Health Affairs

01/02/2021

Health Affairs This Week: End-of-year review part 2

The COVID-19 pandemic defined the majority of the year 2020. But it wasn't the only story to follow this year, especially in the rich field of health policy.

In a special extended episode of Health Affairs This Week (the second of two end-of-year episodes), Leslie Erdelack, Vabren Watts and Jessica Bylander discuss some of the stories you may have missed in health policy if you focused most of your attention on the pandemic. The group highlights drug pricing and regulations, the public charge rule, and the increase in health literacy due to the pandemic.

Listen now: https://bit.ly/2WHA4gk

01/01/2021

Job Health Affairs Content Marketing Manager

Job Opening: Our Digital Strategy team is hiring. If you have experience with email marketing to increase revenue, traffic, and user engagement, then apply today to become our Content Marketing Manager!

Full job description and application here: https://bit.ly/3aNKcfZ

Please note that our job postings go through Project Hope's website. If you apply you are not applying for a job with Project Hope, but Health Affairs. Health Affairs operates independently from Project Hope.

Health Affairs produces the nation's leading journal of health policy, curated commentary and analysis on Health Affairs blog, policy briefs, events, ...

12/31/2020

The COVID-19 pandemic defined the majority of the year 2020. But it wasn't the only story to follow this year, especially in the rich field of health policy.

In a special extended episode of Health Affairs This Week (the second of two end-of-year episodes), Leslie Erdelack, Vabren Watts and Jessica Bylander discuss some of the stories you may have missed in health policy if you focused most of your attention on the pandemic. The group highlights drug pricing and regulations, the public charge rule, and the increase in health literacy due to the pandemic.

Listen now: https://bit.ly/2WHA4gk

12/31/2020

“Could—or should—the government impose a mass quarantine on an American city?” That was the question explored by Lawrence Gostin of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown in the most-read Health Affairs Blog post of 2020. Gostin’s March 10 piece heads a top-ten list that features multiple posts focused on the COVID-19 pandemic and the issues it has raised.

On this New Year’s Eve, we present the 10 most-read Health Affairs Blog posts of 2020: https://bit.ly/2KHn0FA

1) Could – Or Should – The Government Impose A Mass Quarantine On An American City? by Lawrence Gostin: https://bit.ly/3rJqBTZ

2) Mapping Misinformation In The Coronavirus Outbreak by Ana Santos Rutschman of Saint Louis University School of Law: https://bit.ly/38Mmeip

3) American Hospital Capacity And Projected Need for COVID-19 Patient Care by Thomas Tsai of Harvard Medical School and coauthors: https://bit.ly/3rE0jm9

4) Flu Masks Failed in 1918, But We Need Them Now by E. Thomas Ewing of Virginia Tech: https://bit.ly/2KHpsvM

5) On Racism: A New Standard for Publishing on Racial Health Inequities by Rhea Boyd and coauthors: https://bit.ly/3ghOADe

6) Health Care Priorities For A COVID-19 Stimulus Bill: Recommendations To The Administration, Congress, And Other Federal, State And Local Leaders From Public Health, Medical, Policy And Legal Experts by Howard Forman of Yale School of Medicine and Yale School of Public Health and coauthors: https://bit.ly/34UsHGS

7. Responding To COVID-19: Using The CARES Act’s Hospital Fund To Help The Uninsured, Achieve Other Goals, by Christen Linke Young of The Brookings Institution and coauthors: https://bit.ly/3bWX5l8

8. Senate Passes COVID-19 Package #3: The Coverage Provisions, by Katie Keith of Georgetown Law: https://bit.ly/34T6ed9

9. Early Impact Of CMS Expansion Of Medicare Telehealth During COVID-19, by Seema Verma of The Centers For Medicare and Medicaid: https://bit.ly/2Wozep3

10. Health Justice Strategies To Combat COVID-19: Protecting Vulnerable Communities During A Pandemic, by Emily A. Benfer of Wake Forest Law and Lindsay F. Wiley of American University Washington College of Law:
https://bit.ly/3pHFNzr

12/30/2020

In our last A Health Podyssey episode of 2020, Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil talks about what it means to be the editor for the leading health policy journal, how empirical research has changed since COVID-19, his views on social determinants of health, and his 2021 health policy predictions.

Come get to know Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil a little better: https://bit.ly/2KA0nTb

12/30/2020

Listen now to the last Narrative Matters podcast of 2020!

Katharine Lawrence of NYU Grossman School of Medicine treats two patients who were forced from their home countries by extreme weather associated with climate change: https://bit.ly/2WDMlCw

12/30/2020

Job Health Affairs Content Marketing Manager

Job Opening: Our Digital Strategy team is hiring. If you have experience with email marketing to increase revenue, traffic, and user engagement, then apply today to become our Content Marketing Manager!

Full job description and application here: https://bit.ly/3aNKcfZ

Please note that our job postings go through Project Hope's website. If you apply you are not applying for a job with Project Hope, but Health Affairs. Health Affairs operates independently from Project Hope.

