You’re a Health Policy Wonk If… is back!

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Sunday, May 12, 2024 | The Latest Research, Commentary, and News from Health Affairs

Dear John,

Join us Wednesday, May 22, for our next virtual Journal Club featuring a closer look into a paper from our May issue with a focus on COVID-19 policies.

Author Christopher Hoover will discuss efforts to improve COVID-19 vaccination rates and reduce cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in prioritized communities with Leslie Erdelack.

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The May issue of Health Affairs covers a range of topics, including analysis of payment in the Medicare program, efforts to reduce the burden of the COVID-19 pandemic, access to money-saving biosimilars, and how restrictions on abortion providers relate to rates of intimate partner–related homicides.

Medicare

Hannah James and coauthors examine the role that health risk assessments (HRAs) play in increasing the risk scores of Medicare Advantage enrollees ([link removed] ) .

Using 2019 data, they find that 44.4 percent of beneficiaries had at least one HRA, and one in five of those with an HRA had their risk score elevated as a result, yielding up to an aggregate $12.3 billion increase in risk payments to health plans.

Sukruth Shashikumar and coauthors examine the financial outcomes of physician group practices ([link removed] ) participating in the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced Model (BPCI-A), launched in 2018.

Total incentive payments during the first four performance periods (2018–20) were $421 million, with higher target prices almost universally leading to higher bonus payments.

As part of our Practice Of Medicine series, Carter Nakamoto and coauthors compare claims data for Medicare enrollees who receive care from health systems with high and low use of telemedicine ([link removed] ) .

Patients in high-use systems experienced small improvements in access and quality, with modest increases in costs, leading the authors to conclude that “it will be difficult to justify a return to restricting telemedicine payment in Medicare.”

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COVID-19

In an effort to reduce health disparities, California allocated COVID-19 vaccines ([link removed] ) with an emphasis on those communities rated lowest on an area-based socioeconomic measure.

Christopher Hoover and coauthors estimate that “vaccination rates increased by 28.4 percent, and more than 160,000 cases, 10,000 hospitalizations, and 670 deaths were averted because of the policy.”

However, they note, the policy did not eliminate disparities between more- and less-advantaged communities.

H. Joanna Jiang and coauthors compare changes in patient volume in rural and urban hospitals ([link removed] ) and find that “rural hospitals experienced more variability in patient volume, both up and down, than urban hospitals during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Yin Wang and coauthors explore the effects of a guaranteed payment to young adults ([link removed] ) in West Virginia for being fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

They find that young adults who were vaccinated as a result of the $100 incentive accounted for about 20 percent of all young adults who became vaccinated.

Examining Medicare pharmacy claims data, Katherine Wen and coauthors find that between January 2021 and April 2022, “urban counties [showed] greater use of Pfizer-BioNTech and rural counties less use of Pfizer-BioNTech for both first doses and booster doses ([link removed] ) .”

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A Health Podyssey: Charles Stoecker on How Guaranteed Cash Incentives Boosted COVID-19 Vaccinations ([link removed] )

Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Charles Stoecker of Tulane University on his recent paper that explored how guaranteed cash incentives helped boost COVID-19 vaccinations among young adults in West Virginia.

Health Affairs This Week: What Walmart Health's Demise Says About Retail Health and Telehealth Markets ([link removed] )

Health Affairs' Jeff Byers and Jessica Bylander go over the demise of Walmart Health and the health of retail clinics and telemedicine.

Health Affairs Branded Post:

UnitedHealthcare Community & State’s care management approach for children in foster care ([link removed] )

Heidi Strickler

Sponsored by UnitedHealthcare ([link removed] )

For Dually Eligible Individuals, Medicare Brokers Are 'Broken' ([link removed] )

Michael Monson et al.

The IRA: Reducing Inflation Or Threatening Patient Access? ([link removed] )

Richard Hughes IV and Richard Kane

The Role Of Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations In Maternal Health ([link removed] )

Laura B. Attanasio and Kimberley H. Geissler

The Tobacco Endgame Begins ([link removed] )

Howard K. Koh and Michael C. Fiore

Another Administration Win In Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Lawsuits ([link removed] )

Sheela Ranganathan and Zachary Baron

New ACA Policy Expands Access To Dental Care. Now, States Need To Act ([link removed] )

Melissa Burroughs et al.

Tame The Private Equity Beast By Shifting Its Focus To Value-Based Care ([link removed] )

Ken Terry

To Promote Health And Health Equity, Include Quality Nutrition Care As Part Of Anti-Obesity Medication Therapy ([link removed] )

Bob Blancato et al.

Community Health Workers Can Help Improve Youth Mental Health ([link removed] )

Wildaline Figaro et al.

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Health Affairs is launching its second annual You’re A Health Policy Wonk If… contest!

The premise is simple. Finish the statement “You’re A Health Policy Wonk If…”

Besides honor, the first-place winner will receive a free online journal subscription for a year.

Submit by May 31.

Check out last year's submissions ([link removed] ) to get inspired before submitting your entry!

Submit
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About Health Affairs

Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewed journal ([link removed] ) at the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal is available in print and online.

Sign up for all of our newsletters ([link removed] ) , including Health Affairs Today and Health Affairs Sunday Update.

Project HOPE ([link removed] ) 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.

Copyright © Project HOPE: The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

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