View Message in Browser

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

mailto:[email protected]

[link removed]

A Weekly Health Policy Round Up From Health Affairs            

**May 10, 2020**

IN THE JOURNAL

[link removed]

NEW ISSUE:
SUBSTANCE USE, SURPRISE BILLING & MORE

The May issue of Health Affairs includes studies about substance use,
surprise billing, maternal mortality, and other topics.

Read the May 2020 table of contents
.

L
isten
to a two-minute introduction of the issue from Editor-in-Chief Alan
Weil.

Read "From the Editor-in-Chief."

[link removed]

FAST TRACK AHEAD OF PRINT

Estimating The Infection Fatality Rate Among Symptomatic COVID-19 Cases
In The United States

By Anirban Basu

Ascertaining the infection fatality rate (IFR) of COVID-19 infections is
essential in combating this pandemic. Anirban Basu selected 116
counties, spanning 33 states, with a total of 40,835 confirmed cases and
1,620 confirmed deaths through April 20, 2020, to calculate that the IFR
in the US is 1.3 percent, with significant variations across counties.
Read More >>

OPIOID USE DISORDER

Self-Help Groups And Medication Use In Opioid Addiction Treatment: A
National Analysis

By Hefei Wen, Benjamin G. Druss, and Brendan Saloner

People who receive treatment for opioid use disorder may participate in
self-help programs, receive medication, or both. Analyzing discharge
data from opioid treatment programs, Hefei Wen and coauthors find that
for most patients, medication is not part of their treatment, and only
one out of ten patients combine self-help programs and medication. Read
More >>

Impact Of Long-Term Buprenorphine Treatment On Adverse Health Care
Outcomes In Medicaid

By Hillary Samples, Arthur Robin Williams, Stephen Crystal, and Mark
Olfson

Hillary Samples and coauthors examine the effects of longer-duration
buprenorphine treatment among Medicaid enrollees. Comparing people who
sustained treatment for at least 15 months with those treated for 6-9
months, the authors find that the former have "significantly lower
probability of all-cause inpatient use, all-cause emergency use,
opioid-related hospital use, all overdose events, and prescription
opioid use in the follow-up period than in the treatment period." Read
More >>

MATERNAL & CHILD HEALTH

Neighborhood Racial And Economic Polarization, Hospital Of Delivery, And
Severe Maternal Morbidity

By Teresa Janevic, Jennifer Zeitlin, Natalia Egorova, Paul L. Hebert,
Amy Balbierz, and Elizabeth A. Howell

Rates of severe maternal morbidity are growing and exhibiting shocking
racial/ethnic disparities. Teresa Janevic and coauthors analyze birth
records in New York City and, controlling for other factors, find that
women who live in neighborhoods with the highest concentrations of
non-Hispanic black and low-income families face the highest excess risk
of severe maternal morbidity. Read More >>

LEADING TO HEALTH: HEALTH EQUITY

For LGBTQ Patients, High-Quality Care In A Welcoming Environment

By David Tuller

Outside major urban centers, LGBTQ patients often travel hours to find
trusted clinicians. One Iowa clinic has created a safe space just down
the road. Read More >>

This article appears in Health Affairs' series on Leading To Health.

THIS WEEK ON THE BLOG

COVID-19

New Federal Rules Pave The Way For Patient-Driven Health Information
Exchange And Real-World Evidence On COVID-19 Surveillance And Treatment

By Sanket S. Dhruva, Joseph S. Ross, Nilay D. Shah, Rachael Fleurence,
and Harlan M. Krumholz (5/10/20)

New federal rules governing access to electronic health data could
transform evidence generation and accelerate the discovery and delivery
of novel drugs and medical devices, including for COVID-19. Read More >>

Here's How States Can Deliver More Food Assistance To Low-Income
Children During The COVID-19 Pandemic

By Ahmed Ahmed (5/10/20)

The harmful effects of food insecurity are severe: it impacts
children's health, development, academic performance, and long-term
well-being. We cannot sit idly by as students go hungry or miss meals
due to state inaction. Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer can fill the
void of lost school meals. It's time more states apply for it. Read
More >>

