Health Affairs This Week

Health Affairs' Jeff Byers is joined by Andrew Twinamatsiko of O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law to discuss a recent Supreme Court decision to reject a challenge to the FDA's approval of abortion medication. Join us for this upcoming event:7/10/24 - Lunch and Learn: Supreme Court Wrap-Up (Health Affairs Insider Exclusive Event)Become an Insider this week for $40 Off when you use the code InsiderAtTwo at checkout.Related Articles:Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To Abortion Medication, But At What Cost? by Andrew Twinamatsiko et al. (Forefront)

Health Affairs' Jeff Byers is joined by Sabrina Corlette of Georgetown University to discuss an ahead-of-print article released this week that outlines the Congressional Budget Office's health insurance coverage projections in the US for 2024-34. The conversation discusses what went into the CBO's estimates and how the upcoming presidential election may play a big role in how these projections shape up in the future to come.Join us for this upcoming event:7/10/24 - Lunch and Learn: Supreme Court Wrap-UpRelated Articles:Health Insurance Coverage Projections For The US Population And Sources Of Coverage, By Age, 2024–34 by Jessica Hale et al. (Health Affairs)CBO Projections Are Not Destiny: Policies, ACA Investments Can Change Trajectory by Sabrina Corlette (Forefront)CBO Publishes New Projections Related to Health Insurance for 2024 to 2034

Health Affairs' Jeff Byers chats with Senior Editor Michael Gerber about his recent trip to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Health Equity Conference in Bethesda and the main takeaways that he found from the diversity of panels offered.Order the Reimagining Public Health Theme Issue of Health Affairs. Join us for our next edition of Journal Club on June 18.Become an Insider today! For the month of June, you can become an Insider with a $40 discount by using the code InsiderAtTwo.Related Links:2024 CMS Health Equity ConferenceJune 2024 Issue of Health Affairs on Reimagining Public Health

Health Affairs' Jeff Byers talks with Stacie Dusetzina of Vanderbilt University about the current state of obesity medications like Ozempic, the likelihood of insurance coverage, their costs, drug shortages, and how to ensure this medication finds its way to patients. Join Health Affairs Insider to learn more about drug pricing with Stacie Dusetzina. For the month of June, use the code InsiderAtTwo to get $40 off of an Insider membership (offer ends on 6/30/24).The deadline is today (5/31/24) to submit your entry for the "You're A Health Policy Wonk If" Contest and try your chance at winning a subscription to Health Affairs for the next year.Be sure to RSVP for our upcoming Theme Issue Briefing on Reimagining Public Health! 

Health Affairs' Jeff Byers talks with Marianne Amoss about recent federal rulemaking activity over nursing facility staff levels and CMS' proposed mandatory kidney transplant value-based model.Read the newly published article "Judicial Decisions Constraining Public Health Powers During COVID-19" from our upcoming Reimaging Public Health theme issue.Related Links:Biden-Harris Administration Acts to Improve Access to Kidney Transplants (CMS)Medicare and Medicaid Programs: Minimum Staffing Standards for Long-Term Care Facilities and Medicaid Institutional Payment Transparency Reporting Final Rule (CMS)Disparities in Acceptance of Deceased Donor Kidneys Between the United States and France and Estimated Effects of Increased US Acceptance (JAMA Internal Medicine)

Health Affairs' Jeff Byers interviews Healthcare Dive's Rebecca Pifer to discuss the FTC's move to ban noncompete agreements.Join Health Affairs Insider.Related Links:FTC votes to ban noncompetes, with far-reaching effects on doctors (Healthcare Dive)

Health Affairs' Jeff Byers and Jessica Bylander go over the demise of Walmart Health and the health of retail clinics and telemedicine.Order the May issue of Health Affairs.Finish the sentence: You're A Health Policy Wonk If...Related Links:Walmart shuttering all 51 health centers, citing lack of profitability (FierceHealthcare)The Impact of Telemedicine on Medicare Utilization, Spending, and Quality, 2019-22 (Health Affairs)Variation In Telemedicine Use And Outpatient Care During The COVID-19 Pandemic In The United States (Health Affairs)What is the cost of starting a medical practice? (Wolters Kluwer)Telehealth and COVID-19 (FAIR Health)

Health Affairs' Jeff Byers interviews Jack Hoadley from Georgetown University about the final rule for the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D programs for 2025.Read the new Health Policy Brief on digital inclusion.Join us for our ONC 20th anniversary event on May 9.Finish the sentence and win an online journal subscription for a year: You're a health policy wonk if...Become a Health Affairs Insider to read our newsletters on drug pricing, antitrust, and more.Related Links:Differences in Use of Services and Quality of Care in Medicare Advantage and Traditional Medicare, 2010 and 2017 (Health Affairs)Increased Medicare Advantage Penetration is Associated with Lower Postacute Care Use for Traditional Medicare Patients (Health Affairs)DTC Companies Double Down on Medicare Advantage Supplemental Benefits (Health Affairs This Week)

This month, HHS released the final "Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters" for 2025. This final notice sets standards and requirements for the Affordable Care Act marketplaces and health insurers. Sabrina Corlette and Jason Levitis, who both co-authored a piece about the notice in Health Affairs Forefront, join Health Affairs This Week host Jeff Byers to discuss the new standards and how the ACA marketplace has matured over the years. Read the "ahead-of-print" article, "The Impact of Telemedicine on Medicare Utilization, Spending, and Quality, 2019-2022."Related Links:Final 2025 Payment Notice: Marketplace Standards and Insurance Reforms (Health Affairs Forefront)

Health Affairs This Week is back!Host Jeff Byers interviews Brent Fulton from University of California, Berkeley about the current state of antitrust and private equity in health care. Brent is an author of a special newsletter from Health Affairs Insider on antitrust and markets in health care. Subscribe to Insider to catch Brent's and our other Insider newsletters on drug pricing (from Stacie Dusetzina), health spending, and health equity.Join Insider.Related Links:Private Equity-Acquired Physician Practices and Market Penetration Increased Substantially, 2012-21 (Health Affairs)