Health Affairs Blog), Michael Chernew, director of the Healthcare Markets and Regulation Lab in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, and Michael McWilliams, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, wrote a piece making the case for accountable care organizations (ACOs) and how fee-for-service payment models lack efficiency.

Today on Health Affairs This Week, Michael Chernew joins Health Affairs Forefront Editor Chris Fleming to discuss the Forefront piece, ACOs, direct contracting, why health care payment reform remains necessary in 2022, and more.
Related Links:

The Case For ACOs: Why Payment Reform Remains Necessary (Health Affairs Forefront)
Medicare Advantage, Director Contracting, And The Medicare 'Money Machine," Part 1: The Risk-Score Game (Health Affairs Forefront)
Coding-Driven Changes In Measured Risk In Accountable Care Organizations (Health Affairs)
Podcast: Matthew Trombley on Why Many Providers Run From Downside Risk In ACOs (A Health Podyssey)

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DICLAIMER: This episode contains mentions of suicide, which some listeners may find harmful or disturbing.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shined a light on the importance addressing mental health and behavioral health concerns.

As we enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic - which may or may not become endemic - many Americans, including health care providers, are rethinking their relationship to their mental health.

Listen to Health Affairs' Ellen Bayer and Kathleen Haddad talk about mental health challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, physician burnout, clinician burnout, and more.

Related Links:

Coping With Trauma, Celebrating Life: Reinventing Patient And Staff Support During The COVID-19 Pandemic (Health Affairs)
The Kids Are Not All Right: The Urgent Need To Expand Effective Behavioral Health Services For Children And Youth (Health Affairs Forefront)
Transforming Mental Health And Addiction Services (Health Affairs)
Protecting Mental Health (Project Hope)

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With the Omicron coronavirus rapidly spreading through the United States, many are reassessing their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, the CDC revised its guidelines for quarantine and isolation periods (which was met with mixed reactions).

Workers, organizations, and schools are all trying to navigate this period of uncertainty as infections rise.

On today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Rob Lott discuss the latest on COVID-19 quarantine periods, CDC guidance on the subject, and how those recommendations and the ongoing pandemic is affecting the health care workforce.

Related Links:

Nurse Employment During The First Fifteen Months Of The COVID-19 Pandemic (Health Affairs)
Emerging Health Workforce Strategies To Address COVID-19 (Health Affairs Forefront)
CDC Updates and Shortens Recommended Isolation and Quarantine Period for General Population (CDC)
California Department of Public Health Regarding Quarantine and Isolation Periods (CDPH)

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While COVID-19 shallowed many headlines in the health care space, a lot of movement was made in various health policy areas, including prescription drug pricing.

On today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Rachel Sachs, the Treiman Professor of Law at the Washington University in St. Louis, joins the program with Health Affairs Forefront Editor Chris Fleming todiscuss Aduhelm and drug pricing.

The two discuss Rachel's latest Health Affairs Forefront article (formerly known as Health Affairs Blog) and review what happened in the prescription drug space last year and preview what to watch in 2022.

Related Links:

Prescription Drug Policy: The Year In Review, And The Year Ahead (Health Affairs Forefront)
The FDA's Approval Of Aduhelm: Potential Implications Across A Wide Range Of Health Policy Issues And Stakeholders (Health Affairs Forefront)
Podcast: Drug Pricing On The Agenda For Massive Infrastructure Bill (Health Affairs This Week)

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This week, Health Affairs released the annual national health care spending data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Using data from 2020, the first data which relates to the COVID-19 pandemic, the report found health spending reached a record high in 2020.

But Health Affairs had some of its own news this week as well. We are rebranding our respected Health Affairs Blog into a new digital publication named Health Affairs Forefront.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott and Chris Fleming convene on Health Affairs This Week to discuss CMS' new national health care spending data and what's behind the rebrand to Health Affairs Forefront.

Related Links:

National Health Care Spending In 2020: Growth Driven By Federal Spending In Response To The COVID-19 Pandemic (Health Affairs)
Welcome to Health Affairs Forefront (Health Affairs Forefront)
Innovation At The Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services: A Vision For The Next 10 Years (Health Affairs Forefront)
The Workforce for Non-Police Behavioral Health Crisis Response Doesn't Exist - We Need To Create It (Health Affairs Forefront)
Podcast: LIVE with with Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator (A Health Podyssey)

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With 2021 about to be in the rearview mirror, Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Ellen Bayer gather on Health Affairs This Week to quickly chat about some of the biggest developments in health policy for the year.

Looking back, they talk about the Biden administration's health agenda - which includes a focus on health equity and innovation - as well as the Build Back Better measure, how infrastructure relates to health policy, and where we move from here.

Related Links:

Innovation At The Centers For Medicare And Medicaid Services: A Vision For The Next 10 Year (Health Affairs Blog)
A Strategic Vision For Medicaid And The Children's Health Insurance Program (Health Affairs Blog)
How the House Spending Bill Would Expand Health Care Benefits (The Washington Post)
Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government (White House)
My First 100 Days and Where We Go From Here: A Strategic Vision for CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)

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The first Omicron COVID-19 variant case was confirmed in the state of California this week. But there is a lot we don't know about this new COVID-19 variant.

On today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Rob Lott discuss what's known (and not known) about the new variant, global health inequity, and how the HIV/AIDS epidemic can inform the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Related Links:

President Biden Announces New Actions to Protect Americans Against the Delta and Omicron Variants as We Battle COVID-⁠19 this Winter (White House)
What the AIDS crisis can teach us about the COVID pandemic response (NPR)
2021 Worlds AIDS Day Report (UNAIDS)
National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States 2022-2025 (White House)

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Since its inception, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has faced legal challenges. With the law on the books for more than 10 years, the measure is still facing litigation.

Cases currently pending before the Supreme Court include Section 1557, the ACA’s primary nondiscrimination provision. The court is still considering to take on additional cases against the ACA related to the health insurance tax and hospital reimbursement policies.

To discuss and make sense of the myriad challenges and lawsuits, Georgetown University's Katie Keith joins Health Affairs' Senior Editor Chris Fleming on Health Affairs This Week. Together, they review the latest ACA challenges [and litigation] and where the courts may take the measure.

Related Links:

ACA Litigation Round-Up: What's Resolved, What's On Hold, And What's Still Moving? (Health Affairs Blog)
Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller, P.L.L.C. (SCOTUSblog)
CVS Health Partners With Disability Community In Commitment To Affordable And Equitable Access To Health Care
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (SCOTUSblog)
Supreme Court Whether 340B Hospitals Retain Discounts on Medicare Part B Drugs (Commonwealth Fund)

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Last week, a lot of the coverage regarding the U.S. off-year election cycle focused on the victory of Republican Glenn Youngkin in Virginia.

But there were a number of amendments throughout state elections that focused on public health initiatives.

Listen to Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Jeff Byers review some of the public health ballot measures, which touched on topics such as food insecurity, right to food, environmental rights, and police reform.

