Health Affairs This Week

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 10Consolidation of Providers Into Health Systems Increased Substantially, 2016-2018Hospital Prices Grew Substantially Faster Than Physician Prices For Hospital-Based Care in 2007-14Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castro | Stitcher | Deezer | Overcast

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 EfficacyAfter a COVID-19 Vaccine: Collaboration or Competition?Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Castro | Stitcher | Deezer | Overcast

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

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)