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Health Affairs This Week
Health Affairs
243 episodes
13 hours ago
Health Affairs This Week places listeners at the center of health policy’s proverbial water cooler. Join editors from Health Affairs, the leading journal of health policy research, and special guests as they discuss this week’s most pressing health policy news. All in 15 minutes or less.
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Health & Fitness
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All content for Health Affairs This Week is the property of Health Affairs and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
Health Affairs This Week places listeners at the center of health policy’s proverbial water cooler. Join editors from Health Affairs, the leading journal of health policy research, and special guests as they discuss this week’s most pressing health policy news. All in 15 minutes or less.
Show more...
Health & Fitness
News
Episodes (20/243)
Health Affairs This Week
CMS Drug Price Negotiation Guidance Updates with Rachel Sachs

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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 Drugs in the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program (JAMA)
  • Articulating policy options regarding implementation of the Medicare drug price negotiation program’s renegotiation provision (Brookings Institution)
  • Eye on The IRA (Health Affairs)

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1 week ago
17 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
Why the U.S. Healthcare System Is Unwell | Allison Oakes

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: Insights from the KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey (INSIDER EXCLUSIVE)

Become an Insider today to get access to this event and our third trend report focusing on the influence of private equity in health care.

Related Articles:

  • 2025 Trends Shaping the Health Economy (Trilliant Health)
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2 weeks ago
19 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
Pharmaceutical Tariffs Explained: The Will-They-Won’t-They Story of 2025

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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 today to get access to our third trend report focusing on the influence of private equity in health care.

Related Articles:

  • Trump admin readies 'imminent' probe into other nations' drug pricing, raising new tariff threat: FT (FiercePharma)
  • President Trump’s Executive Orders On Prescription Drug Prices: What The Evidence Says (Health Affairs Forefront)

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3 weeks ago
20 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
Government Shutdown: Health Policy Back in the Political Crossfire

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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)

Become an Insider today to get access to exclusive events and our upcoming third trend report.

Related Articles:

  • Judge pauses shutdown layoffs at more than 30 federal agencies (NPR)
  • Medicare backs off plan to pause doctor payments amid shutdown (STAT)
  • White House: Shutdown layoffs will be ‘north of 10,000’ (Politico)

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4 weeks ago
19 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
Future of Primary Care: Bright or Broken? w/ Troyen Brennan

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Health Affairs' Jeff Byers welcomes Troyen A. Brennan of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and former CMO at CVS Health to the pod to discuss his new book, Wonderful and Broken: The Complex Reality of Primary Care in the United States. The conversation touches on themes within the book, including the current state of primary care, the diffusion of ideas in the health care space, the paradox of value-based care driven by Medicare Advantage, innovation in the Medicaid space, and what opportunities there could be to improve health care outcomes.


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1 month ago
20 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
Physician Autonomy in Decline: The Rise of Deprofessionalization w/ Yul Ejnes

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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 exclusive events:

  • 10/15: Immigration Policies and Their Impact on Health Care

Become an Insider today to get access to our trend reports, events, and exclusive newsletters.

Related Articles:

  • Deprofessionalization: An Emerging Threat To The Physician Workforce (Health Affairs Forefront)
  • The Health Care Workforce: A Challenge In Sustainability (Health Affairs)

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1 month ago
22 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
Make America Healthy Again...Again

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 Reform
  • 10/15: Immigration Policies and Their Impact on Health Care

Become an Insider today to get access to our trend reports, events, and exclusive newsletters.

Related Articles:

  • Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy Report
  • The MAHA Report - Assessment Document
  • Prevalence and Trends in Pediatric-Onset Chronic Conditions in the United States, 1999–2018 (Academic Pediatrics)
  • Food, Nutrition, and Health Theme Issue from Health Affairs
  • U.S. Seeks New Limits on Food Ads for Children (New York Times)
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1 month ago
16 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
An ACA Supreme Court Case May Have Created an HHS Power Paradox w/ Carmel Shachar

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.

Join us for these upcoming Insider exclusive events:

  • 9/29: Prior Authorization: Current State and Potential Reform
  • 10/15: Immigration Policies and Their Impact on Health Care

Become an Insider today to get access to our trend reports, events, and exclusive newsletters.

Related Articles:

  • Braidwood's Double-Edged Sword and The Dismantling of Preventive Care (Health Affairs Forefront)
  • Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, Inc.
  • Kennedy v. Braidwood: The Supreme Court Upheld ACA Preventive Services but That’s Not the End of the Story (KFF)
  • Insurance Coverage Without Cost Sharing for Preventive Health Care Restored by the Supreme Court (JAMA)
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1 month ago
24 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
The Downstream Effects of Politics & Policy on Health Decisions

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 never miss out on an upcoming issue.