Three Workforce Strategies To Help COVID-19 Affected Communities

By Rishi Manchanda (5/9/20)

There are three ways state and federal leaders can ramp up a
community-based workforce to protect vulnerable communities and augment
the efforts of hospitals and public health leaders. They are inspired by
the innovative solutions that we have mapped through discussions with
leaders in health systems, community-based organizations, public health
departments, and philanthropies. Read More >>

Ensuring The Growth Of Telehealth During COVID-19 Does Not Exacerbate
Disparities In Care

By David Velasquez and Ateev Mehrotra (5/8/20)

Federal, state, and local leaders, in addition to health and community
systems, should push for health equity by addressing digital technology,
literacy, and coverage. Their actions could ensure that the most
vulnerable people are not left out during this critical time. Read More
>>

Medicaid Retroactive Eligibility Waivers Will Leave Thousands
Responsible For Coronavirus Treatment Costs

By Paul Shafer, Nicole Huberfeld, and Ezra Golberstein (5/8/20)

One of Medicaid's key provisions has been weakened by recently
approved section 1115 "demonstration projects," commonly referred to as
waivers, that eliminate or reduce retroactive coverage. These waivers
will diminish coverage for thousands of people seeking testing and
treatment for COVID-19 and other medical care. Read More >>

Physicians Should Not Be Forced To Determine Resource Allocation: Triage
Committees May Reduce Physician Trauma

By Susie A. Han and Valerie G. Koch (5/8/20)

Health care providers around the world are confronting the real
possibility of determining which patient receives a ventilator, adding
to their emotional and physical exhaustion during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Use of a triage officer or committee framework to make determinations
regarding scarce resource allocation can ease the potential of physician
trauma. Read More >>

The Need for "Exposure Registries" For Novel Coronavirus

By Bill Cassidy (5/7/20)

To save lives and reopen the economy as soon as possible, the United
States should expand existing information systems, to make use of novel
coronavirus (nCV) exposure history to aid in the public health response.
We have both the technical capability and the privacy infrastructure
necessary to create nCV "exposure registries" that are effective and in
accordance with the rights of Americans. Read More >>

The COVID-19 Epidemic As A Catalyst For Health Care Fraud

By Michael Adelberg and Melissa Garrido (5/7/20)

There are compelling health policy arguments for relaxing regulatory
processes and requirements during a national emergency-strong action
is necessary to address the COVID-19 crisis. Yet while leaders across
the federal agencies are focused on consumer-facing COVID-19 scams,
there is not yet corresponding concern on payer-facing fraud and waste.
Read More >>

Getting The Most Out Of Self-Triage Websites: Experiences With COVID-19
And Principles For The Future

By Justin D. Schrager, Alexander P. Isakov, David W. Wright, and Annay
Q. Yaffee (5/7/20)

We describe the steps that our group used to develop its self-triage
website, and we examine what can be done in the short term to marry the
data from the disparate self-triage systems to enhance and improve our
nation's response to COVID-19. We also discuss what can be done in the
longer term so that we don't engage in duplicative effort when the
next pandemic inevitably comes. Read More >>

Child Care Investments Through The Lens Of The COVID-19 Pandemic

By Gina Adams and Julia Henly (5/6/20)

Rebuilding and strengthening the child care and early education sectors
will be critical to the nation's economic recovery from the COVID-19
pandemic. Read More >>

March-In Rights And Compulsory Licensing-Safety Nets For Access To A
COVID-19 Vaccine

By Michael Liu, William B. Feldman, Jerry Avorn, and Aaron S. Kesselheim
(5/6/20)

Given the state of the current pandemic, the US must be prepared to
counteract measures that prevent optimal access to a COVID-19 vaccine.
Read More >>

To Strengthen The Public Health Response To COVID-19, We Need Community
Health Workers

By Denise O. Smith and Ashley Wennerstrom (5/6/20)

The missed opportunity to leverage community health workers' (CHWs')
potential is costing thousands of lives. Health systems, local
governments, and state public health officials should immediately engage
CHWs in community-based strategies to protect vulnerable populations
during the pandemic. Read More >>

Everyone Is Talking About Testing, But They're Thinking About It All
Wrong

By Arthur L. Kellermann, Craig Goolsby, and Thomas D. Kirsch (5/5/20)

If testing is increased in an uncoordinated manner, it will boost counts
of infected people but fail to generate the insights we need to tailor
our countermeasures and start reopening our economy. Read More >>

Could Coronavirus Cause The Collapse Of Our Health Care Financing
System?

