Dear John,

The February issue of Health Affairs leads with seven articles from the National Academy of Medicine’s Vital Directions for Health and Health Care: Priorities for 2025 project, which sets forth priorities for the new administration of President Donald J. Trump.

V I T A L   D I R E C T I O N S

Vital Directions For Health And Health Care: Priorities For 2025

Victor J. Dzau and J. Michael McGinnis

Four Opportunities To Revitalize The US Biomedical Research Enterprise

E. Albert Reece et al.

Updating US Public Health For Healthier Communities

Mark McClellan et al.

New Directions For Women’s Health: Expanding Understanding, Improving Research, Addressing Workforce Limitations

Paula A. Johnson et al.

Artificial Intelligence In Health And Health Care: Priorities For Action

Michael E. Matheny et al.

Critical Steps To Address Climate, Health, And Equity

William H. Frist et al.

From Laggard To Leader: Why Health Care In The United States Is Failing, And How To Fix It

Donald M. Berwick et al.

A G E - F R I E N D L Y   H E A L T H

The Number Of Family Caregivers Helping Older US Adults Increased From 18 Million To 24 Million, 2011–22

Jennifer L. Wolff et al.

N O T - F O R - P R O F I T   H O S P I T A L S

Oregon Community Benefit Reform Influenced Not-For-Profit Hospitals’ Charity Care And Medical Debt Write-Off

Tatiane Santos et al.

P R I V A T E   E Q U I T Y

Variation In Hospital Salary Expenditures And Utilization Changes After Private Equity Acquisition, 2005–19

Sneha Kannan and Zirui Song

Increases In Physician Professional Fees In Private Equity–Owned Gastroenterology Practices

Yashaswini Singh et al.

R E P R O D U C T I V E   H E A L T H

Abortion Rate Increased And Birth Rate Decreased After Introduction Of Medicaid Abortion Coverage In Illinois

Taehyun Kim et al.

Health Affairs Branded Post:

UnitedHealthcare Community & State

Sponsored by UnitedHealthcare

Final 2026 Notice Of Benefit & Payment Parameters: Marketplace Standards And Insurance Reforms

Sabrina Corlette and Jason Levitis

part of our Following The ACA series

Filling The Gaps: The Urgent Need For Sickle Cell Disease Data

Theodore Wun and William A. Wood

part of our The Future of Sickle Cell Disease Research & Care series

The Organ Transplantation System Is Inequitable. Modernized Data Can Help Fix That

Lisa M. McElroy et al.

Are Medicare Fee Schedules Appropriate For Commercial Populations?

Will Fox

part of our Provider Prices In The Commercial Sector series

Final 2026 Payment Notice: Risk Adjustment

Matthew Fiedler

part of our Following The ACA series

Addressing The Harmfully Slow Uptake Of Race-Neutral Kidney Function Tests

Diane C. Lewis et al.

Unraveling Progress: The US Exit From The WHO And Its Global Consequences

Bailey Johnson et al.

Improving Medicare Advantage By Accounting For Large Differences In Upcoding Across Plans

Steven M. Lieberman and Paul B. Ginsburg

Don Berwick on How to Fix US Health Care

Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Don Berwick of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement about his paper as part of the Vital Directions for Health and Health Care: Priorities for 2025 package that proposes strategies for how health care in the US could be transformed.

The Scope of US Medical Debt w/ Kinika Young

Health Affairs' Jeff Byers welcomes Kinika Young of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to the program to discuss a recent final rule/advisory issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau barring medical debt from US credit reports and how this rule will impact the scope of medical debt in the US today. 

New Drugs at the Medicare Negotiating Table with Stacie Dusetzina

Join Health Affairs on February 25 for an exclusive Insider virtual event exploring HHS’s announcement of the 15 additional drugs selected for Medicare drug price negotiations, including weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy.

Stacie Dusetzina of Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Health Affairs Insider newsletter writer joins Health Affairs’ Laura Tollen to get Insiders up to speed on this round of drugs, the negotiation process to come, and what to expect in the second Trump administration.