TODAY ON THE BLOG

COVID-19

How California Counties’ COVID-19 Response Benefited From The "Whole Person Care" Program
By Nadereh Pourat, Emmeline Chuang, and Leigh Ann Haley

In our April 2020 Health Affairs article, "Integrating Health And Human Services In California’s Whole Person Care Medicaid 1115 Waiver Demonstration," we describe an ambitious program implemented through 25 pilots in 26 California counties to address the medical and social service needs of the most vulnerable and highest-utilizing Medicaid beneficiaries, such as those experiencing homelessness. In April 2020, we asked those pilots to describe whether and how they used Whole Person Care (WPC) partnerships and infrastructure to respond to COVID-19 and whether the pandemic affected WPC implementation. Read More >>

FOLLOWING THE ACA

Supreme Court Rules That Insurers Are Entitled To Risk-Corridors Payments: What The Court Said And What Happens Next
By Katie Keith

The court’s ruling upholds "a principle as old as the nation itself: the government should honor its obligations." Insurers will receive billions in unpaid risk-corridors payments, but it could take time, and the impact will vary significantly by state and insurer. The impact of the court's decision on litigation over cost-sharing reduction payments is uncertain. Read More >>

CULTURE OF HEALTH

Anchor Businesses Can Be Change Makers For Community Health Improvement
By Megan McHugh, Claude R. Maechling, and Jane L. Holl

Among the priority areas for Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams is the link between the health of a community and economic prosperity. Many business leaders have offered wellness benefits to their employees, but leaders have historically felt less responsibility for advancing the health of the community at-large. An RWJF program looks at how anchor businesses could advance health and well-being—and build a culture of health—in their communities. Read More >>

MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH

Saving Moms, Saving Lives
By Lauren Underwood

Taken together, the nine bills included in the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2020 represent a sweeping effort to address our nation’s urgent maternal mortality crisis.
Read More >>

IN THE JOURNAL

INTEGRATING SOCIAL SERVICES & HEALTH

Buying Health For North Carolinians: Addressing Nonmedical Drivers Of Health At Scale
By Zachary Wortman, Elizabeth Cuervo Tilson, and Mandy Krauthamer Cohen

Since 2017 the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has asked how its resources could be optimized to buy health, not only health care. Zachary Wortman and coauthors describe four interconnected initiatives that the department has implemented or is implementing to begin integrating medical and nonmedical drivers of health. Read More >>

Integrating Health And Human Services In California’s Whole Person Care Medicaid 1115 Waiver Demonstration
By Emmeline Chuang, Nadereh Pourat, Leigh Ann Haley, Brenna O’Masta, Elaine Albertson, and Connie Lu

California launched the Whole Person Care Pilot in 2016 with the goal of integrating care for high-utilizing Medi-Cal (California Medicaid) enrollees. Emmeline Chuang and colleagues describe the early experience of the pilot, which brought together county health agencies, Medicaid managed care plans, community-based providers, and other public agencies.
Read More >>

A CLOSER LOOK—Sexual Orientation

Previous studies have suggested that members of sexual minority groups have poorer access to health services than heterosexuals do. However, few studies have examined how sexual orientation interacts with gender and race to affect health care experience. A Health Affairs research article by Ning Hsieh and Matt Ruther determined that despite increased insurance coverage, nonwhite sexual minorities still experience disparities in access to care.

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.

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.

Copyright © Project HOPE: The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.
Health Affairs, 7500 Old Georgetown Road, Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20814, United States

Privacy Policy

To unsubscribe from this email, click here. I