Health Affairs This Week

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)

Health Affairs' Kathleen Haddad and Rob Lott go behind the pages of the new April issue focusing on Perinatal Mental Health & Well-Being. Their conversation provides insight into what has changed since Health Affairs published their first theme issue on the subject, which featured papers left a resounding impact on the editors, and so much more.Health Affairs would like to thank Perigee Fund, the California Health Care Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Hilton Foundation, Cambia Health Foundation, and Con Alma Foundation for their financial support of this issue.Order the April 2024 Health Affairs Perinatal Mental Health & Well-Being theme issue!Related Links:Health Affairs Perinatal Mental Health & Well-Being Theme IssuePerinatal Mental Health: Father Inclusion At The Local, State, And National Levels (Video Abstract)My Story Of Trauma And Reproductive Health by Angelica Al JanabiJournal Club: “Antidepressant Prescriptions Increased For Privately Insured People With Perinatal Mood And Anxiety Disorders, 2008–2020"

This is a special publication of the first season of the new Health Affairs podcast, Research and Justice For All. The first season, "Private Sector Solutions," is sponsored by CVS Health. This is the final episode of the first season.Guest: Rashad Burgess, Vice President of Advancing Health and Black Equity at Gilead Sciences CVS Health’s Sree Chaguturu and Joneigh Khaldun interview Rashad Burgess of Gilead Sciences about how private sector companies can advance health equity goals. They also discuss how Gilead is addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Black and brown communities throughout Southern states in the US.This season is sponsored by CVS Health.Related Links:  LGBTQ+ Health Is An Essential Component of Public Health Equity Efforts (Health Affairs Forefront)  Building Community Power To Dismantle Policy-Based Structural Inequity In Population Health (Health Affairs)  About the Gilead COMPASS Initiative® (Gilead)  Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Legislation (Health Resources & Services Administration)  Explore the CVS Health-sponsored Health Affairs Forefront short series, “Private Sector Solutions for Health Equity.”

This is a special publication of the first season of the new Health Affairs podcast, Research and Justice For All. The first season, "Private Sector Solutions," is sponsored by CVS Health. Guest: Dr. Karen DeSalvo, Chief Health Officer, Google  CVS Health’s Sree Chaguturu and Joneigh Khaldun interview Karen DeSalvo of Google on how to leverage data and partnerships to drive positive, equitable health outcomes. They also discuss both the public and private sector approaches to promoting health equity.This season is sponsored by CVS Health.Related Links:  A Health System’s Experience With Inclusive Race And Ethnicity Data Collection, And The Need For Data Equity Principles (Health Affairs) Building a Clinical Team in a Large Technology Company (NEJM Catalyst)  Google is committed to health equity (Google)  Explore COVID-19 Symptoms Search Trends (Google)Med-PaLM (Google Research) Explore the CVS Health-sponsored Health Affairs Forefront short series, “Private Sector Solutions for Health Equity.”