Join us for these upcoming events:

  • 9/17: Lunch & Learn: The Current Opioids Policy Landscape & What’s Ahead (FREE TO ALL)
  • 9/23: Prior Authorization: Current State and Potential Reform (INSIDER EXCLUSIVE)

Become an Insider today to get access to our trend reports, events, and exclusive newsletters.

Related Articles:

  • Disparities In County COVID-19 Vaccination Rates Linked To Disadvantage And Hesitancy (Health Affairs)
  • Guaranteed Cash Incentives Boosted COVID-19 Vaccinations Of Young Adults: Evidence From West Virginia (Health Affairs)
  • HHS schedules next vaccine panel meeting after CDC director ousted (Politico)
  • Concerned about federal vaccine policies, states are crafting their own (NPR)
  • Modeling Reemergence of Vaccine-Eliminated Infectious Diseases Under Declining Vaccination in the US (JAMA)
  • HHS employees demand RFK Jr. resign for ‘compromising the health of this nation’ (CNN)
  • At Senate hearing, lawmakers express dissatisfaction with RFK Jr.’s vaccine moves (Healthcare Dive)
  • Trump admin agrees to restore public health webpages (Axios)
  • 1 in 5 US workers say they’re ignoring return-to-office rules (HR Dive)
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2 months ago
15 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
Supreme Court Upholds NIH’s Termination of $800M in Grants w/ Katie Keith

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 released a new theme issue focusing on insights from the opioids crisis. Subscribe to the journal to never miss out on an upcoming issue.

Join us for these upcoming events:

  • 9/17: Lunch & Learn: The Current Opioids Policy Landscape & What’s Ahead (FREE TO ALL)
  • 9/23: Prior Authorization: Current State and Potential Reform (INSIDER EXCLUSIVE)

Become an Insider today to get access to our trend reports, events, and exclusive newsletters.

Related Articles:

  • Unpacking The Supreme Court’s Decision Over NIH Funding (Health Affairs Forefront)
  • American Public Health Association et al. v. National Institutes of Health et al.
  • A closely watched legal battle over NIH funding cuts could settle soon (STAT+)
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2 months ago
22 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
PBM Laws & State Reforms: Are Big Changes Coming?

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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 journal to never miss out on an upcoming issue.

Join us for these upcoming events:

  • 9/3: Theme Issue Briefing: Insights About The Opioid Crisis (FREE TO ALL)
  • 9/17: Lunch & Learn: The Current Opioids Policy Landscape & What’s Ahead (FREE TO ALL)

Related Articles:

  • Arkansas PBM law could spur lookalike restrictions (Axios)
  • Express Scripts Inc et al v. Richmond et al (Judicial Publications)
  • PBM lobby sues Arkansas over law requiring drug middlemen to sell pharmacies (Healthcare Dive)

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2 months ago
16 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
The Politics & Business of mRNA Vaccine Investment Cuts

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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 TO ALL)
  • 9/3: Theme Issue Briefing: Insights About The Opioid Crisis (FREE TO ALL)
  • 9/17: Lunch & Learn: The Current Opioids Policy Landscape & What’s Ahead (FREE TO ALL)
  • 9/23: Prior Authorization: Current State and Potential Reform (INSIDER EXCLUSIVE)

Become an Insider today to get access to exclusive events like the ones highlighted above.

Related Articles:

  • HHS abandons mRNA vaccine research (BioPharma Dive)
  • 1 big thing: RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine revolution (Axios)
  • Moderna Stock Jumps as NIH Chief Tempers Administration’s Attack on mRNA (Barron's)
  • 750 HHS employees send signed letter to RFK Jr. asking him to stop spreading misinformation (ABC News)
  • Industry frets Kennedy’s mRNA decision will curb cancer breakthroughs (Politico Pro)

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2 months ago
15 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
Power and Its Impact on Medicaid w/ Jamila Michener

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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 Briefing: Insights About The Opioid Crisis (FREE TO ALL)
  • 9/23: Prior Authorization: Current State and Potential Reform (INSIDER EXCLUSIVE)

Become an Insider today to get access to exclusive events like the ones highlighted above.

Related Articles:

  • Order Fragmented Democracy: Medicaid, Federalism, and Unequal Politics (Cambridge University Press)
  • Medicare and Medicaid at 60 Forefront Series

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3 months ago
25 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
Medicare Physicians Are Getting a Raise...But At What Cost?

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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 Health Affairs.

Join us for a live taping of A Health Podyssey on Tuesday August 12 where Rob Lott will discuss recent findings about changes in clinician's participation across Medicare value-based payment models with Kenton Johnston.

Upcoming Events include:

  • 8/20: 340B w/ Sayeh Nikpay (INSIDER EXCLUSIVE)
  • 8/26: Provider Prices in the Commercial Sector: Independent Dispute Resolution (FREE TO ALL)
  • 9/23: Prior Authorization: Current State and Potential Reform (INSIDER EXCLUSIVE)

View all Upcoming Events.


