

A Health Podyssey
Health Affairs
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.
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 14, 2024 • 20min
Maeve Wallace on States’ Abortion Laws Associated With Intimate Partner Homicide Rates
Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Maeve Wallace of Tulane University on her recent paper that explores the association between states' abortion restrictions and higher intimate partner homicide rates. Order the May 2024 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.

May 7, 2024 • 22min
Charles Stoecker on How Guaranteed Cash Incentives Boosted COVID-19 Vaccinations
Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Charles Stoecker of Tulane University on his recent paper that explored how guaranteed cash incentives helped boost COVID-19 vaccinations among young adults in West Virginia.Order the May 2024 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.

Apr 30, 2024 • 27min
Alison Stuebe on Cultivating Vital Conditions For Perinatal Well-Being
Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Alison Stuebe of University of North Carolina School of Medicine on her recent analysis paper exploring what steps to take to cultivate vital conditions for perinatal well-being and how this can lead to a sustained commitment to reproductive justice. Order the "Perinatal Mental Health & Well-Being" 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.

Apr 23, 2024 • 30min
Amy Stiffarm on Supporting Perinatal Mental Health Within Indigenous Communities
Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Amy Stiffarm of Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies: The Montana Coalition on her recent paper that explores strategies to support perinatal mental health by collaborating with tribal communities in Montana.Order the "Perinatal Mental Health & Well-Being" 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.

Apr 16, 2024 • 24min
Jessica Harrison on Integrating Mental Health In Perinatal Care
Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Jessica Harrison of the University of California, San Francisco on her recent paper that explores the perspectives of interprofessional clinicians and what the best approach is to integrating mental health into perinatal care.Order the "Perinatal Mental Health & Well-Being" 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.

Apr 9, 2024 • 23min
Tova Walsh on Fathers' Inclusion Within The Scope of Perinatal Mental Health
Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Tova Walsh of the University of Wisconsin-Madison on her recent paper that explores perinatal mental health and the inclusion of fathers at the local, state, and national levels. Throughout their conversation, Walsh identifies recommendations that could lead to more inclusive approaches that aim to improve parental mental health as well as health outcomes for fathers, mothers, and babies. Order the "Perinatal Mental Health & Well-Being" 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.

Apr 2, 2024 • 32min
Emily Dossett and Karen Tabb Dina on Perinatal Mental Health
Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Emily Dossett of the University of Southern California and Karen Tabb Dina of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work about their roles as theme issue advisers for the April 2024 Health Affairs issue focused on perinatal mental health and well-being. The authors also provided an overview paper that explores the theme and identifies specific policies to meet perinatal mental health challenges and promote thriving for birthing people and their families. Order the "Perinatal Mental Health and Well-Being" 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.

Mar 26, 2024 • 24min
Amanda Chen on New CMS Nursing Home Ownership Data
Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Amanda Chen of Harvard University on her recent paper that identifies major gaps and discrepancies in new CMS nursing home ownership data. From the insights provided by Chen and coauthors, they highlight that transparent ownership data is fundamental to understanding the adequacy of public payments to provide patient care, enable policy makers to make timely decisions, and evaluate nursing home quality.Order the March 2024 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.

Mar 19, 2024 • 28min
Courtney Baird on How County-Level Mandates Slowed COVID-19 Transmission
Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Courtney Baird of Brown University on her recent paper that explores how county-level mandates were generally effective at slowing COVID-19 transmission. Through their research, Baird and coauthors discovered strong evidence for the overall protective effect of mask mandates and, to a lesser degree, anti-congregation policies. Order the March 2024 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.

Mar 12, 2024 • 22min
Sarah Gordon on Lessons from the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Provision
Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Sarah Gordon of the Department of Health and Human Services and Boston University on her recent paper that explores lessons from the continuous enrollment provision of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020. Those provisions led to an increase in the rates of continuous coverage for one year postpartum, and they eliminated the large rates of disenrollment that historically have occurred in the third postpartum month.Order the March 2024 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.