Related Links:

The Importance Of Mental Health Workers For Mobile Crisis Response (A Health Podyssey)
Enlisting Mental Health Workers, Not Cops, In Mobile Crisis Response (Health Affairs)
Policing, Pot, Housing And The 'Right To Food': Which Ballot Measures Passed (Governing)
The New Environmental Rights Amendment To The New York Constitution (National Law Review)
As The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Passes, Here's What's Next For Biden's Economic Plans (CNBC)

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Health spending currently accounts for nearly 18% of the US' Gross Domestic Product.

If the nation spends so much on health care - about $11,500 per person in the US - then are we getting a good value in return for that spending?

Last week, Health Affairs launched a newsletter for our Considering Health Spending initiative to bring readers a forum for emerging research that sheds light on how much the nation spends on health care and how we might improve the value of that spending or even change the spending trajectory.

The first issue of the monthly newsletter dives into some classic research on health care spending and value, including the seminal 2003 piece, "It's The Prices, Stupid."

On today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Health Affairs Senior Editor Laura Tollen joins Deputy Editor Rob Lott to share details on the initiative and discuss the ways researchers are addressing key questions about health care spending and value.

Sign up for the Considering Health Spending newsletter.

Join the Considering Health Spending LinkedIn group.

Related Links:

Considering Health Spending
The Relationship Between Health Spending and Social Spending In High-Income Countries: How Does The US Compare? (Health Affairs)
Variation In Health Spending Growth For The Privately Insured From 2007 To 2014 (Health Affairs)
What's Been The Bang For The Buck? Cost-Effectiveness Of Health Care Spending Across Selected Conditions In The US (Health Affairs)
Getting The Price Right: How Some Countries Control Spending In A Fee-For-Service System (Health Affairs)

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Ahead of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, UK, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a special report on climate change and health.

The organization proposed a set of recommendations for the global health community to act on the climate crisis.

Drawing from the research and insights from Health Affairs' Climate & Health theme issue (2020), Health Affairs' Senior Editor Leslie Erdelack and Deputy Editor Rob Lott discuss WHO's climate recommendations and review how climate can be folded into the scope of health policy.

Related Links:

Transforming The Medical Device Industry: Road Map To A Circular Economy (Health Affairs)
Developing A Definition Of Climate And Health Literacy (Health Affairs)
How Public Health Took Part in Its Own Downfall (The Atlantic)
COP26 Special Report on Climate Change and Health (World Health Organization)\

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Last week, it was reported that President Joe Biden is considering Robert Califf to lead the Food and Drug Administration.

The appointment, which has yet to been made official, comes as a mid-November deadline to appoint an FDA Commissioner looms. Currently, the acting commissioner for the agency is Janet Woodcock.

On Health Affairs This Week, Senior Editors Jessica Bylander and Chris Fleming dive into Califf's consideration, why it's important the agency has a leader, and give an overview of the role FDA plays in regulation outside of drugs and medical devices.

Related Links:

Biden Zeroes In On Califf To Head FDA As Deadline Nears (The Washington Post)
The FDA Has Been Without A Permanent Leader For 8 Months As COVID Cases Climb (NPR)
Seven Former FDA Commissioners: The FDA Should Be An Independent Federal Agency (Health Affairs)
FDA Letter to President Biden, March 9, 2021

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The downstream effects of exclusionary, low-density residential zoning on health and health equity should make scholars and policy makers focus on reforming zoning to make housing more plentiful and affordable in healthy neighborhoods.

Michael Lens, associate professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy and associate faculty director of the Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies at the University of California Los Angeles, recently shared his perspective on the topic in a Health Policy Brief published last month.

On today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Lens joins Health Affairs Deputy Editor of Special Content Rob Lott to discuss his research and how low-density zoning relates to health and health equity.

Related Links:

Low-Density Zoning, Health, and Health Equity (Health Affairs)
Eviction And Health: A Vicious Cycle Exacerbated By A Pandemic (Health Affairs)
Gentrification And The Health Of Legacy Residents (Health Affairs)
To Stem The Spread of COVID-19, Address The Challenges Of Crowded Housing (Health Affairs Blog)

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In October, Health Affairs published an issue dedicated to perinatal mental health.

There has long been an awareness of the harm associated with perinatal depression and mood disorders. Perinatal depression and mood disorders occur in the context of social, economic, and other health conditions that affect the well-being of birthing people, families, and communities. Prevention, screening, and treatment can promote mental health in pregnant and postpartum individuals, but it is sporadic, and there are many missed opportunities as individuals seek and obtain care within the health care system and community.

The purpose of this theme issue is to explore the policy opportunities and evidence behind those options for improving support for people before, during, and after giving birth.

In today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Senior Editors Leslie Erdelack, Ellen Bayer, and Kathleen Haddad discuss the publication process and highlight the research insights from the issue.

Order the October Perinatal Mental Health Issue.

Health Affairs thanks Jennifer Moore, founding executive director of the Institute for Medicaid Innovation, for serving as theme adviser for the perinatal mental health papers in the October issue. We thank the California Health Care Foundation, Perigee Fund, and ZOMA Foundation for their financial support of this issue.

Related Links:

Health Affairs' Perinatal Mental Health Issue
A Humane Approach To Caring For New Mothers In Psychiatric Crisis (Health Affairs)
Preventing Pregnancy-Related Mental Health Deaths: Insights From 14 US Maternal Mortality Review Committees, 2008-17 (Health Affairs)
Perinatal Mental Health Care In The United States: An Overview Of Policies And Programs (Health Affairs)

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This week was a busy week on Capitol Hill but on today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Senior Editors Leslie Erdelack and Jessica Bylander look into recent pharmaceutical and drug pricing news.

In one story, Walgreens is investing more into hospital specialty pharmacies to broaden their reach. “Today, around 25 percent of hospitals in the US have an in-house specialty pharmacy—that’s up from 9 percent from just a few years,” says Erdelack.

In another story, a dust up over 340B drug pricing program is playing out between drug companies and the federal government.

Take a break from government shutdown and Capitol Hill news and listen to Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Jessica Bylander give an overview on the latest on the pharmaceutical industry.

Related Links:

6 Drug Companies Could Face Steep Fines For Violating 340B Law (Healthcare Dive)
Walgreens Invests Deeper in Hospital Specialty Pharmacies (Axios)
340B Drug Pricing Program (Health Resources & Services Administration)

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Child birth in the US is expensive. One of the largest payers for childbirth in the US is Medicaid, covering 43% of US births in 2018.

New mothers with pregnancy-related insurance coverage via Medicaid can lose their insurance coverage 60 days after the birth of their child. But policy makers are looking to change that and expand postpartum Medicaid coverage.

Join Health Affairs Senior Editor Jessica Bylander and Deputy Editor of Special Content Rob Lott on Health Affairs This Week as they talk about recent policy movements on maternal health and postpartum insurance coverage.

Pre-order the October Perinatal Mental Health Theme Issue.

