
A Health Podyssey
Each week, Health Affairs' Rob Lott brings you in-depth conversations with leading researchers and influencers shaping the big ideas in health policy and the health care industry.
A Health Podyssey goes beyond the pages of the health policy journal Health Affairs to tell stories behind the research and share policy implications. Learn how academics and economists frame their research questions and journey to the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Health policy nerds rejoice! This podcast is for you.
Latest episodes

Apr 22, 2025 • 17min
Shuyue Deng on Medically-Tailored Meals' Impact on Health Care
Subscribe to UnitedHealthcare's Community & State newsletter.Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Shuyue (Amy) Deng of Tufts University to discuss her recent paper that takes a closer look at the estimated impact of medically tailored meals on health care use and expenditures in the US.Order the April 2025 issue of 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 podcast
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Apr 16, 2025 • 25min
Food, Nutrition, & Health: A Different Type of Hunger w/ Heather Thomas
Subscribe to UnitedHealthcare's Community & State newsletter.Welcome to the final episode in a special four-part series from Health Affairs on the intersection of food, nutrition, and health. This special series compliments the release of a theme issue on food, nutrition, and health, which is currently available to read.In this episode, Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Ellen Bayer speak with Heather Thomas from the nonprofit A Place to Stand about her Narrative Matters essay from the issue, "A Different Type of Hunger." The essay explores Thomas' experience fighting to access and maintain food benefits in the US as a mother of six whose family is food insecure.Order the Food, Nutrition, and Health Issue.
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Apr 15, 2025 • 27min
Kurt Hager on Medicaid Nutrition Supports Linked To Reduced Hospital & ED Use
Subscribe to UnitedHealthcare's Community & State newsletter.Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Kurt Hager of the University of Massachusetts to discuss his recent paper that explores how Medicaid nutrition supports were associated with reductions in hospitalizations and emergency department visits in Massachusetts through 2020–23. Order the April 2025 issue of 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 podcast
Subscribe to UnitedHealthcare's Community & State newsletter.

Apr 14, 2025 • 31min
Elizabeth Popp-Berman on How the U.S. Can Build a Just Political Economy for Health
In a special podcast episode, Health Affairs Scholar Associate Editor Loren Adler interviews Elizabeth Popp-Berman about the Health and Political Economy series of papers recently published in Health Affairs Scholar. The series asks how might the U.S. build a more just and inclusive political economy for health rather than take the status quo for granted. This paper collection was developed in partnership with the The New School’s Health and Political Economy Project (HPEP), a field catalyst initiative advancing a just and inclusive economy for health, and supported by the Commonwealth Fund.Read the Collection:Health and political economy: building a new common sense in the United StatesAdvancing a political economy approach to health using lessons from US antitrust and climate policyReviving public provisioning in US health careThe fundamental importance of social insurance for health equityCentering marginalized care: Home care cooperatives and system change

Apr 9, 2025 • 10min
Food, Nutrition, & Health: Behind the Pages
Subscribe to UnitedHealthcare's Community & State newsletter.Welcome to the third episode in a special four-part series from Health Affairs on the intersection of food, nutrition, and health. This special series compliments the release of a theme issue on food, nutrition, and health to be released this week.In this episode, Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Ellen Bayer discuss the content in the theme issue.Order the Food, Nutrition, and Health Issue.
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Apr 8, 2025 • 28min
Seth Berkowitz on the Intersection of Income, Food, & Health
Subscribe to UnitedHealthcare's Community & State newsletter.Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Seth Berkowitz of the UNC School of Medicine to discuss his recent paper that explores a new approach to help guide research and policy at the intersection of income, food, nutrition, and health. Order the April 2025 issue of 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 podcast
Subscribe to UnitedHealthcare's Community & State newsletter.

Apr 2, 2025 • 21min
Food, Nutrition & Health: Food Support Programs w/ Diane Schanzenbach
Subscribe to UnitedHealthcare's Community & State newsletter.Welcome to the second episode in a special four-part series from Health Affairs on the intersection of food, nutrition, and health. This special series compliments the release of a theme issue on food, nutrition, and health to be released April 7, 2025.In this episode, Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander speaks with Diane Schanzenbach from Northwestern University on the topic of food support programs and their impacts on very young children.Pre-order the Food, Nutrition, and Health Issue.Related Links:Food Support Programs and Their Impacts On Very Young Children (Health Policy Brief)SNAP's Short- and Long-Term Benefits (Northwestern Institute for Policy Research)Long-Run Impacts of Childhood Access to the Safety Net (American Economic Association)
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Apr 1, 2025 • 28min
Meena Seshamani on the Journey from CMS to Maryland's Department of Health
Subscribe to UnitedHealthcare's Community & State newsletter.Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Dr. Meena Seshamani, the incoming Maryland Secretary of Health, to discuss her time as the director of Medicare at the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services and what the future holds in her new role. 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.
Subscribe to UnitedHealthcare's Community & State newsletter.

Mar 26, 2025 • 20min
Food, Nutrition, & Health: Water Insecurity w/ Na'Taki Osborne Jelks
Subscribe to UnitedHealthcare's Community & State newsletter.Welcome to a special four-part series from Health Affairs on the intersection of food, nutrition, and health. This special series compliments the release of a theme issue on food, nutrition, and health to be released April 7, 2025.In the first episode, Health Affairs' Ellen Bayer speaks with Na'Taki Osborne Jelks from Spelman College on the topic of water insecurity.Pre-order the Food, Nutrition, and Health Issue.Related Links:Water Insecurity and Population Health: Implications for Health Equity and Policy (Health Affairs' Health Policy Brief)
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Mar 25, 2025 • 42min
LIVE with Yashaswini Singh on Private Equity's Effect on Health Care Staff Turnover
Subscribe to UnitedHealthcare's Community & State newsletter.On March 12th, A Health Podyssey's Rob Lott invited Yashaswini Singh of Brown University to the program for a virtual podcast taping to discuss her paper on the effect of private equity on physician turnover. The two discussed the paper and took questions from the audience in attendance.Order the March 2025 issue of 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.
Subscribe to UnitedHealthcare's Community & State newsletter.
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