Health Affairs This Week

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Kinika Young of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to the program to discuss a recent final rule/advisory issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and how this rule will impact the scope of medical debt in the US today.  Check out a recently released Health Policy brief from Nathaniel Tran and Gilbert Gonzale...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Ellen Bayer to the program to examine the US Food & Drug Administration's most recent work on food and nutrition policy, as well as what was done in the final days of the Biden administration and where things stand today. Health Affairs will be releasing a theme issue focusing on Food, Nutrition, & Health in April 2025 . Next week, Health...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Deputy Editor Chris Fleming and Katie Keith of Georgetown Law to the program to discuss what to watch for in 2025 as the Trump administration takes office and what that could mean for future health policy regulations. Katie Keith helped us kickoff a new Health Affairs Forefront series entitled Health Policy At A Crossroads . Check out the first installment . He...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Leslie Erdelack back to the program to discuss the latest hospital price transparency requirements that began in 2025, how many hospitals are actually following these regulations, and what effect noncompliance has on consumers' access to health care. Check out a recently released Health Policy brief from Derek Griffith and Andrew Twinamatsiko expl...

Happy New Year! Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott back to the program to explore Medicare fraud , how prevalent it is, who's most at risk, and what measures are being taken to protect Medicare beneficiaries. Health Affairs just released our January 2025 issue on Medicare , Care Delivery , Medicare Advantage , and more. Order your copy today ! Also, we just released...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Leslie Erdelack back to the program to discuss the recently released 2023 health care spending report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) . Learn more about the report from our ahead-of-print article from Anne B. Martin and colleagues from CMS . Last week, Health Affairs announced that Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil will leave his...

Health Affairs This Week is off for a few weeks. We will return for a special episode in December before returning to our regular schedule in January 2025. For the next few weeks, we present the three-part A Disproportionate Share , a podcast from NYC Health + Hospitals's Michael Shen , a primary care doctor and Chief Creative Officer for the medical education podcast Core IM , as part of the Heal...

Health Affairs This Week is off for a few weeks. We will return for a special episode in December before returning to our regular schedule in January 2025. For the next few weeks, we present the three-part A Disproportionate Share , a podcast from NYC Health + Hospitals's Michael Shen , a primary care doctor and Chief Creative Officer for the medical education podcast Core IM , as part of the Heal...

Health Affairs This Week is off for the next three weeks. We will return for a special episode in December before returning to our regular schedule in January 2025. For the next three weeks, we present the three-part A Disproportionate Share , a podcast from NYC Health + Hospitals's Michael Shen , a primary care doctor and Chief Creative Officer for the medical education podcast Core IM , as part...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers is joined by Frank McStay of Duke Margolis Institute for Health Policy to discuss the results of a recent CMS report that explores the impacts of the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) in 2023 and beyond. Health Affairs’s Research and Justice For All podcast returns for its second season , focusing on drivers of health. Bookmark Health Affairs Forefront to keep an e...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers is joined by Jason Resendez , President and CEO of the National Alliance for Caregiving , to discuss the recent finalization of CMS's 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and how these policies will impact family caregivers and the integration of these individuals into the health care system.   Health Affairs’s Research and Justice For All podcast returns for its second...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers is joined by Deputy Editor Chris Fleming and Zachary Baron of Georgetown University's O'Neill Institute to discuss what the outcome of the 2024 US Presidential Election could mean for future health care decisions. Order the November 2024 issue of Health Affairs with a focus on health insurance , pharmaceuticals , and more. Check out a recent episode of A Health Podyssey...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott back to the program to discuss the 2024 election on the state level with ballot initiatives focused on reproductive health , cannabis restrictions , Medicaid work requirements , and more. Check out our upcoming events: 11/7/2024 - BRIEFING: Financial Integration of Medicare and Medicaid: Necessary But Not Sufficient (Open to All) 1...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Leslie Erdelack back to the program to discuss the current state of retail clinics within retailers such as Walgreens , CVS , and Walmart , the challenges these operations have faced, and what the future implications for consumers might be as some retailers shutter some arms of these operations. Check out our 2024 Election Collection available fro...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Ellen Bayer to the program to take a closer look at the health care-related topics tied to the upcoming US presidential election. The two cover home care , reproductive health , drug pricing , and more throughout their conversation. RSVP for our upcoming Journal Club Event on 10/21 featuring an examination on the timing of new drug launches in low...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Michael Gerber back to the program to discuss Medicare open enrollment, the newly-announced 2025 Medicare Advantage and Part D Star Ratings, and how large insurance companies may be scaling back Medicare Advantage product offerings. Check out the October 2024 issue of Health Affairs . RSVP for our upcoming Journal Club Event on 10/21 featuring an...

This episode was originally published on June 14, 2024 . Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers is joined by Michael Chernew to discuss the recently released National Health Expenditures Projections for 2023–32 from the Office of the Actuary (OACT) at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Join us for these upcoming events: 6/18/24 - Journal Club: “Community Power-Building Groups And Public He...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers is joined by Deputy Editor Chris Fleming and Rachel Sachs of Washington University, St. Louis to discuss a recent lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) against the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the country for rebating practices that the FTC claims resulted in inflating the list price of insulin. Health Affairs just released an Election...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Brad Ryan , MD, Chief Growth Officer at NCQA , to the program to discuss the evolving state of EHRs, who owns the data, whether providers are excited about data standards, and what opportunities could be out there as health care embraces more digital efforts and arrangements. Health Affairs released an ahead-of-print article this week by Gillian K. SteelFisher...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Kathleen Haddad back to the program to discuss the upcoming 2024 open enrollment season for Medicare and what changes to expect with recent news that large insurance companies may be scaling back Medicare Advantage offerings in the coming year. Learn more about our upcoming events in September: 9/24 - Briefing: The Future of Telehealth and Its Imp...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Deputy Editor Jessica Bylander to the program to discuss a recent health advisory issued by US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declaring parental stress as a public health challenge. They also discuss the Murthy's focus on social media and its impact on mental health. Learn more about our upcoming events in September: 9/24 - Briefing: The Future of Telehealth and...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Deputy Editor Chris Fleming to the program to discuss the latest hurdle to the FTC's attempt to ban noncompete agreements in employment contracts, and what the implications are for the health care industry. This week, Health Affairs released their September 2024 issue focusing on access to care, coverage, & more. Read the issue here and order your copy toda...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Seth Berkowitz of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine to the program to discuss his recent book " Equal Care: Health Equity, Social Democracy, and the Egalitarian State ," which offers a vision for the future of health equity by examining the social mechanisms that link injustice to poor health. Order the September 2024 issue of Healt...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Ellen Bayer to the program to discuss the ongoing progress of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, how it's being implemented, and how we can best evaluate the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. Health Affairs will be hosting a virtual Journal Club event on Tuesday, August 27, entitled " Coverage of Anti-Obesity Medicines Could Increase Medi...

Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Leslie Erdelack back to the program to discuss recent cybersecurity events that have affected both health care businesses and patients alike, prevention measures, and what does a provider do when their technology tools aren't working. This week, Health Affairs published two ahead-of-print articles. You can check those out below:  Is It Working? Ev...