Related Links:

Opportunities For States To Minimize Postpartum Coverage Loss When The Public Health Emergency Ends (Health Affairs Blog)
Post-ACA, More Than One-Third Of Women With Prenatal Medicaid Remained Uninsured Before Or After Pregnancy (Health Affairs)
Expanding Postpartum Medicaid Coverage (Kaiser Family Foundation)
Racial Disparities in Maternal Health (US Commission On Civil Rights)
Podcast: Breaking Down the 2021 Momnibus Bill (Health Affairs This Week)

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Earlier this week, the White House released its "path out of the pandemic," which notes the FDA is currently evaluating a COVID-19 vaccine for children under the age of 12.

A major pillar in the plan is to reduce the number of unvaccinated Americans by using regulatory powers to increase Americans covered by vaccination requirements. For example, the plan requires that all employers with more than 100 employees ensure their workers are vaccinated or tested weekly for COVID-19.

As Health Affairs' Senior Editors Ellen Bayer and Leslie Erdelack note in today's Health Affairs This Week, the workplace is an important focus for public health efforts, as it can be a place where disease spreads. Because of this, paid sick leave policies are important when thinking about public health. However, the US lags behind other countries when it comes to guaranteeing paid sick leave.

Listen to Ellen Bayer and Leslie Erdelack go over President Joe Biden's latest path out of the COVID-19 pandemic and how paid sick leave can influence public health.

View the Full Agenda for Health Affairs' NEW EVENT SERIES.

Related Links:

Path Out of the Pandemic (White House)
COVID-19 Emergency Sick Leave Has Helped Flatten The Curve In The United States (Health Affairs)
Olive Garden's Expansion Of Paid Sick Leave During COVID-19 Reduced The Share Of Employees Working While Sick (Health Affairs)
US Sick Leave In Global Context: US Eligibility Rules Widen Inequalities Despite Readily Available Solutions (Health Affairs)

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In January 2021, Health Affairs posted an announcement regarding its new Health Equity Project.

Since then, Health Affairs has been ramping up its efforts to advance equity in scholarly publishing and health services research.

Last month, the organization announced the members of the Health Affairs' Health Equity Advisory Board. This week, the Health Affairs Blog published a cluster of blogs related to various topics on health equity.

Join Health Affairs' Director of Health Equity Vabren Watts and Senior Editor Rob Lott as they discuss the journal's latest efforts to highlight and advance health equity through a new blog cluster, the new Health Equity Advisory Committee, and the Health Equity Fellowship for Trainees.

Related Links:

Clinically Driven Payment and Benefit Design To Improve Health Equity: The Case of Obesity Prevention and Treatment (Health Affairs Blog)
Medical Algorithms Are Failing Communities of Color (Health Affairs Blog)
A New Effort To Address Racial and Ethnic Disparities In Care Through Quality Measurement (Health Affairs Blog)
Apply to the Health Equity Fellowship for Trainees at Health Affairs

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This week in Health Affairs Today, Georgetown University faculty member and Health Affairs Contributing Editor Katie Keith shared her "back-to-school" reading list with subscribers.

In part to talk about her reading picks for the future health policy leaders of tomorrow, Katie joins Health Affairs Senior Editor Chris Fleming on Health Affairs This Week.

In addition to teasing out a virtual Health Affairs-hosted Lunch-and-Learn event later in September, Katie and Chris discuss the latest on the Texas abortion ban Supreme Court decision, Medicare's projected insolvency, and the health policy landscape at large.

Watch out for details on Katie Keith's virtual Lunch-and-Learn session in September on Health Affairs Events Page or by signing up for Health Affairs Today.

Related Links:

Supreme Court Leaves Texas Abortion Ban In Place (SCOTUS Blog)
Katie Keith's Back To School Reading List (Health Affairs)
Rethinking Race In Medicine: ACOG Removes A Race-Based Cutoff For Anemia In Pregnancy (Health Affairs Blog)
2021 Annual Report Of The Boards Of Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance and Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust Funds (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
National Health Interview Survey Early Release Program (Centers for Disease Control & Prevention)

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This week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Pfizer full approval for its COVID-19 vaccine.

Schools around the country also started to reopen for the 2021-2022 school year. With schools reopening and the Delta variant of COVID-19 flaring up across the US, many are bringing up the pros and cons of mask mandates in schools in addition to COVID-19 vaccine access to young children.

In today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Senior Editors Rob Lott and Jessica Bylander weigh the perspectives for both topics as parents prepare for the new school year.

Sign up to the the Health Affairs Today newsletter for more Back-To-School Essentials content during the week of August 30, 2021. In the newsletter, we will promote past Health Affairs content for future health policy experts.

Related Links:

COVID-19 Vaccines for Children and Teens (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
FDA Approves First COVID-19 Vaccine (FDA)
As Schools Reopen, It's Time To Increase Funding For School-Based Health Centers (Health Affairs Blog)
Children and COVID-19: State-Level Data Report (American Academy of Pediatrics)
The Delta Variant: I’m Vaccinated. Should I Wear A Mask? (Johns Hopkins University)

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This week, the Biden administration updated its Thrifty Food Plan, which is used to calculate Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

The analysis led to an increase in the average SNAP benefit which is set to increase in October.

The cost adjustment, according to the Biden administration, is the first update since the plan was first introduced in 1975.

Food insecurity is a big issue, especially as the social determinants of health increasingly are in health policy discussion. For example, one Health Affairs research article found that food-insecure children are at least twice as likely to report being in fair or poor health.

SNAP reduces the prevalence of food insecurity. Listen to Health Affairs' Editors Jessica Bylander and Leslie Erdelack discuss the Biden administration's latest move on SNAP, and what it means for health care.

Related Links:

Biden Administration Prompts Largest Permanent Increase in Food Stamps (The New York Times)
USDA Modernizes the Thrifty Food Plan, Updates SNAP Benefits(U.S. Department of Agriculture)
Loss Of SNAP Is Associated With Food Insecurity And Poor Health In Working Families With Young Children (Health Affairs)
The Effect Of The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program On Mortality (Health Affairs)
Podcast: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill - What's in it for Health Care (Health Affairs This Week)

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This week, the US Senate approved the sweeping Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan. The bill includes a $39 billion investment in public transit to report aging infrastructure across the US.

Public transportation in the US is an important aspect of American Life, including health care. Health Affairs recently published a Health Policy Brief on the connection between public transportation and health.

On this episode of Health Affairs This Week, Health Affairs' Rob Lott and Jeff Byers discuss what to expect next for the infrastructure bill and dive into the insights from the health policy brief.

Related Links:

Public Transportation In the US: A Driver Of Health And Equity (Health Affairs)
Senate Approves The $1 Trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill In A Historic Vote (NPR)
Podcast: The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill - What's in it for Health Care (Health Affairs This Week)

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Last week, President Joe Biden and his administration released more detail on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

While a lot of focus has been given to provisions, such as the $66 billion investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak 50 years ago, there are many areas which will affect the health care sector.

Health Affairs' Senior Editors Ellen Bayer and Chris Fleming share the latest on the bipartisan infrastructure deal and how health care will be affected, including policies on telehealth, clean drinking water, climate change, broadband internet, and other social determinants of health.

