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A Weekly Health Policy Round Up From Health Affairs            

**March 29, 2020**

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THIS WEEK ON THE BLOG

COVID-19

Custodial Staff Protect Us From COVID-19, But Who Is Protecting Them?

By LaShyra T. Nolen (3/27/20)

For many of us, the spread of coronavirus is unprecedented territory.
Every day it feels like we are on the brink of new knowledge that will
lead us closer to quelling its spread. My only hope is that as we
translate our discoveries into solutions, we support those who are on
the front lines valiantly defending our society's health one cleaning
at a time. Read More >>

Part I: What Are Foundations Doing In The Fight Against COVID-19?

By Lee-Lee Prina (3/26/20)

More and more health philanthropies around the United States are
stepping up to help people during this difficult time: sometimes by
awarding grants, sometimes with useful information. Look for Part II to
be published next week.Read More >

Senate Passes COVID-19 Package #3: The Coverage Provisions

By Katie Keith (3/26/20)

Late last night, the US Senate-by a vote of 96 to 0-passed the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), a $2.2
trillion package to address the coronavirus crisis. Read More >>

Correctional Facilities In The Shadow Of COVID-19: Unique Challenges And
Proposed Solutions

By Brie Williams, Cyrus Ahalt, David Cloud, Dallas Augustine, Leah
Rorvig, and David Sears (3/26/20)

Failure to mount an adequate response to potential COVID-19 outbreaks
throughout the nation's jails and prisons has the potential to
devastate the health and well-being of incarcerated Americans, the
nation's correctional workforce, and people living in the thousands of
communities in which our jails and prisons are located. Read More >>

To Help Develop The Safest, Most Effective Coronavirus Tests,
Treatments, And Vaccines, Ensure Public Access To Clinical Research Data

By Christopher J. Morten, Amy Kapczynski, Harlan M. Krumholz, and Joseph
S. Ross (3/26/20)

To address the COVID-19 pandemic that is bearing down on the United
States, the public urgently needs new diagnostics, treatments, and
vaccines. However, to be confident that any new technologies are safe
and effective, we need public access to clinical research data and other
information on these technologies. Read More >>

To Save Staff And Supplies, Designate Specialized COVID-19 Referral
Centers

By Daniel Liebman and Nisarg Patel (3/25/20)

Hospitals around the nation are frantically preparing for a surge in
COVID-19 cases in the coming weeks, but even with the most aggressive
measures, the trajectory of positive cases tells us that increasing
internal capacity and resources won't be enough.Read More >>

Saving COVID-19 Testing For Those Who Really Need It

By Michael R. Fraser and Scott Becker (3/23/20)

There are three priority groups of people who have special needs to get
tested for COVID-19: health care workers and COVID-19 first responders,
symptomatic older Americans, and patients whose clinicians recommend
they get tested for COVID-19. Not in this group? You do not need a test.
Read More >>

FOLLOWING THE ACA

CMS Could Do More In Light Of The Coronavirus Crisis

By Katie Keith (3/26/20)

This post identifies a non-exhaustive list of actions that the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) could take now under the
agency's existing legal authority. Given that Congress has taken only
limited steps to address coverage-related issues in its coronavirus
packages so far, CMS should do much more to leverage its existing
authority to protect consumers. Read More >>

Happy Tenth Birthday, Obamacare: This Crisis Would Be Much Worse Without
You
By Abbe R. Gluck and Erica Turret (3/24/20)

The pandemic reveals the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in action as a broad
safety net for those who have lost their jobs, or their work-provided
coverage, and need access to medical care. It has also shown us the
value of the kind of coordinated federal response to coverage and care
that we can thank the ACA for.Read More >>

ACA Round-Up: Coronavirus Guidance, PA 1332 Waiver, EDE, And More

By Katie Keith (3/23/20)

This post summarizes recent Affordable Care Act-related coronavirus
guidance, Pennsylvania's application for a waiver under Section 1332,
new information on enhanced direct enrollment, and new Marketplace
materials as insurers prepare for the 2021 plan year. Read More >>

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH

You're Doing It Wrong: What Changes In Medicaid And SNAP Reveal About
The Trump Administration's Investment In The Social Determinants Of
Health

By Taylor Cowey and Josh LaRosa (3/24/20)

Those hoping to impact the social determinants of health must mobilize
to protect and strengthen the existing social safety net and to push
this administration and the next to leverage the federal programs that
can make a difference for the largest number of people in need. Read
More >>

HOSPITALS

Regulating Out-Of-Network Hospital Emergency Prices: Problem And
Potential Benchmarks

By Glenn Melnick and Katya Fonkych (3/23/20)

This post focuses on the need and options to regulate hospital
out-of-network emergency prices. We use data from California to conduct
a detailed analysis of the need to regulate hospital out-of-network
emergency prices and potential benchmarks for setting such prices. Read
More >>

