Health Affairs This Week

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Medicare Advantage Targeted By CMS For Overpayment Feb 03, 2023

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This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.

Delivered weekly from David Lim, Semafor Healthcare connects the dots between decisions in government, business, and technology to reveal how they impact the future of healthcare. Each edition will provide the analysis you need to understand and stay ahead of a rapidly changing landscape. Subscribe for free.

Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Kathleen Haddad explain the complexities of the CMS final rule on Medicare Advantage risk adjustment.

Read the CHS report's executive summary (available after 1pm ET on 2/3/23)

Related Links:

CMS Issues Final Rule to Protect Medicare, Strengthen Medicare Advantage, and Hold Insurers Accountable (CMS)
New Medicare Rule Aims to Take Back $4.7 Billion From Insurers (The New York Times)

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The Problem With Provider Directories Jan 27, 2023

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This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.

Listen to Health Affairs' Leslie Erdelack and Jessica Bylander discuss the latest efforts to fix problems with directories of health care providers and the potential for a national provider directory.

Join Us for the Considering Health Spending event on February 3.

In The News: Child Vaccination Rates, Veterans Care and...Gas Stoves? Jan 20, 2023

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This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.

Listen to Ellen Bayer and Marianne Amoss discuss some of the latest headlines in health care, including child immunization rates, suicide care for veterans, and public health concerns surrounding gas stoves.

Leqembi & Health Equity Jan 13, 2023

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This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.

Listen to Health Affairs Ryann Tanap and Vabren Watts in the first of many "Health Equity Corner" episodes on This Week discuss the latest from the health equity department and unpack what Leqembi, the newly approved Alzheimer's disease drug, could mean in the health equity space.

No Health Care News Shortage in 2023 Jan 06, 2023

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This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.

We're back! New year, more podcasts.

In the first episode of 2023, Kathleen Haddad and Chris Fleming discuss, the $1.7 trillion omnibus bill, the coming end of Medicaid eligibility for millions, a new COVID variant, and more. With no shortage of news in the health care space, we're excited for a new year of Health Affairs This Week.

Related Links:

Home-Based Care Reimagined: A Full Fledged Health Care Delivery Ecosystem Without Walls (Health Affairs)
Medicaid Unwinding Will Begin in April but There's Good News in Congressional Funding Agreement (Georgetown University Health Policy Institute)
10 Things to Know About the Unwinding of the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Requirement (KFF)
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023 Explanatory Statement
Health Affairs Pathways

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2022 Health Policy Year in Review Dec 16, 2022

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This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.

On the 100th episode of Health Affairs This Week, Ellen Bayer and Kathleen Haddad go over major policy developments in health care this year, including COVID-19, abortion, gun violence, drug prices, and more.

Related Links:

What Are The Prescription Drug Provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act? (Kaiser Family Foundation)
House Passes The Equality Act: Here's What It Would Do (NPR)
Five Things To Know About the Renewal of Extra Affordable Care Act Subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act (Kaiser Family Foundation)
FDA Provides Update on External Evaluation to Strengthen Agency's Human Foods Program
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act: What Does the Law Do and How Might It be Impacted by Bruen? (Duke Center for Firearms Law)

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Will Naloxone Become An Over-The-Counter Drug? Dec 09, 2022

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This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.

Listen to Leslie Erdelack and Jessica Bylander discuss the FDA's look into the potential for over-the-counter naloxone products to help reduce opioid overdose deaths.

Related Links:

FDA Fast-tracks Review of Over-the-Counter Opioid Drug (Axios)
FDA Announces Preliminary Assessment that Certain Naloxone Products Have the Potential to be Safe and Effective for Over-the-Counter Use (FDA)
Plan N: The Case For Over-The-Counter Naloxone (Health Affairs Forefront)

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Tackling Bias in Health Care Algorithms Dec 02, 2022

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This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is investigating hospitals' software algorithms to help identify potential racial biases in the systems. Listen to Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Rob Lott discuss the background and research behind racial biases in health care algorithms.

View the Anniversary Timeline celebrating 40+ years of advancing health policy.

Related Links:

Dissecting Racial Bias in an Algorithm Used to Manage the Health of Populations (Science)
Hidden In Plain Sight - Reconsidering The Use of Race Correction in Clinical Algorithms (NEJM)
Podcast: Michael Sun on Racial Biases Hiding in EHRs (A Health Podyssey)
The Potential For Bias in Machine Learning and Opportunities for Health Insurers to Address It (Health Affairs)
Algorithmic Bias in Health Care: A Path Forward (Health Affairs Forefront)
Leveraging Affordable Care Act Section 1557 to Address Racism in Clinical Algorithms (Health Affairs Forefront)

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Midterm Health Care Ballot Initiative Review Nov 18, 2022

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This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.

Health Affairs' Ellen Bayer and Kathleen Haddad break down the under-discussed state ballot initiatives that focused on health care in the 2022 mid-term elections.

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