Become an Insider today to get access to exclusive events like the ones highlighted above.

Related Articles:

  • PRESS RELEASE: Calendar Year (CY) 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Proposed Rule (CMS-1832-P)
  • CMS proposes rule aligning Medicare physician payment with ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ MACRA (Healthcare Dive)
  • CMS proposes 3.6% pay bump for docs, takes aim at chronic conditions in physician fee schedule (Fierce Healthcare)
  • Physicians will see Medicare payments rise in 2026 (AMA)
  • Medicare proposes ‘efficiency’ pay cuts that would hit highly paid specialists the most (STAT News)

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3 months ago
17 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
Losing Public Health Data: What’s at Risk w/ Aaron Carroll

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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 to our trend reports, events, and exclusive newsletters.

Related Links:

  • AcademyHealth Situation Reports
  • PRESS RELEASE: AcademyHealth Joins Lawsuit to Restore Public Health Data Removed from Federal Websites
  • Become an AcademyHealth Member

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3 months ago
20 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
The Big Beautiful Bill: A New Era for Health Policy? w/ Katie Keith

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 Bill,' Now Law, Does Not Protect Rural Hospitals (Health Affairs Forefront)
  • Rural Health Transformation Program Won’t Shield Hospitals And Other Rural Providers From OBBBA’s Fallout (Health Affairs Forefront)
  • With Budget Reconciliation Bill Enacted, Health Care Changes Loom (Health Affairs Forefront)
  • Congress Should Remove The Rare Disease Carve-Out From Medicare Drug Price Negotiation, Not Expand It (Health Affairs Forefront)
  • Recent Experience Shows National Medicaid Work Requirements Would Create Enormous Administrative Inefficiencies (Health Affairs Forefront)
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3 months ago
17 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
HR Policies Health Care Needs to Know Right Now w/ Ryan Golden

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 health care workforce, titled "The Health Care Workforce: A Challenge In Sustainability."

Become an Insider today to get access to our trend reports, events, and exclusive newsletters.

Related Links:

  • HR Dive
  • Tracker: A running list of states and localities that require employers to disclose pay or pay ranges (HR Dive)
  • Tracker: A running list of states and localities that regulate AI in hiring (HR Dive)
  • Event: The HR Dive 2026 open enrollment and total rewards playbook
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3 months ago
22 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
US Health Spending Projections Back on the Rise w/ Michael Chernew

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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 GDP
  • CMS National Health Expenditure Data

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4 months ago
20 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
Medicare Advantage Supplemental Benefits: What We've Learned

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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 supports, and more.

Become an Insider today to get access to exclusive events, our recent trend report on AI in health care, and monthly newsletters from authors such as Stacie Dusetzina, David Simon, Brent Fulton, and others.

Upcoming Insider Exclusive Events include:

  • 6/17: Risk Adjustment Trends & Reform with J. Michael McWilliams
  • 7/9: Supreme Court Wrap-Up with moderator Sara Rosenbaum joined by panelists William Sage, Barak Richman, and Renee Landers

View all Upcoming Events.

Related Articles:

  • The People Say
  • Flex Cards In Medicare Advantage: A Closer Look At Impact and Challenges (Health Affairs Forefront)
  • Medicare Advantage And Supplemental Long-Term Services And Supports: A Small Step In The Right Direction (Health Affairs Forefront)
  • Time To Reexamine The Role Of Supplemental Benefits In Medicare Advantage (Health Affairs Forefront)
  • Medicare Advantage Supplemental Benefits: Origins, Evolution, And Issues For Policy Making (Health Affairs Forefront)

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5 months ago
16 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
Back In Our Budget Reconciliation Bag w/ Katie Keith

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Health Affairs' Jeff Byers welcomes Katie Keith of Georgetown Law back to the pod to discuss the House Republican budget reconciliation legislation and what impacts this legislation could have on the Affordable Care Act market, Medicaid beneficiaries, health savings accounts, Medicare, and more.

Become an Insider today to get access to exclusive events, our recent trend report on AI in health care, and monthly newsletters from authors such as Stacie Dusetzina, David Simon, Laura Tollen, and others.

Related Articles:

  • The House Republican Budget Reconciliation Legislation: Unpacking The ICHRA And HSA Changes (Health Affairs Forefront)
  • Health Policy At A Crossroads
  • Trump tax bill will add $2.4 trillion to the deficit and leave 10.9 million more uninsured, CBO says (AP News)
  • Expansions to Health Savings Accounts in House Budget Reconciliation: Unpacking the Provisions and Costs to Taxpayers (KFF)

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5 months ago
23 minutes

Health Affairs This Week
Health Affairs This Week places listeners at the center of health policy’s proverbial water cooler. Join editors from Health Affairs, the leading journal of health policy research, and special guests as they discuss this week’s most pressing health policy news. All in 15 minutes or less.