A Health Podyssey

This episode originally aired on February 3, 2026. Health Affairs ' Rob Lott interviews Dr. Robert Wachter , Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSF, about his new book A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future . Wachter reflects on his own daily use of AI as a clinician, the reasons he has grown optimistic about its potential, and the cha...

Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Adam Markovitz of the University of Michigan about his recent paper exploring the growing role of third-party firms in Medicare ACOs , highlighting how they have contributed to wider participation and more geographically dispersed networks while raising questions about how these structures relate to shared savings outcomes. Order the June 2026 issue o...

Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Geoffrey Hoffman of the University of Michigan about his recent paper exploring the structure of Medicare’s hospital wage index and discusses the growth of exceptions over time, exploring their implications for how the system functions and whether it meets its intended policy objectives. Order the June 2026 issue of Health Affairs . Sign up for our fr...

Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Yashaswini Singh of Brown University about her recent paper that explores how private equity acquisitions in primary care are associated with changes in utilization, spending, and workforce composition. Order the June 2026 issue of Health Affairs . Sign up for our free Health Affairs newsletters to stay up to date on health policy news and analysis.

THIS SPONSORED PODCAST EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY CVS HEALTH. In this sponsored episode, James Margiotta, Chief Growth Officer at CVS Caremark, joins Health Affairs Publishing's Jessica Bylander to unpack the role of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), their impact on prescription drug costs, and the value PBMs bring to the health care system. James has nearly 35 years of experience driving innova...

Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Abe Sutton , Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, about the ACCESS model and broader efforts to test payment and delivery reforms aimed at improving affordability, expanding digital health, and generating real-world evidence in Medicare. Sign up for our free Health Affairs newsletters to stay up to date on health policy news an...

Welcome to a new, limited podcast series exploring major policy changes affecting older adults. This episode is part of our Age-Friendly Health series, which explores topics at the intersection of aging, health, health care, and health policy. In our third and final episode for the series in 2026, host Katherine Ornstein welcomes Alison Barkoff of George Washington University to the program to dis...

Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Jeff Romine of Carelon Research about his recent paper exploring new research on how extreme heat affects health care use and costs , finding consistent increases in emergency department visits and some hospitalizations, but little change in outpatient care. Order the May 2026 issue of Health Affairs . Sign up for our free Health Affairs newsletters t...

Welcome to a new, limited podcast series exploring major policy changes affecting older adults. This episode is part of our Age-Friendly Health series, which explores topics at the intersection of aging, health, health care, and health policy. In our second episode, host Katherine Ornstein welcomes Bianca Frogner, director of the Center for Health Workforce Studies at the University of Washington...

Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Dhara Patel of the Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School about her recent paper exploring national trends in cold‑related illness hospitalizations and how climate change and social vulnerability shape health risks across the United States. Order the May 2026 issue of Health Affairs . Sign up for our free Health Affairs newsletters to st...

Welcome to the first episode in a new, limited podcast series exploring major policy changes affecting older adults. The episode is part of our Age-Friendly Health series, which explores topics at the intersection of aging, health, health care, and health policy. In our first episode, host Katherine Ornstein welcomes Hemi Tewarson of the National Academy for State Health Policy to discuss how The...

Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks with Cynthia Strathmann of SAJE about her recent paper that examines how climate impacts such as extreme heat affect low‑income renters and what policymakers can do to balance climate adaptation with housing stability. Order the May 2026 issue of Health Affairs . Sign up for our free Health Affairs newsletters to stay up to date on health policy news and...

Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks with Maud Powell of Oregon State University about her recent paper examining stress and anxiety among farmers and ranchers and the interventions that may help address these challenges. Order the May 2026 issue of Health Affairs . Sign up for our free Health Affairs newsletters to stay up to date on health policy news and analysis.

In this episode of Behind the Pages, Health Affairs Publishing's Margaret Winchester interviews theme issue advisor Sacoby Wilson of The University of Maryland about key themes from the May Health Affairs issue on climate, health, and equity , with a focus on community‑led approaches, health system interventions, and scalable policy solutions to address climate‑related health risks. Order the May...

Health Affairs Publishing 's Rob Lott interviews Jason Buxbaum of Brown University about his recent paper that explores new research on administrative spending in U.S. health insurance and why it varies so widely across states and markets. Order the March 2026 issue of Health Affairs .' Sign up for our free Health Affairs newsletters to stay up to date on health policy news and analysis.

Health Affairs Publishing 's Rob Lott interviews Andrew Anderson of Johns Hopkins University about his recent paper that explores new research on the Medicare Advantage Star Ratings program and how effectively it has driven quality improvement over time. Sign up for our free Health Affairs newsletters to stay up to date on health policy news and analysis. Order the April 2026 issue of Health Affai...

On a special emergency pod episode of Health Affairs This Week coming to you on the A Health Podyssey feed, Health Affairs Publishing’s Jeff Byers welcomes Brown University 's David Meyers to the pod to unpack the 2027 Medicare Advantage final payment rule, including the higher-than-anticipated rate increase, changes to risk adjustment models, what is V28, and the tradeoffs between market stabilit...

Health Affairs Publishing 's Rob Lott interviews Dr. Ashish Jha about the future of public health education, the growing threat of engineered pathogens and building a bio-intelligence company, and practical approaches to slowing health care spending while preserving access and innovation.

Health Affairs ' Rob Lott interviews Em Balkan of Brown University about their recent paper showing that rapid disenrollment from Medicare Advantage plans tripled from 2017 to 2022 , with higher rates among dual‑eligible beneficiaries and certain racial and ethnic groups  — raising questions about how well plans are meeting beneficiaries’ needs. Order the March 2026 issue of Health Affairs .

Health Affairs ' Rob Lott interviews David Powell of the University of Pennsylvania about his recent paper exploring new research showing SSDI beneficiaries face significantly elevated mortality during the mandatory two‑year waiting period for Medicare for such beneficiaries, why the waiting period exists, how it affects access to care, and what policy options could better serve this vulnerable po...

Health Affairs ' Rob Lott interviews Anna Zink of Tufts University about on her recent paper examining studies of an FDA‑approved cardiac diagnostic AI tool , fractional flow reserve derived from computed tomography. They discuss how the tool shifts testing patterns, raises some costs, reduces invasive procedures, and may improve outcomes—along with what it all means for Medicare reimbursement and...

Health Affairs ' Rob Lott interviews Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel about his new book, Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life . He explains why he wrote a wellness guide for the general public, what frustrates him about today’s “wellness industrial complex,” and why evidence‑based habits — not trendy supplements or extreme routines — are key to long‑term health. Pick up a copy of h...

Health Affairs ' Rob Lott interviews Derek T. Lake on his recent paper exploring new research on Optum’s acquisitions , finding the company tended to buy physician practices already using ambulatory surgery centers and that its ASC acquisitions were followed by higher prices for competing insurers. Order the February 2026 issue of Health Affairs . Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is...

Health Affairs ' Rob Lott interviews So-Yeon Kang of Georgetown University about her recent paper exploring trends in biopharmaceutical clinical trials after The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 authorized Medicare to negotiate prices for selected drugs. Order the January 2026 issue of Health Affairs . Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it tha...

Health Affairs ' Rob Lott interviews Jane Zhu of Oregon Health & Science University about her recent paper exploring how many physicians enrolled in Medicaid see few or no Medicaid beneficiaries as patients , highlighting a greater need for targeted policies to boost participation and improve access. Order the February 2026 issue of Health Affairs . Currently, more than 70 percent of our conte...