MEDICARE

Medicare For All: The Social Transformation Of US Health Care

By Peter S. Arno and Philip Caper (3/25/20)

The US public and, increasingly, the business community are becoming
acutely aware of the rising costs and inadequacies of our current
system. Read More >>

Medicare's Current And Future Role In Reducing Racial And Ethnic
Health Disparities

By Renée M. Landers, Bruce Vladeck, and Bethany K. Cole (3/23/20)

Improving access to affordable, high-quality health coverage and care
for all Americans remains one of the nation's formidable policy
challenges. Read More >>

LEGAL AND REGULATORY ISSUES

Beyond Bans: How Cannabis Policy Reform Can Reduce Vaping-Related
Illnesses

By Amanda Mauri and Rebecca Haffajee (3/26/20)

If the costs associated with new regulatory requirements are so great
that the legal industry cannot compete with the illegal market, policy
makers could risk encouraging the survival of the illicit
industry-especially if states do not increase enforcement against the
illegal market. Read More >>

ACCESS TO CARE

'Self-Service' And Self-Management Shouldn't Mean Patients Fend
For Themselves

By Katelyn Smalley

App-based medicine will only work if it builds on existing connections,
rather than severing them.Read More >>

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IN THE JOURNAL

AHEAD OF PRINT

National Health Expenditure Projections, 2019-28: Expected Rebound In
Prices Drives Rising Spending Growth

By Sean P. Keehan, Gigi A. Cuckler, John A. Poisal, Andrea M. Sisko,
Sheila D. Smith, Andrew J. Madison, Kathryn E. Rennie, Jacqueline A.
Fiore, and James C. Hardesty

New estimates released today from the Office of the Actuary at the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services project an average annual
rate of national health spending growth of 5.4 percent for 2019-28,
outpacing average projected growth in the gross domestic product (GDP)
by 1.1 percentage points. As a result, the health share of the economy
is projected to climb to 19.7 percent by 2028-up from 17.7 percent in
2018. Read More >>

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AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

The ACA Turns 10: Reflections Of Four Industry Leaders

By Alan R. Weil

Alan Weil sat down with Matt Eyles, Nancy Nielsen, Rick Pollack, and
Billy Tauzin, representing health plans, physicians, hospitals, and the
pharmaceutical industry, respectively, to reflect on the Affordable Care
Act's successes, its shortcomings, and the politics leading to its
passage. Read More >>

The Past, Present, And Possible Future Of Public Opinion On The ACA

By Mollyann Brodie, Elizabeth C. Hamel, Ashley Kirzinger, and Drew E.
Altman

When the Affordable Care Act (ACA) became law in 2010, public opinion of
it was narrowly divided and deeply partisan. Mollyann Brodie and
coauthors analyzed data from 102 nationally representative public
opinion polls that were conducted between April 2010 and November 2019
as part of the ongoing Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll.
They found that while the ACA is now more popular than ever, opinions
remain divided, and partisan divisions have gotten larger rather than
smaller over time. Read More >>

Closing The Medicaid Coverage Gap: Options For Reform

By Sara Rosenbaum and Gail Wilensky

How to provide coverage for the poorest Americans who remain ineligible
for Medicaid but too poor for subsidized private health
insurance-closing the Medicaid coverage gap-represents the biggest
piece of unfinished business under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Read
More >>

A Pathway To Consumer-Driven Universal Coverage

By Avik Roy

With the right modifications, the individual market could protect
Americans with preexisting conditions, provide affordable coverage to
the remaining uninsured people, and offer better choices for those with
more traditional coverage. To achieve these goals, policy makers must
first understand the ACA's design flaws. Read More >>

How The ACA Reframed The Prescription Drug Market And Set The Stage For
Current Reform Efforts

By Rena Conti, Stacie B. Dusetzina, and Rachel Sachs

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) contained a range of provisions that
altered prescription drug access and affordability for patients, payers,
and providers. Rena Conti and coauthors consider how things have changed
in the decade after the ACA's passage and how some missed
opportunities in the ACA's passage figure prominently in the current
drug pricing debate. Read More >>

Building On The Gains Of The ACA: Federal Proposals To Improve Coverage
And Affordability

By Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Elizabeth Fowler, and Gayle Mauser

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) significantly improved health insurance
coverage in the US, but many Americans remain under- or uninsured.
Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Elizabeth Fowler, and Gayle Mauser examine
federal strategies under consideration that build on the ACA to extend
comprehensive coverage to all low-income Americans and increase coverage
affordability for middle-income Americans. Read More >>

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About Health Affairs

Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewed journal
at the intersection of health,
health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal
is available in print and online. Late-breaking content is also found
through healthaffairs.org , Health Affairs Today
, and Health Affairs Sunday
Update .  

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health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has
published Health Affairs since 1981.

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