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NEW ISSUE:
MEDICARE PAYMENT INCENTIVES, MEDICAID & MORE

The September issue of Health Affairs features studies focusing on payment incentives in Medicare, evolving Medicaid policy, the roles of pharmaceuticals in the health system, and other topics, including a broad range of perspectives related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the September 2020 table of contents.

Listen to an introduction to the issue from Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil.

Read "From the Editor-in-Chief."

FAST TRACK AHEAD OF PRINT

COVID-19

Mortality Rates From COVID-19 Are Lower In Unionized Nursing Homes
By Adam Dean, Atheendar Venkataramani, and Simeon Kimmel

Adam Dean and coauthors examined both publicly available data on COVID-19 deaths that occurred in New York State nursing homes between March 1 and May 31, 2020, and proprietary data from labor unions to determine union representation. They found that in 355 nursing homes with available data, the presence of a health care worker union was associated with a 30 percent relative decrease in COVID-19 mortality rate for residents.
Read More >>

IN THE JOURNAL

RESEARCH ARTICLE: PHARMACEUTICALS & MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

Characteristics Of Biomedical Industry Payments To Teaching Hospitals
By Timothy S. Anderson, Walid F. Gellad, and Chester B. Good

The Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires biomedical companies to report payments made to physicians and teaching hospitals to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Timothy Anderson and coauthors examined 2018 CMS Open Payments program data to identify all nonresearch payments made by industry to teaching hospitals and determined that 91 percent of teaching hospitals received industry payments totaling $832 million in 2018. Read More >>

THIS WEEK ON THE BLOG

COVID-19

Screening To Prevent SARS-CoV-2 Outbreaks: Saliva-Based Antigen Testing Is Better Than The PCR Swab
By A. David Paltiel and Rochelle P. Walensky (9/11/20)

The rapid, saliva-based antigen test for COVID-19 has gotten a bad rap. It is the better, preferred tool for outbreak control. Read More >>

The COVID-19 Pandemic Is The Time For The Public Sector To Help Build Greater Social Connection
By Harris Allen, Daniel Conti, Steven Kraftchick, and Wayne Burton (9/8/20)

Greater social connection, especially when physical distancing, offers a vital pathway for bolstering individual health and community resilience to combat COVID-19. We suggest that a more systemic effort by government to cultivate social connection in the context of existing social programs will benefit the goal we all share for a healthier, more wholesome society. Read More >>

FOLLOWING THE ACA

What It Means To Cover Preexisting Conditions
By Katie Keith (9/11/20)

Politicians of all stripes and persuasions now pledge to protect those with health issues in coverage reform proposals. But protecting people with preexisting conditions is easier said than done. Read More >>

ACCESS TO CARE

These Key Telehealth Policy Changes Would Improve Buprenorphine Access While Advancing Health Equity
By Utsha Khatri, Corey S. Davis, Noa Krawczyk, Michael Lynch, Justin Berk, and Elizabeth A. Samuels (9/11/20)

The short-term emergency authorizations for audio-only buprenorphine treatment during COVID-19 have helped us reach people previously unable to access treatment, and these changes should be made permanent. Read More >>

TELEHEALTH

Five Ways—Beyond Current Policy—To Truly Integrate Telehealth Into Primary Care Practices
By Avni Gupta, Ann M. Nguyen, Ji Eun Chang, Alden Yuanhong Lai, Carolyn A. Berry, and Donna R. Shelley (9/9/20)

There is an urgent need for strategies to support the integration of telehealth into primary care, as barriers to implementation can lead to widening patient-level disparities in access to high-quality care. Existing gaps offer actionable opportunities for public and private insurers and policy makers to intervene and improve telehealth integration. Read More >>

DISPARITIES

Addressing Systemic Racial Inequity In The Health Care Workforce
By Janette Dill, Odichinma Akosionu, J’Mag Karbeah, and Carrie Henning-Smith (9/10/20)

We argue that health care organizations can address racial inequity by raising wages and creating advancement opportunities for workers in low-level direct care and reproductive (supportive tasks such as cleaning and cooking) occupations. Read More >>

MEDICAID

Recession And Medicaid Budgets: What Are The Options?
By Allan Baumgarten and Katherine Hempstead (9/10/20)

States can reduce some pandemic-driven budgetary pressure through their Medicaid managed care organization contracts, as declines in health services use and spending have created a short-term windfall opportunity. Read More >>

HEALTH PHILANTHROPY

People Post: News Of Foundation Staffers And Board Members; Policy Researcher Job Opening
By Lee-Lee Prina (9/10/20)

Job changes have occurred, and new board members have been announced, at foundations around the country—even during a pandemic. Read news of foundations from California to Rhode Island, and check out an interesting job opening. Read More >>

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.

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