Health Affairs This Week

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)Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castro | Stitcher | Deezer | Overcast

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)Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castro | Stitcher | Deezer | Overcast

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)Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castro | Stitcher | Deezer | Overcast

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 to discuss 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)Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castro | Stitcher | Deezer | Overcast

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)Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castro | Stitcher | Deezer | Overcast

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)Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castro | Stitcher | Deezer | Overcast

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)Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castro | Stitcher | Deezer | Overcast

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 CareDobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (SCOTUSblog)Supreme Court Whether 340B Hospitals Retain Discounts on Medicare Part B Drugs (Commonwealth Fund)Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castro | Stitcher | Deezer | Overcast

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)Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castro | Stitcher | Deezer | Overcast

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)Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castro | Stitcher | Deezer | Overcast