Related Links:

Bipartisan Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act (White House Fact Sheet)
A Lead Poisoning Crisis Enters Its Second Century (Health Affairs)
Climate & Health Theme Issue (Health Affairs)
Health Risks Due to Climate Change: Inequity In Causes and Consequences (Health Affairs)
Ensuring the Growth of Telehealth During COVID-19 Does Not Exacerbate Disparities In Care (Health Affairs Blog)

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This week has seen considerable movement in the effort to curb the COVID-19 pandemic from the federal level.

On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its mask guidance, recommending that fully vaccinated individuals wear mask indoors in areas with high COVID-19 transmission rates to reduce the spread of COVID-19. At the time of this recording on Thursday July 29, 2021, President Joe Biden is expected to announce a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for federal employees.

On this episode of Health Affairs This Week, editors Rob Lott and Leslie Erdelack discuss the latest on COVID-19, the Delta variant, CDC's updated mask guidance, and President Joe Biden's expected vaccine requirement for federal government employees.

Related Links:

Assessing The Legality Of Mandates For Vaccines Authorized Via An Emergency Use Authorization (Health Affairs Blog)
Community User Of Face Masks And COVID-19: Evidence From A Natural Experiment Of State Mandates In The US (Health Affairs)
President Biden To Announce New Actions To Get More Americans Vaccinated And Slow the Spread Of the Delta Variant (White House)
COVID-19 Data Tracker: Integrated County View (CDC)
When You've Been Fully Vaccinated (CDC)

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In July, Health Affairs published an issue dedicated to borders, immigrants, and health.

A public health crisis is unfolding along and inside the US-Mexico border. Immigrants arriving at the US border are likely to have experienced political, economic, or interpersonal violence prior to their arrival, leading to unmet mental health and physical health needs. Immigrants detained at the border may face crime and violence in border towns as they await trial in the US, or prolonged stays in detention centers and family separations if they are able to cross the border. Immigrants in the US face health challenges that extend well beyond the border.

Health policy issues are impacted by the continuously shifting demography of US immigrants. The July 2021 journal issue of Health Affairs and related content focuses on immigrants and borders and the impact on health policy. The issue examines recent trends in immigrant health and health care after the Great Recession and the nationwide implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

In today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Senior Editors Leslie Erdelack and Jessica Bylander discuss the publication process and highlight research insights from the issue.

Order your copy of the July 2021 issue of Health Affairs.

Related Links:

Borders, Immigrants & Health July 2021 Issue (Health Affairs)
Health Policy Challenges Posed By Shifting Demographics And Health Trends Among Immigrants To The United States (Health Affairs)
Immigrant Essential Workers Likely Avoided Medicaid And SNAP Because Of A Change To The Public Charge Rule (Health Affairs)
Podcast: Many US Immigrants May Defer Health Care to Avoid ICE (A Health Podyssey)
Health Care Has Few Plans To Address The Aging Immigrant Population (Axios)

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Last week, the Biden Administration unveiled a sweeping executive order, focused on promoting competition in the US economy.

With Lina Khan as the new chairperson of the Federal Trade Commission, the administration is looking to increase its antitrust focus and potentially break up monopolies.

The new executive order contains 72 provisions, giving direction to multiple agencies on sectors such as agriculture, transportation, labor, and health care. In health care, the executive order focuses on drug pricing, hospital mergers and acquisitions, hospital pricing transparency, biosimilars, and comparison shopping for health plans.

Listen to Health Affairs' Deputy Editor Rob Lott and Senior Content Marketing Manager Jeff Byers go over the health care sections in the Biden administration's executive order on promoting competition in the US economy. They also discuss the hipster antitrust movement, the cost of hearing aids, and hospital deal trends since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Related Links:

Fact Sheet: Executive Order On Promoting Competition In The American Economy (White House)
Hospital M&A Down From Pre-Pandemic Highs, Though Deal Size Growing, Kaufman Hall Says (Healthcare Dive)
Biden Administration's First Marketplace Rule Promotes Coverage and Reverse Trump-Era Changes (Health Affairs Blog)
How Biosimilars Are Affecting The Drug Markets (A Health Podyssey)
Lina Khan And the "Hipster Antitrust" Movement (The Atlantic)
The End of Friedmanomics (The New Republic)

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Last week, the Biden administration issued an interim final rule to implement critical components of the No Surprises Act (NSA).

Building on the Affordable Care Act, the NSA includes new patient protections against surprise medical bills.

About one in five insured adults had an unexpected medical bill from an out-of-network provider, according to a 2020 Kaiser Family Foundation survey. A study released this week found that about one in five newborn hospitalizations or childbirth deliveries result in receiving a surprise medical bill.

These surprise medical bills can cause financial stress to patients and their families.

Listen to Health Affairs' Senior Editors Leslie Erdelack and Chris Fleming break down the interim final rule, how it will impact surprise medical bills or "balance billing," and what we can expect regarding what's next.

Check out the July issue on Borders, Immigrants & Health.

Register for the July 12 Event on Border Health.

Related Links:

Banning Surprise Bills: Biden Administration Issues First Rule on No Surprises Act (Health Affairs Blog)
Unpacking The No Surprises Act: An Opportunity To Protect Millions (Health Affairs Blog)
Emergency Physicians Recover A Higher Share Of Charges From Out-Of-Network Care Than From In-Network Care (Health Affairs)
Timing Out-of-Pocket Spending In Health Care Is Challenging (A Health Podyssey)
Surprise Billing Protections Are One Step Closer To Becoming Reality (The Washington Post)

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President Joe Biden has been making negotiations to get his massive infrastructure plan over the finish line. Some funding related to health care that was originally in the plan ended up on the cutting room floor.

In particular, $400 billion in federal Medicaid funding for home and community-based long term care services were removed from the plan. The earmarked funds for Medicaid still could be passed through a budget reconciliation act but that remains to be seen. This has implications for the health and well-being of many Americans including low-income individuals 65 and older, people with disabilities, and home-based care workers.

Listen to Health Affairs' Senior Editors Ellen Bayer and Jessica Bylander go beyond recent headlines on President Biden's infrastructure plan and discuss important provisions to improve home-based care.

Order your copy of the July 2021 issue of Health Affairs.

Related Links:

Biden's Pledge To Boost Home Caregiver Funding Excluded From Infrastructure Deal (CNBC)
Making Care Work Pay: How A Living Wage For LTSS Workers Benefits All (Health Affairs Blog)
Home And Community-Based Workforce For Patients With Serious Illness Requires Support To Meet Growing Needs (Health Affairs)
Modernizing Long-Term Services And Supports And Valuing The Caregiver Workforce (Health Affairs Blog)
Direct Care Workers In The United States: Key Facts (PHI)

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Tech giants like Apple and Alphabet, the parent company of Google, have been trying to push into health care for some time now. But pursuing health care as a business is hard. Recent news of Google reorganizing its health team and Apple struggling to create primary care services illuminate how difficult it can be for companies - even those with deep pockets and resources - to break into the health care industry.

