Health Affairs This Week

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Kathleen Haddad back to the pod to discuss the recently passed $1.2 trillion spending appropriations bill, its included reforms for pharmacy benefit managers, the latest round of drugs slated for the Medicare Drug Negotiation program, TrumpRx, the upcoming flat rate for Medicare Advantage plan rates, and more recent health policy news. Related Art...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Katie Keith of Georgetown Law and Deputy Editor Chris Fleming to the pod to discuss what to watch out for in 2026 for health policy. The conversation touches on Affordable Care Act subsidies, Medicaid eligibility, guidance for pharmacy benefit managers, drug price negotiations, and more. This week, we announced that Health Affairs has become Health Affairs Publ...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Gabriel Perna , Deputy Editor of Digital Health Business & Technology at Modern Healthcare , to the pod to discuss Epic Systems , how they became one of the leading American health care EHR companies, a recent antitrust lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against Epic Systems, and even touch on ChatGPT's entrance into health care. Related Art...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers is joined by Michael Chernew from Harvard Medical School to explore the recent 2024 health care spending report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) . To kick off the new year, we are offering podcast videos of A Health Podyssey . Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch those episodes. Let us know what you think about the videos by emailing us at...

In the wake of Medicare and Medicaid's 60th anniversary, Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Jamila Michener of Cornell University to the pod to discuss her recent Forefront article on organized power and its impact on the future of Medicaid . Also, join us for these upcoming events: 8/26: Provider Prices in the Commercial Sector: Independent Dispute Resolution ( FREE TO ALL ) 9/3: Theme Issue Br...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Mark Fendrick of The University of Michigan's Center for Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) to discuss the recent announcement from CMS that the Medicare Advantage VBID model would be ending after 2025, and what the future holds for VBID moving forward with the new Trump administration. Check out a recently released Health Policy brief from Nathaniel Tran and...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Leslie Erdelack back to the pod to discuss the proposed rule change to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2026, which includes payment conversion factors for doctors, alternative payment models, add-on codes for Advanced Primary Care Management services, a new mandatory value-based payment model, and more. Order the August 2025 issue of Healt...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers is joined by Michael Chernew from Harvard Medical School to discuss the recently released National Health Expenditures Projections for 2024–33 from the Office of the Actuary (OACT) at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Related Articles: National Health Expenditure Projections, 2024–33: Despite Insurance Coverage Declines, Health To Grow As Share Of GD...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Katie Keith of Georgetown Law and Deputy Editor Chris Fleming to the pod to discuss Trump administration's One Big Beautiful Bill and how this will affect Medicaid, Medicare, health savings accounts, rural hospitals, and more. Become an Insider today to get access to our trend reports, events, and exclusive newsletters. Related Links: The 'One Big Beautiful Bil...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Rachel Bonesteel of Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy to the pod to discuss her recent Forefront article focused on how ACO REACH enabled ACOs to participate in an advanced, global-risk, population-based payment model. Related Articles: ACO REACH 2023 Performance Results Indicate A Pathway To Sustainable Accountable Care ( Health Affairs Forefront ) Opport...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Nathan Hostert of The Center for Advancing Health Policy Through Research at Brown University to the pod to discuss a recent Forefront article on how states are utilizing hospital price caps to save money . Become an Insider today to get access to our third trend report focusing on the influence of private equity in health care . Related Articles: How States Ar...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Rachel Sachs from Washington University in St. Louis and Deputy Editor Chris Fleming back to the pod to discuss CMS' final guidance for the latest round of the Medicare drug price negotiation program . Related Articles: Administration Releases Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program Final Guidance For 2028 ( Health Affairs Forefront ) The Role of Combination Dr...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Allison Oakes , Chief Research Officer of Trilliant Health , to the pod to discuss Trilliant's recent health care trend report highlighting the health economy and breaking down the big trends, including price and affordability, demographics and lifestyle, care settings and therapies, and more. Join us for this upcoming event: 11/5: Health Benefits in 2025: Insi...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Stacie Dusetzina of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and David Simon of the University of Connecticut back to the pod to the current state of drug prices, how proposed tariffs may impact the pharmaceutical industry, that Pfizer deal, what consumers can expect if tariffs are added to prescription drugs, what exactly TrumpRx is, and more. Become an Insider to...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Kathleen Haddad back to the pod to take a look at the recent government shutdown, how health policy plays into it, HHS layoffs, the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, the ACA marketplace, and more. Join us for this upcoming event: 11/5: Health Benefits in 2025: Insights from the KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey ( INSIDER EXCLUSIVE ) Becom...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Dr. Yul Ejnes of Brown University Health to the pod to discuss a recent Forefront article he authored about the trend of deprofessionalization in the health care workforce and potential antidotes to address these issues. Learn more about the topic of the health care workforce with a Health Affairs Insider trend report . Join us for this upcoming Insider exclusi...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Ellen Bayer back to the pod to discuss the release of a HHS' new strategy document focusing on childhood chronic disease as part of the Make America Healthy Again initiative, specifically the goals surrounding food, diet, and nutrition. Join us for these upcoming Insider exclusive events: 9/29: Prior Authorization: Current State and Potential Refo...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Carmel Shachar of Harvard Law School to the pod to discuss a recent Forefront article she co-authored that broke down the Kennedy v. Braidwood Management  case focusing on access to preventive care and how the Supreme Court's framing of the relationship between the HHS Secretary and advisory bodies recommending preventive care might set a precedent worth noting...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Health Affairs's Akilah Wise to discuss the recent CDC executive changes, HHS staff culture clashes with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., changes in federal vaccine recommendations, and research examples where health policy influences health care behavior. Health Affairs released a new theme issue focusing on insights from the opioids crisis. Subscribe to the journal to...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Katie Keith of Georgetown Law and Deputy Editor Chris Fleming to the pod to discuss the recent Supreme Court case, American Public Health Association et al. v. National Institutes of Health et al. , that explores the lawfulness of the NIH's termination of nearly $800 million worth of grant funding for programs due to DEI association. This week, Health Affairs r...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Andrew Twinamatsiko of O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law back to the program to discuss pharmacy benefit managers, the laws around PBMs, the statutes in place from the Express Scripts Inc. v. Richmond case, and more. Next week, Health Affairs will be releasing a new theme issue focusing on insights from the opioids crisis. Subscribe to the jo...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Kathleen Haddad back to the pod to take a look at recent news that HHS terminated 22 mRNA projects. The two explore the agency's reasoning, political and Wall Street reactions, and what it could mean for health care innovation. Join us for these upcoming events: 8/26: Provider Prices in the Commercial Sector: Independent Dispute Resolution ( FREE...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Dr. Aaron Carroll , President and CEO of AcademyHealth , to the pod to discuss his recent Forefront article that takes a closer look at the disappearance of public health information and how this could have an impact on infrastructures that scientists, clinicians, health policy makers, and community leaders rely on daily. Become an Insider today to get access t...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Ryan Golden , Senior Reporter at HR Dive , to the pod to discuss workforce trends within the health care space pertaining to artificial intelligence, recruitment, overtime eligibility requirements, pay transparency, noncompete agreements, remote work, RTO policies, and more. This week, Health Affairs released their second Insider trend report focusing on the he...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Kathleen Haddad to the pod to discuss the Forefront series, Supplemental Benefits In Medicare Advantage , and how articles from the series elaborated on issues such as challenges in understanding and accessing benefits, CMS requirements to collect encounter data, the intersection of MA supplemental benefits with Medicaid long-term services and sup...