Health Affairs produces the nation's leading journal of health policy, curated commentary and analysis on Health Affairs blog, policy briefs, events, ...

12/30/2020

Health Affairs extensively covered the COVID-19 pandemic this year. As 2020 draws to a close, we consider 10 of the lessons that have emerged from that coverage. In our new post, we summarize our year in COVID-19 coverage, as well as the other health policy issues you’ll find in Health Affairs—including our ahead-of-print articles that rapidly bring research to bear on the pandemic’s challenges.

1) According to Wei Lyu and George Wehby of the University of Iowa, mandating face masks in public is associated with a decline in the daily COVID-19 growth rate: https://bit.ly/2AGgKJ4

2) Stefan Pichler of the Swiss Economic Institute, Katherine Wen, and Nicholas Ziebarth's research article shows how COVID-19 emergency sick leave has reduced confirmed cases: https://bit.ly/3iWM5XZ

3) Increased testing and isolation may be the most effective, least costly alternative—in terms of money, economic growth, and human life—for controlling COVID-19. Read this study by Ravindra Prasan Rannan-Eliya of Institute for Health Policy and coauthors: https://bit.ly/2WVLpJW

4) Wei Lyu and George Wehby show how shelter-in-place orders reduce both daily COVID-19 hospitalizations and mortality growth rates within weeks of enactment: https://bit.ly/3iLMQ7e

5. Blacks and Hispanics (https://bit.ly/3iLMQ7e) are more likely (https://bit.ly/3jgTemp) to screen positive, be hospitalized, and die due to COVID-19 relative to non-Hispanic Whites. (First paper by Leonard Egede et al. of University of Wisconsin-Madison. Second paper by Jose Figuero of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health et al.)

6. A. David Paltiel of Yale School of Public Health and coauthors write that vaccine implementation, including the pace of vaccination and the percent of the population ultimately vaccinated, will contribute more to the success of vaccination programs than a vaccine’s efficacy determined in clinical trials: https://bit.ly/32YTK2R

7) Hospitals reinvented patient and staff support systems during the COVID-19 pandemic to better cope with trauma. Read the article by Eric Wei and colleagues of NYC Health + Hospitals: https://bit.ly/3hcAWC5

8) The team at NYC Health + Hospitals led by now NYC Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi explain how expanded Medicaid coverage and insurance reimbursement for telehealth (https://bit.ly/3aZLeFs) played a pivotal role in the rapidly increased use of these services during the pandemic.

9) Research conducted and analyzed by Thomas Selden and colleagues from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reveals that the majority of school employees and school-age children (https://bit.ly/3c4Xfbn) live in households including at least one adult with increased risk for severe COVID-19, and about half of all school employees have increased risk themselves.

10) Unionized health care workers in nursing homes (https://bit.ly/2FmHJv0) were associated with a decrease in COVID-19 mortality rates and greater access to personal protective equipment for workers, according to Adam Dean of The George Washington University and coauthors.

Read the full top ten post here: https://bit.ly/2JqK8Y2

12/30/2020

Each of you plays a role in overcoming the pandemic. We’re offering months of free access to much of our COVID-19 content to inform policy making and health decisions worldwide. Help us continue this effort with your subscription to Health Affairs: https://bit.ly/32ONvyD

12/29/2020

In our last A Health Podyssey episode of 2020, Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil talks about what it means to be the editor for the leading health policy journal, how empirical research has changed since COVID-19, his views on social determinants of health, and his 2021 health policy predictions.

Come get to know Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil a little better: https://bit.ly/2KA0nTb

12/29/2020

Pre-order your discounted Health Affairs January 2021 issue today! This edition is centered on responses to COVID-19, Medicaid & more. Read new papers on income inequity, surprise medical billing, and universal coverage. Order your copy now: https://bit.ly/32ONvyD

12/28/2020

Job Health Affairs Content Marketing Manager

Job Opening: Our Digital Strategy team is hiring. If you have experience with email marketing strategy to increase revenue, traffic, and user engagement, then apply today to become our Email Marketing Manager!

Full job description and application here: https://bit.ly/3aNKcfZ

Health Affairs produces the nation's leading journal of health policy, curated commentary and analysis on Health Affairs blog, policy briefs, events, ...

12/28/2020

What does it mean for health system leaders to pursue a culture of health? What does it take to embrace team-based and whole-person care, collaborate across sectors, look upstream, and engage with patients?

Explore these questions through our interactive map (https://bit.ly/2G41B77) which will guide you to different stories of health system transformation in the form of articles, podcasts, and more while showing you where they take place on a global map.

The Leading To Health experience is ready for you now: https://bit.ly/3e3LeUD

12/28/2020

James W. Dearing and Maria Lapinski from Michigan State University explain why message framing matters when communicating with people who are dismissive or skeptical of climate change. Not everyone welcomes new programs, practices, policies, and technologies that promise to mitigate carbon emissions, so messaging is key. This article describes the concept of “multisolving” interventions and why focusing on the health benefits of climate mitigation efforts is important for achieving public support.