To discuss the recent Apple news as well as the maturity of the digital health industry, Health Affairs' Jeff Byers welcomes Brian Dolan, founder of digital health news and market research publication Exits & Outcomes, to Health Affairs This Week. Dolan is a veteran journalist in the health tech space and shares his insights from his reporting on Crossover Health's partnership with Apple.

Related Links:

Apple Struggles In Push To Make Healthcare Its Greatest Legacy (The Wall Street Journal)
The Crossover Health Report (Exits & Outcomes)
Apple Explored Buying A Medical-Clinic Start-Up As Part Of A Bigger Push Into Health Care (CNBC)
Google Is Downsizing Its Health Team And Moving Employees To Fitbit As Part Of A Major Reorganization (Insider)

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June is shaping to be a busy month in the health policy space. Two major events happened this week alone.

First, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) survived its latest legal challenge in the Supreme Court. After facing many court challenges, the 2010 policy is still the law of the land.

Also, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) sent a report to Congress on Tuesday making many recommendations to revamp Medicare payments. It's recommendations are not binding but the group is influential in the health policy community. In the report, the advisory group called for streamlining alternative payment models (APMs) and changing how Medicare Advantage benchmarks are calculated.

On this episode of Health Affairs This Week, Senior Editors Leslie Erdelack and Jessica Bylander discuss the recent Supreme Court decision and try and demystify what MedPAC is and highlight some of the agency's recommendations from the recent report.

Related Links:

MedPAC June 2021 Report
Affordable Care Act Survives Latest Supreme Court Challenge (The New York Times)
LIVE with Liz Fowler, Director Of The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (A Health Podyssey)
Private Equity Investments In Health Care: An Overview Of Hospital And Health System Leveraged Buyouts, 2003-17 (Health Affairs)
Understanding Private Equity Investment In Hospitals (A Health Podyssey)

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This week, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Aduhelm (aducanumab) to treat patients with Alzheimer's disease using an accelerated approval pathway.

The drug was approved on June 7, 2021, and the decision was quick to spark controversy. At least two members of a panel of outside advisors to the FDA from Mayo Clinic and Washington University resigned in protest over the drug's approval.

Clinical trials for the drug, which is manufactured by Biogen, showed a reduction in amyloid beta plaques. According to the FDA, that is "a hallmark finding in the brain of patients with Alzheimer's" and "is expected to lead to a reduction in the clinical decline of this...form of dementia."

But there remain concerns about the drug's side effects in addition to its price tag.

Health Affairs' Senior Editor Leslie Erdelack joins Deputy Editor for Special Content Rob Lott on this episode of Health Affairs This Week to discuss the approval and review outstanding questions, drug pricing, and whether pharmaceutical companies might look to old data for new drug approvals.

Related Links:

The FDA's Approval of Aduhelm: Potential Implications Across A Wide Range Of Health Policy Issues and Stakeholders (Health Affairs Blog)
Limiting Coverage Based On Efficacy And Safety: A Path For Medicare Regarding The Alzheimer's Treatment Aducanumab (Health Affairs Blog)
The Search For Effective Alzheimer's Therapies: A Work In Progress (Health Affairs)

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President Joe Biden included the public health insurance option, commonly referred to as the "public option," as a major pillar of his health care platform during the 2020 presidential campaign.

To date, the public option hasn't been included in the discourse for the Biden administration. Instead the administration has focused on supporting the Affordable Care Act, among other agenda items.

Now states are leading the charge and considering the adoption of public option policies. Nevada's Governor stated earlier this month that they would sign a public option bill while Colorado is also considering a public option. Washington adopted similar legislation in 2019.

On today's episode, Georgetown University's Katie Keith joins Health Affairs Blog Editor Chris Fleming to discuss the latest on how states are leading the way on the public option. In addition, Katie shares her insights on where the major Affordable Care Act case - California v. Texas - currently stands in the Supreme Court.

Related Links:

The Origins And Demise Of The Public Option (Health Affairs)
Hill Democrats Ask For Input On Public Option As CO, NV Consider Adoption (Health Affairs Blog)
Letter from Frank Pallone, Jr. and Patty Murray on Public Health Insurance Option (May 26, 2021)
Sisolak Pledges To Sign Public Option Health Care Bill (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Public Option(al): What Happened To Biden's Big Idea? (Tradeoffs)

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Last week, Representative Katie Porter took AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez to task on drug pricing during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing. Porter highlighted the CEO's high salary while pointing to increases in drug prices in the pharmaceutical industry.

The narrative casts pharmaceutical companies as villains but it's more complicated than that. It's true that pharmaceutical companies provide life-saving medicines and it's also true that some drugs simply aren't affordable for individuals that would benefit from them.

On this episode of Health Affairs This Week, Senior Editor Jessica Bylander joins Deputy Editor Rob Lott to discuss the inherent tensions in drug innovation and pricing.

Related Links:

Beyond The High Prices Of Prescription Drugs: A Framework To Assess Costs, Resource Allocation, And Public Funding (Health Affairs)
New Players Join The Drug Development Game (Health Affairs)
Lawmakers Pitch A Bill To Create $30 Billion In 'Biobonds' To Jumpstart Drug Development (Stat News)
Drug Pricing Conversations Must Take The Cost Of Innovation Into Consideration (Stat News)
Nonprofits, Federal Government Surpass Pharma To Lead Alzheimer's Drug Development (Medical Xpress)

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Last week, the CDC updated its guidance on mask-wearing in public for individuals that are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The agency stated, "if you are fully vaccinated, you can resume activities that you did prior to the pandemic." That means fully vaccinated individuals can wear masks indoors or outdoors if they choose to.

Unsurprisingly, this guidance was met with controversy.

Some critics felt the guidelines were too abrupt while others questioned if the guidelines hold up principles of health equity. On today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Health Affairs' Blog Editor Chris Fleming and Director of Equity Vabren Watts review the CDC guidelines and discuss the criticism and remaining questions surrounding the agency's decision.

Related Links:

When You've Been Fully Vaccinated (CDC)
Fauci Says Public Is 'Misinterpreting' Latest CDC Mask Guidance (CNBC)
The CDC's Mask Guidance Is A Mess. Biden Needs To Clean It Up (Washington Post)
Community Use Of face Masks And COVID-19: Evidence From A Natural Experiment Of State Mandates In The US (Health Affairs)

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The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the telehealth landscape. Many physicians and patients had their first experience with a telehealth visit as lockdown measures limited in-person physician offices.

Many questions remain whether the telehealth explosion is a flash-in-the-pan success or if it will have long-lasting changes in patient visit behaviors.

Health Affairs' Chris Fleming and Rob Lott join Health Affairs This Week to discuss a recently published series of blog articles on the topic and unpack the biggest questions regarding the future of telehealth, including:

Should Medicare continue payment parity?
Where does payment reform stand on telehealth?
What are current barriers affecting implementation of telehealth?