By M. Gregg Bloche and Daniel Wikler (5/5/20)

When normal politics resumes, we can and should debate the question of
whether COVID-19 has exposed flaws in our private coverage system so
profound that we need to replace it, or back it up, with a public
payment scheme. Meanwhile, let's make sure that money doesn't stand
in the way of saving lives. Read More >>

What CMS's Response To COVID-19 Means For Front Line Clinicians

By Michael J. Lipp and Shari M. Ling (5/4/20)

To effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, we need all hands on
deck to ensure that providers are mobilized and available to treat
patients appropriate to the provider's level of training. This is why
during this public health emergency, the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS) has enacted an unprecedented number of waivers
and flexibilities to expand the capacity of facilities and providers.
CMS has acted under Medicare rules that allow the provider workforce to
adapt to meet the dynamic needs of patient care.
Read More >>

FOLLOWING THE ACA

The 2021 Final Payment Notice, Part 1: Insurer Provisions

By Katie Keith (5/8/20)

Yesterday the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released the
2021 Affordable Care Act final payment notice, containing policies and
timelines for areas such as the marketplaces, the risk adjustment
program, and the market reforms. Read the first installment of Katie
Keith's three-part unpacking of the payment notice, and check back for
parts two and three, coming soon. Read More >>

Supreme Court: No Clear Consensus On Contraceptive Mandate Rules

By Katie Keith (5/7/20)

On May 6, 2020, the Supreme Court heard one hour of oral argument over
the validity of Trump-era rules to expand exemptions to the
contraceptive mandate for religious or moral reasons. This post focuses
on the questions asked by the justices and potential outcomes of the
case. Read More >>

ACA Round-Up: COVID-19 Delays, New COBRA Guidance, And More

By Katie Keith (5/5/20)

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to delay enforcement of regulatory
requirements and to issue guidance for insurers that offer Affordable
Care Act plans. In a recent COVID-19 rule, CMS announced it would delay
enforcement of parts of the program integrity rule and offer flexibility
to states with the Basic Health Program. Read More >>

MEDICAID

In The Middle Of A Pandemic, Oklahoma Pursues A Medicaid Funding Cap

By Sara Rosenbaum and Maria Velasquez (5/9/20)

Oklahoma's proposed Healthy Adult Opportunity experiment is the latest
evidence that some states are interested in fostering Medicaid policies
that appear contrary to their populations' health and economic
well-being. From a legal perspective, it is unclear how a plan to test
spending caps pursuant to a Section 1115 Medicaid waiver experiment
could possibly be allowed to proceed. Read More >>

HEALTH EQUITY

A Foundation's Decision To Use A Different Kind Of Investment In Health
Equity

By Nikki Highsmith Vernick (5/6/20)

A foundation's journey in racial health equity began with looking at the
data. Whether in chronic disease, mental health, or advance care
planning, the staff saw glaring gaps and disparities affecting
communities of color in its local area. The foundation's president and
CEO says there is a need for strategies and solutions that include
advocacy for policy change with a ripple effect on health and for an
acknowledgment of the social determinants of health. Read More >>

[link removed]

1. Hefei Wen et al. 
   
                                               
2. Hillary Samples et al. 

3. Danielle N. Atkins & Christine P. Durrance
   
        
4. Teresa Janevic et al.
 
5. Erin L. Duffy et al. 
   
                                         
6. Karan R. Chhabra et al.

7. Amol S. Navathe et al. 
   
                                   
8.Claire K. Ankuda et al.
 
9.Benjamin Lê Cook et al.
   
                                   
10. Michael E. Chernew et al.

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

 

[link removed]

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