Read about those insights here: https://bit.ly/3mXSqoN

12/28/2020

Enjoy our content in the COVID-19 Resource Center (https://bit.ly/398REgY)? Rely on Health Affairs for clarity in research and policy?

If so, show your support with a subscription so we can continue to bring you timely, accurate COVID-19 research: https://bit.ly/32ONvyD

12/26/2020

Health Affairs This Week: End-of-year review part 1

The COVID-19 pandemic defined the majority of the year 2020. But it wasn't the only story to follow this year, especially in the field of health policy.

In a special extended episode of Health Affairs This Week (the first of two end-of-year episodes), Leslie Erdelack, Chris Fleming, and Rob Lott discuss some of the stories you may have missed in health policy if you focused most of your attention on the pandemic. The group highlights the Affordable Care Act turning 10, antitrust regulations, and environmental rollbacks.

Listen now: https://bit.ly/2JdYAm7

12/25/2020

Are you a young professional in your field (working for three years or less)? If so, you qualify for subscription at a reduced price. Visit https://bit.ly/3hbF8mL and click on the "Student, Young Professional, Retiree Subscriptions" tab and start receiving Health Affairs today!

12/24/2020

In their new blog post, Katherine E. Goodman, Anthony D. Harris, and Diane E. Hoffmann of the University of Maryland School of Medicine Official Page and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law discuss the challenges to accessing two new monoclonal antibody treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Fortunately, we have every reason to believe that these logistical and ethical challenges are surmountable with continued planning and dialogue. However, one additional consideration has received comparably little attention: the law. Legal restrictions may prevent health systems from prioritizing treatment for the patients who need it most."

Read the full blog here: https://bit.ly/3phB7Qi

12/24/2020

The COVID-19 pandemic defined the majority of the year 2020. But it wasn't the only story to follow this year, especially in the field of health policy.

In a special extended episode of Health Affairs This Week (the first of two end-of-year episodes), Leslie Erdelack, Chris Fleming, and Rob Lott discuss some of the stories you may have missed in health policy if you focused most of your attention on the pandemic. The group highlights the Affordable Care Act turning 10, antitrust regulations, and environmental rollbacks.

Listen now: https://bit.ly/2JdYAm7

12/24/2020

Check out the new Narrative Matters in the December journal. In “Climate Migration And The Future Of Health Care,” Katherine Lawrence discusses her experiences treating two patients who were forced from their home countries by extreme weather associated with climate change. Read here: https://bit.ly/3lXkdEP

12/24/2020

In their new blog post, John Connolly, Pranay Nadella and David Grande of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania discuss the insights that can be gained from reviewing the policy platforms of the incoming House of Representatives.

"Analysis of policy platforms of the incoming House of Representatives suggests that we should expect continued protections for preexisting conditions, partisan squabbling over lowering drug prices, preservation of the ACA, and an intra-party battle among Democrats over health insurance reform."

Read the full blog here: https://bit.ly/3nHzBGR

12/24/2020

Is access to COVID-19, fast-track peer-reviewed journal articles and free timely commentary on the blog and in multimedia via our COVID-19 Resource Center (https://bit.ly/398REgY) valuable?

Please help us continue this time-sensitive work by subscribing to Health Affairs: https://bit.ly/32ONvyD

12/24/2020

Many look forward to special holiday meals or sweets all year—cookies, latkes, eggnog, and much more. As holiday foods and drinks come back into our kitchens, we should remember that the relationship between food and health is complex. In an article published in Health Affairs’ Health and Food issue in November 2015, Sara Bleich and coauthors discuss the strong, complex relationship between an individual’s food choice and their surrounding environment: https://bit.ly/34FTZ3D

12/23/2020

In the Dec. 2020 issue, GrantWatch gives an update on recently funded projects and completed work from organizations focusing on climate & health. Read now: https://bit.ly/2Jd87Kn

Organizations mentioned include: The Kresge Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy, Grantmakers In Health, Health and Environmental Funders Network (HEFN), CDC Foundation, Vitalyst Health Foundation AZ, Dogwood Health Trust, and The California Wellness Foundation.

12/23/2020

In their new blog post, Jackson T. Bowers, Callie A. Scott, Kathi H. Mooney, Sandra G. Jost, Nina R. O’Connor, and Justin E. Bekelman of the Penn Center for Innovation and the University of Utah College of Nursing discuss how, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, payers have shown willingness to engage in innovative Hospital at Home models.

"Hospital at Home (HaH) models are one way to reduce preventable acute care and shift unpreventable acute care to a more cost-effective setting, all while keeping patients in the comfort of their homes. While data support exploration of oncology HaH, lack of reimbursement for intensive in-home acute care remains the biggest barrier to adoption."

Read the full blog here: https://bit.ly/2LWb8jc

12/23/2020

Get the latest Health Affairs December 2020 issue today! This edition is centered on climate & health. Read about the impacts of the health sector on the climate and vice-versa. Papers cover topics such as C02 emissions, natural disasters, pollution, and more.

Order your copy now: https://bit.ly/3okGwGH