Related Links:

The Coming Conflict Over Tele-Visits: The Need For Innovation In Payment And Information Sharing (Health Affairs Blog)
Understanding The Case For Telehealth Payment Parity (Health Affairs Blog)
Congress: Act Now To Ensure Telehealth Access For Medicare Benefits (Health Affairs Blog)
Mutual Recognition Of Physician Licensure By States Would Provide For Better Patient Care (Health Affairs Blog)
How Telehealth Can Enable New Care Management Strategies In Alternative Payment Models (Health Affairs Blog)

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Last month, the Biden administration unveiled the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan, which includes $45 billion to enrich federal nutrition programs for families and children. The plan builds on the expansion of the Pandemic-EBT program from March 2021.

Research has shown that summer EBT programs decrease food insecurity among children but some children have yet to benefit from the COVID-19 pandemic food aid program due to administrative challenges.

Listen to Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Jessica Bylander discuss food insecurity and President Biden's latest efforts on federal food aid.

Related Links:

How COVID-19 Threatens The Safety Net For US Children (Health Affairs)
Biden Proposal Will Make Free School Lunch Available To 29 Million Children Every Summer (CNBC)
Low-Income Families Left Waiting For Billions In Food Aid As Children Go Hungry (Politico)
The Effect Of Pandemic EBY On Measures Of Food Hardship (Brookings)

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Aggressive policing, or aggressive order maintenance policing, is prevalent throughout the US, negatively affecting the health of those exposed to it.

Dr. Hedwig Lee, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis, along with colleagues Michael Esposito and Savannah Larimore discuss these effects in a new Health Affairs Policy Brief. The brief is part of Health Affairs ongoing series of policy briefs on the social determinants of health.

On today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Rob Lott talks with Dr. Lee about the brief, how little data there is on aggressive policing, and how the practice can not just negatively impact individuals, but also their families and communities at large.

Related Links:

Aggressive Policing, Health, And Health Equity (Health Affairs)
Health Affairs' Culture of Health Policy Briefs

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Last week, members of the Subcommittee on Health sent the US Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra a letter, urging the agency to enforce compliance for the Hospital Price Transparency Final Rule, which went into effect on January 2021.

The rules requires hospitals to make available to the public a machine-readable list for all standard charges for items and services and to display an easy-to-read list for the most shoppable health care services for patients.

But, hospital compliance to the rule currently looks lacking.

The letter cites a Health Affairs study that found 65 of the 100 largest hospitals were "unambiguously non-compliant" between January 2021 to early February 2021. In addition, in April 2021 the Wall Street Journal reported that some hospitals hide pricing data from online search results.

Listen to Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Rob Lott discuss the latest on the Hospital Price Transparency Final Rule and what impacts it may have on hospitals and patients.

Related Links:

Low Compliance From Big Hospitals On CMS's Hospital Price Transparency Rule (Health Affairs Blog)
New Year, New CMS Price Transparency Rule For Hospitals (Health Affairs Blog)
Hospitals Hide Pricing Data From Search Results (Wall Street Journal)
Early Results From Federal Price Transparency Rule Show Difficulty In Estimating The Cost Of Care (Kaiser Family Foundation)

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This week, Microsoft announced a $19-billion deal to acquire Nuance Communications, a health tech firm. It's one of the many recent merger and acquisition deals in the health care space.

On today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Jeff Byers puts on his ex-reporter hat and joins Jessica Bylander to discuss the Nuance-Microsoft deal and review a recent Kaufman Hall report that found hospital merger deals were down in 2020, but still highly valued.

Listen to Jeff and Jessica talk about hospital merger and acquisition trends and what it all means for the future of hospitals.

Related Links:

2020 M&A In Review: COVID-19 As Catalyst For Transformation (Kaufman Hall)
Hospital Prices Grew Substantially Faster Than Physician Prices For Hospital-Based Care in 2007-14 (Health Affairs)
What We Know About Provider Consolidation (Kaiser Family Foundation)
2020 Market Insights Report: Chasing A New Equilibrium (Rock Health)
Consolidation of Providers Into Health Systems Increased Substantially, 2016-18 (Health Affairs)
Reversing Hospital Consolidation: The Promise Of Physician-Owned Hospitals (Health Affairs Blog)

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In this National Public Health Week episode, Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Vabren Watts discuss the latest federal effort to address the opioid crisis.

This week, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra extended the declaration of the opioid crisis as a public health emergency. These declarations expire every 90 days, and the agency first declared this one in 2017.

Leslie and Vabren join Health Affairs This Week to examine how the drug epidemic has evolved and how the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on mental health and social isolation have impacted it.

Related Links:

COVID-19 Converges With The Opioid Epidemic: Challenges For Pregnant and Postpartum Women With Opioid Use Disorder (Health Affairs Blog)
Responding To COVID-19: Supporting People In Recovery From Opioid Use Disorder (Health Affairs Blog)
Medicaid Expansion Increased Medications For Opioid Use Disorder Among Adults Referred By Criminal Justice Agencies (Health Affairs)
The Spike In Drug Overdose Deaths During The COVID-19 Pandemic and Policy Options To Move Forward (The Commonwealth Fund)
The Health 202: Overdose Deaths May Have Topped 90,000 in 2020 (The Washington Post)

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It's Infrastructure Week and H.R. 3, a far-reaching piece of legislation which contains a series of drug-pricing reforms, is back.

At the end of 2019, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3 but partisan disagreements prevented the bill from becoming law. Now, elements of H.R. 3 are back on the table as the Biden administration prepares its $2 trillion infrastructure and jobs package.

Washington University's Rachel Sachs joins Health Affairs' Chris Fleming to break down H.R. 3's three main parts and highlight what they mean for the federal budget, pharmaceutical companies, and consumers.

Related Links:

Prescription Drug Legislation In Congress: An Update (Health Affairs Blog)
Rachel Sachs' Health Affairs Articles
Prescription Drug Policy: The Year In Review, And The Year Ahead (Health Affairs Blog)
Administration Finalizes Most-Favored Nation Drug Pricing Rules At The Last Minute (Health Affairs Blog)
Democrats Gear Up For Major Push To Lower Drug Prices (The Hill)

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March is Women's History Month. On today's Health Affairs This Week, Vabren Watts and Jessica Bylander give thanks and recognition to the women who have contributed important research and insights to the Health Affairs community.

For example, Sara Rosenbaum from the George Washington University School of Public Health and colleagues published a piece on the Health Affairs Blog this week explaining how the American Rescue Plan impacts state Medicaid programs. Of note, the law creates a new state option to increase Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months.

In addition, Jessica and Vabren discuss the latest on COVID-19 vaccines and how clinical trials are beginning to evaluate the vaccines in pregnant women.

Listen now to catch up on this week in health policy.

Related Links:

Medicaid And The American Rescue Plan: How It All Fits Together (Health Affairs Blog)
Pregnant Women Pass On COVID Vaccine Protection To Newborns (U.S. News & World Report)
Pfizer And Biontech Commence Global Clinical Trial To Evaluate COVID-19 Vaccine In Pregnant Women (Pfizer)

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As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues, some are hesitant to receive the shot if and when their number is called. It's upon the government and health care industry to connect targeted messaging and information to groups of individuals expressing hesitancy through trusted resources.

