Monday, March 11, 2024 | The Latest Research, Commentary, and News from Health Affairs
Dear John,
On Tuesday, March 19, you are invited to join Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil when he welcomes Douglas Jacobs, Chief Transformation Officer at CMS, for another edition of Policy Spotlight.
In the new March issue of Health Affairs, Courtney Baird of Brown University and her team of coauthors explore the impacts of county-level bans on large gatherings, stay-at-home orders, mask mandates, and bar and restaurant closures on COVID-19 transmission during waves 1–4 of the pandemic (March 2020–June 2021).
Among other findings, the researchers conclude that the mitigating effects of these policies were particularly strong during the second and third waves of COVID-19.
They also find “strong evidence of the overall protective effect of mask mandates and to a lesser degree, anti-congregation policies, particularly during waves 2 and 3.”
Next week, A Health Podyssey will feature an in-depth conversation discussing this study's findings between Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil and author Courtney Baird.
This Women's History Month, we're elevating women who work to advance health equity and policy.
In a September 2023 article, Sara C. Handley and coauthors emphasize the importance of integrating dyadic outcomes into clinical care, research, and policy to support the health of parents, infants, their families, and communities.
In August 2022, President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which includes key provisions designed to:
reduce drug spending by the federal government
lower prescription drug cost for Medicare beneficiaries
These provisions will unleash forces that will ripple throughout pharmaceutical markets, affecting the behavior of consumers, manufacturers, public and private payers, and other stakeholders in the complex pharmaceutical supply chain.
In particular, Medicare’s newly granted ability to negotiate with manufacturers for specific high-cost drugs will have major impacts on markets, with spillover effects for US private payers and non-US purchasers.
Some of the effects are already being felt, as CMS announced the first ten drugs eligible for negotiation in late 2023.
With support from the National Pharmaceutical Council, Health Affairs has begun a new initiative – “Eye on the IRA” – to help our readers keep up with news and research regarding implementation of this sweeping piece of legislation.
The multiyear initiative consists of two key parts:
The Health Affairs IRA Observatory and Related Publications – an expert working group of pharmaceutical market stakeholders will inform and guide Health Affairs in identifying newsworthy developments in IRA implementation, providing evidence and information that forms the basis for analyses, written by editorial staff and published in Health Affairs.
A forthcoming Eye on the IRA series of peer-reviewed journal articles featuring empirical research about the legislation’s effects. Please see the call for papers.
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.
Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has published Health Affairs since 1981.
