Health Affairs This Week

Health Affairs' Ellen Bayer and Kathleen Haddad interview Melanie Bella, head of partnerships & policy at Cityblock Health and current chair of Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) on Medicaid expansion, dual eligibles and more.Read the Health Affairs Forefront series Medicare and Medicaid Integration. Related Links:Governor Cooper Signs Medicaid Expansion Into LawIntegrating Medicare And Medicaid For Dual-Eligible Beneficiaries Through Managed Care: Proposed 2023 Medicare Advantage Regulations (Health Affairs Forefront)When The Public Health Emergency Ends: What Will It Mean For Dually Eligible Individuals? (Health Affairs Forefront)Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans: A Primer (Justice In Aging)Preserving Integration For Dual Eligible Individuals After The End Of The Medicare-Medicaid Plan Model (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.

Listen to Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Marianne Amoss discuss the recent antitrust lawsuit against Express Scripts and Prime Therapeutics regarding pharmacy benefit managers and alleged collusion to share drug pricing information.Join us for a Lunch and Learn Event on Health Care Workforces on April 4. This event is supported by the de Beaumont Foundation.Related Links:Pharmacy Benefit Managers and Their Role in Drug Spending (The Commonwealth Fund)The Association Between Drug Rebates and List Prices (University of Southern California)Ohio Attorney General David Yost Files Suit Against Express Scripts, Prime Therapeutics Over Rising Drug Costs (FierceHealthcare)Podcast: Pharmacy Benefit Managers, the FTC & You (Health Affairs This Week)Health Policy Brief: Pharmacy Benefit Managers (Health Affairs)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.

Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Chris Fleming dive into the complex world of insulin pricing and recent efforts to control its costs for the millions of Americans with diabetes. Read the Ahead of Print article on Medicare Advantage benchmarks by Michael Chernew and colleagues.Related Links:Sanofi announces insulin price cap after actions by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk (NBC News)Why is insulin so expensive and difficult to cap? (AP News)California Picks Generic Drug Company Civica to Produce Low-Cost Insulin (Kaiser Health News)Insulin as Preventive Care: Why Not Eliminate Patient Cost Sharing? (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.

Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Michael Gerber read the health care policy tea leaves for the President's Budget for 2024, including Medicare funding, Medicaid expansion, prescription drug costs, public health preparedness, and more.Related Links:FACT SHEET: The President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2024 (White House)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' Vabren Watts and Ryann Tanap discuss a new peer-reviewed article published in Learned Publishing where Health Affairs shares our journey to advance racial equity in scholarly publishing of health policy and health services research.They also discuss a recently-published Health Affairs Forefront article about our progress since 2020 — what we have achieved and what we have learned.Our hope is that by sharing our story, we might help your organization join us in this journey.Health Affairs’ equity work was supported by the Colorado Health Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.Related Links:A seat for all: Advancing racial equity in scholarly publishing of health policy and health services research (Learned Publishing)Health Affairs Details Journey Of Advancing Equity In Scholarly Publishing (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.

Health Affairs' Marianne Amoss and Chris Fleming discuss recent data on mortality in prisons and health care in carceral settings, especially in connection with COVID-19.Join us February 28 for a Virtual Happy Hour!Related Links:Developing Nation Social Care Standards (Health Affairs Forefront)UCLA Law Releases New Database to Monitor Deaths in US Prisons with Funding from Arnold VenturesRacial and Ethnic Inequalities in COVID-19 Mortality Within Carceral Settings: An Analysis of Texas Prisons (Health Affairs)Prison Hospital Data Is Omitted From Federal Data Sets (Health Affairs Forefront)Podcast: Rachael Bedard Explains Health Care in Jails (A Health Podyssey)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 Leslie Erdelack unpack the health care highlights from President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address, including the opioid epidemic, drug prices, noncompete agreements, and social media and kids' mental health. Join us February 28 for a Virtual Happy Hour!Related Links:Competition and Vulnerabilities In The Global Supply Chain For US Generic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (Health Affairs)FACT SHEET: In State of the Union, President Biden to Outline Vision to Advance Progress on Unity Agenda in Year Ahead (White House)The Administration's Next Crack at Lower Drug Prices (Axios)Biden's Push to Ban Noncompete Agreements Could Have Big Implications for Health Care (NBC News)Biden's Fentanyl Position Sparks Criticism From 2 Sides (Associated Press)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' Laura Tollen, Chris Fleming and Michael Gerber discuss the new report from the Health Affairs' Council on Health Care Spending and Value. The council spent four years looking into how the US  could take a more deliberate approach to moderating health care spending growth while maximizing value.Learn more about Health Affairs Scholar.Related Links:Council On Health Care Spending and Value ReportHealth Care Spending Council Event (C-SPAN)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.

Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Kathleen Haddad explain the complexities of the CMS final rule on Medicare Advantage risk adjustment.Read the CHS report's executive summary (available after 1pm ET on 2/3/23)Related Links:CMS Issues Final Rule to Protect Medicare, Strengthen Medicare Advantage, and Hold Insurers Accountable (CMS)New Medicare Rule Aims to Take Back $4.7 Billion From Insurers (The New York Times)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' Leslie Erdelack and Jessica Bylander discuss the latest efforts to fix problems with directories of health care providers and the potential for a national provider directory.Join Us for the Considering Health Spending event on February 3.Related Links:Request for Information; National Directory of Healthcare Providers & ServicesCMS Proposed Rule on Medicare Parts C and D for 2024Provider Directories Are A Mess. CMS' Plan to Fix Them Has Few Fans (Modern Healthcare)Phantom Networks: Discrepancies Between Reported And Realized Mental Health Care Access In Oregon Medicaid (Health Affairs)Incorrect Provider Directories Associated With Out-Of-Network Mental Health Care And Outpatient Surprise Bills (Health Affairs)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.