On today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Leslie Erdelack and Rob Lott note that, when it comes to health and wellbeing, people may not respond to politicians but they do listen to their doctors.

Vaccine hesitancy has COVID-19 herd immunity implications so this messaging is critical as we fight the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Listen to Leslie Erdelack and Rob Lott discuss vaccine hesitancy, explain what it is, and how health care professionals can leverage social proof to help inform decisions regarding vaccine hesitancy.

Related Links:

Four Steps To Help Achieve COVID-19 Vaccine Adoption: How Health Professionals Can Embrace Their Role As Messengers (Health Affairs Blog)
Reflections On Governance, Communication, And Equity: Challenges And Opportunities In COVID-19 Vaccination (Health Affairs)
The White House Is Set To Unveil A Wide-Reaching, Billion-Dollar Campaign Aimed At Convincing Every American To Get Vaccinated (Stat News)
'We Want To Be Educated, Not Indoctrinated,' Say Trump Voters Wary of COVID Shots (Washington Post)

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The American Rescue Plan was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Thursday March 11, 2021.

A lot of news has covered the inclusion of the $1,400 stimulus check, but there is a lot in the bill concerning health and health care policy. For example, the American Rescue Plan offers financial incentives to states that have yet to expand Medicaid. In addition, the bill expands the eligibility for health insurance subsidies and temporarily relieves premium tax credit claw backs for 2020. These changes are expected to extend coverage to about 2.5 million uninsured consumers from 2021 through 2023.

On today's episode of Health Affairs This Week, Georgetown University faculty member and Health Affairs Contributing Editor Katie Keith joins Health Affairs Blog Editor Chris Fleming to discuss what's in the American Rescue Plan for health care.

Related Links:

Biden's $1.9 Trillion Rescue Plan Set To Turbocharge U.S. Economy (NPR)
Final Coverage Provisions In The American Rescue Plan And What Comes Next (Health Affairs Blog)
The Affordable Care Act's Insurance Marketplace Subsidies Were Associated With Reduced Financial Burden For US Adults (Health Affairs)
Biden And New Congress Tackle COVID-19, ACA (Health Affairs)
CBO Analyzes American Rescue Plan Coverage Expansions (Health Affairs Blog)
New Incentive For States To Adopt The ACA Medicaid Expansion: Implications For State Spending (Kaiser Family Foundation)

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The COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues in the U.S.

Of note, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized a new vaccine from Johnson & Johnson for emergency use. But vaccine equity is still a concern as President Joe Biden promised a COVID-19 vaccine for "every adult in America" by the end of May 2021.

Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Rob Lott meet up on Health Affairs This Week to discuss the latest on the vaccine rollout as well as new research on nursing home staff turnover, which was published in the March 2021 edition of Health Affairs. The results were recently profiled by New York Times' Reed Abelson.

Related Links:

High Nursing Staff Turnover In Nursing Homes Offers Important Quality Information (Health Affairs)
The Big Idea Behind A New Model Of Small Nursing Homes (Health Affairs)
High Staff Turnover At US Nursing Homes Poses Risks For Residents' Care (New York Times)
FDA Authorizes Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine For Emergency Use (Johnson & Johnson)

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Music provided by Fake Fever.

According to survey company Civiqs, 51% of Americans plan on taking a COVID-19 vaccine if and when it becomes available. As the U.S. exceeds 500,000 deaths related to COVID-19, the Biden administration is working to deploy more than 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses as well as combat vaccine hesitancy.

On Health Affairs This Week, Leslie Erdelack and Chris Fleming discuss the latest on COVID-19, vaccine availability, and the status on various health policy court cases and administrative regulations.

Related Links:

COVID-19: U.S. Surpasses 500,000 COVID-19 Deaths, A Monumental Loss (New York Times)
Hearing On "Pathway To Protection: Expanding Availability Of COVID-19 Vaccines" (House Committee on Energy & Commerce)
Building On The Gains Of The ACA: Federal Proposals To Improve Coverage And Affordability (Health Affairs)
As The Biden Administration Begins Unwinding Them, Medicaid Work Experiments Remain Unreasonable, Unnecessary, And Harmful (Health Affairs Blog)
Ensuring Equitable Access To COVID-19 Vaccines In The US: Current System Challenges And Opportunities (Health Affairs)

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The minimum wage hasn't been raised since its last adjustment in 2009. Now, as the federal government is drafting a COVID-19 stimulus package, it looks that gradually raising the minimum wage is on the table to be included.

This week, President Joe Biden stated he supported raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.

But what are the health implications for raising the minimum wage? More money could mean an increased ability to purchase health coverage...or unhealthy food. But these aren't binary decisions and the research is still evolving for how increased minimum wages affect our health.

Listen to Health Affairs' Rob Lott and Jeff Byers discuss what's happening with the $15 minimum wage proposal, what it could mean for population health, and what's next.

Related Links:

Effects Of Minimum Wages On Population Health (Health Affairs)
Health, Income, & Poverty: Where We Are & What Could Help (Health Affairs)
CBO Analyzes American Rescue Plan Coverage Expansions (Health Affairs Blog)
Biden Picks Another Obama Veteran To Oversee Medicare, Medicaid (Washington Post)
CVS Health Will Return Aetna To Obamacare Market (Forbes)
Anthem-backed Digital Startup Sharecare Goes Public In $3.9B Blank Check Deal (Healthcare Dive)
The Perils Of Prolonged Unemployment (Axios)

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Early this week, Representatives Lauren Underwood, Alma Adams, Cory Booker, and members of the Black Maternal Health Caucus announced the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2021. The piece of legislation builds on existing maternal health legislation and seeks to mitigate racial and ethnic disparities in maternal health outcomes.

Health Affairs editors Leslie Erdelack and Jessica Bylander break down what's new and important in the Momnibus 2.0 bill, noting the inclusion of initiatives to mitigate climate change-related risks for moms and babies and grow the perinatal workforce.

Health Affairs is planning a cluster of papers on perinatal mental health, to be published in October of 2021. Don't miss the issue and subscribe to the journal.

Related Links:

Saving Moms, Saving Lives (Health Affairs Blog)
Maternal Morbidity And Mortality (National Institutes of Health)
Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2021 Press Release
High Rates of Perinatal Insurance Churn Persist After The ACA (Health Affairs Blog)
Maternal Mortality and Maternity Care in the United States Compared to 10 Other Developed Countries (The Commonwealth Fund)

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Last week, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to help strengthen Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. Health Affairs editors Chris Fleming and Rob Lott join special guest andHealth Affairs' rapid response health reform expert Katie Keith to discuss what's in it and what could be implied from the new executive order. Chris, Rob, and Katie also discuss what's at stake for the ACA regarding continued litigation.

Related links:

President Biden to Sign Executive Orders Strengthening Americans' Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care (White House)
Biden Executive Order To Reopen HealthCare.gov, Make Other Changes (Health Affairs)
ACA Litigation Round-Up: A Status Check (Health Affairs)
Equity Metrics: Toward A More Effective And Inclusive Pandemic Response (Health Affairs)
An Alternative Vaccine Strategy To Reduce COVID-19 Morbidity And Mortality (Health Affairs)

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This week President Joe Biden released his vision for advancing racial equity. On the same day, Health Affairs released details of its new Health Equity project.

To spotlight the organization's approach to the topic and project, Health Affairs published two blogs to outline the program's details. Editor-In-Chief Alan Weil outlined his view on racism and health equity, stating where there is racism, only anti-racist systems can generate equitable results. Director of Equity Vabren Watts wrote on the subject of dismantling racism, noting that Health Affairs plans to be intentional in promoting and advancing equity.

Ultimately, Health Affairs is aiming for equitable participation, with authors, reviewers and editors representative of the diversity of the health policy community. The organization will seek out new voices from institutions, disciplines, and communities that have not historically been well represented in its pages.

On this episode of This Week, Jessica Bylander and Vabren Watts discuss the new health equity project.

Related Links:

A Health Affairs collection of Health Equity theme issues, journals, blogs and podcasts (Health Affairs)
An Editor's View Of Race, Racism, And Equity (Health Affairs)
Dismantling Racism In Scholarly Publishing, Intentionally And Unapologetically (Health Affairs)
Scientific Journals Commit To Diversity But Lack the Data (New York Times)

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This week, Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. With a new administration comes a new staff alongside new agendas.

Biden has already made history by appointing Rachel Levine, an openly transgender woman, as assistant secretary of health at HHS. Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Vabren Watts welcome the new administration with a discussion on what the Biden administration means for health equity and diversity at large. In addition, Vabren teases the announcement of Health Affairs new Health Equity Project.

Related Links:

Increases In Women's Political Representation Associated With Reductions In Child Mortality In Brazil (Health Affairs)
Measuring Equity From The Start: Disparities In The Health Development Of US Kindergartners (Health Affairs)
Just How Diverse Is President Biden's Prospective Cabinet? (Brookings)

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The news in 2021 has yet to slow down in the realm of health policy. For one, reports have found that unused COVID-19 vaccines are being thrown away, calling into question what to be done about vaccine distribution. In addition, the Trump administration recently approved a Tennessee Medicaid block grant waiver.

Listen to editors Christopher Fleming and Jessica Bylander discuss the COVID-19 vaccine rollout and what the Biden administration may do with Medicaid block grants and work requirements when entering office.

Related Links:

In Its First 100 Days, The Biden Administration Must Restore The Soul Of Medicaid (Health Affairs Blog)
The Affordable Care Reduced Income Inequality In The US (Health Affairs)
See How The Vaccine Rollout Is Going In Your State (New York Times)

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Editors Leslie Erdelack and Rob Lott kick off 2021 with a new episode of This Week.

A lot of news was crammed into the first week of 2021. Early on, Haven, the health care organization founded by Amazon, J.P. Morgan, and Berkshire Hathaway, decided to fold after being in business for three years. The Georgia runoff election confirmed a democratic Congress for the incoming Biden Administration. And, in late December 2020, a sweeping legislative package added more protections from surprise medical bills.

Listen to Leslie and Rob talk about what all these events mean for health policy in 2021.

Related Links:

What a Democratic Congress Means For the ACA (Health Affairs Blog)
Coverage Provisions in the 2021 Appropriations and COVID-19 Stimulus Package (Health Affairs Blog)
Arbitration Over Out-Of-Network Medical Bills: Evidence from New Jersey Payment Disputes (Health Affairs)

The COVID-19 pandemic defined the majority of the year 2020. But it wasn't the only story to follow this year, especially in the field of health policy.

In a special extended episode of Health Affairs This Week (the second of two end-of-year episodes), Leslie Erdelack, Vabren Watts and Jessica Bylander discuss some of the stories you may have missed in health policy if you focused most of your attention on the pandemic. The group highlights drug pricing and regulations, the public charge rule, and the increase in health literacy due to the pandemic.

Related Links:

Administration Finalizes Most-Favored Nation Drug Pricing Rule At The Last Minute
Administration Finalizes Drug Importation Plans, But Legal and Practical Questions Remain
Spread Fear: The Announcement Of The Public Charge Rule Reduced Enrollment In Child Safety-Net Programs

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The COVID-19 pandemic defined the majority of the year 2020. But it wasn't the only story to follow this year, especially in the field of health policy.

In a special extended episode of Health Affairs This Week (the first of two end-of-year episodes), Leslie Erdelack, Chris Fleming, and Rob Lott discuss some of the stories you may have missed in health policy if you focused most of your attention on the pandemic. The group highlights the Affordable Care Act turning 10, antitrust regulations, and environmental rollbacks.

Related Links:

The Affordable Care Act Turns 10
Consolidation of Providers Into Health Systems Increased Substantially, 2016-2018
Hospital Prices Grew Substantially Faster Than Physician Prices For Hospital-Based Care in 2007-14

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Checking in from Colorado and Baltimore, Jessica Bylander and Vabren Watts enter the snow discourse before jumping into the latest on COVID-19 vaccines. Supply chains are sending dosages. Frontline workers are receiving them. And, the Health Affairs team reminds us that we can’t ignore the importance of messaging and social distancing as COVID-19 cases rise throughout the U.S.

Related Links:

Clinical Outcomes of a COVID-19 Vaccine: Implementation Over Efficacy
After a COVID-19 Vaccine: Collaboration or Competition?

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Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Chris Fleming discuss why health policy is ready to enter the climate change discussion. From the latest Greta Thunberg Hulu documentary to president-elect Joe Biden's pick of John Kerry as a "climate envoy," Leslie and Chris note climate change is too big of an issue for the field to ignore.

This episode dovetails with Health Affairs first ever journal issue dedicated to climate change and how the issue intersects with health policy.

Related links:

Event: The Health Events of Climate Change (Health Affairs)
Health Risks Due To Climate Change: Inequity In Causes and Consequences (Health Affairs)
A Critical Moment For Climate Resilience (Health Affairs)
State of the Global Climate 2020 (World Meteorological Organization)
Health Care is Coming to Grips With Its Pollution Problem (The Verge)

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Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Rob Lott chat in the first episode of Health Affairs This Week about COVID-19, vaccine distribution, emergency use authorization for vaccines, toddlers' interpretations of masks, public health messaging, and mistrust for the healthcare industry.

Related Links:

A Health Podyssey: Ensuring Equitable Access to a COVID-19 Vaccine Once It's Here (Health Affairs)
Clinical Outcomes of a COVID-19 Vaccine: Implementation Over Efficacy (Health Affairs)
An Overview of Vaccine Development, Approval, and Regulation, with Implications for COVID-19 (Health Affairs)
On Racism: A New Standard for Publishing on Racial Health Inequities (Health Affairs)
ACIP Advisory Committee of Immunization Practices (ACIP)