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TODAY ON THE BLOG

MEDICARE

Sharing Drug Rebates With Medicare Part D Patients: Why And How
By Steven M. Lieberman, Paul B. Ginsburg, and Erin Trish

The growth in rebates has affected Medicare Part D patients. The challenges in the Medicare program regarding rebates differ from the challenges in commercial insurance, where some major steps have already been taken. Legislation should require that an approximation of the rebate amount for a drug is credited to patients. Read More >>

2019 Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO Performance: Lower Costs And Promising Results Under ‘Pathways To Success’
By Seema Verma

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma takes readers through the latest results for accountable care organizations in the Medicare Shared Savings Program and describes how she and the administration view those results.
Read More >>

FOLLOWING THE ACA

CDC 2019 Coverage Numbers Show Increase In Uninsurance Rate, With Caveats
By Katie Keith

Although the CDC cautions against making direct comparisons between 2019 and prior years due to methodological changes, the uninsured rate for 2019 is up from 2018 both overall (10.3 percent versus 9.4 percent) and among non-elderly adults (14.7 percent versus 13.3 percent). Read More >>

IN THE JOURNAL

EYE ON HEALTH REFORM

A Hot Summer Brings More ACA Litigation
By Katie Keith

One week after the 2020 election, all eyes will be on the US Supreme Court as the justices hear the oral arguments for California v. Texas, the case testing the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Katie Keith has covered the many twists and turns this case has taken for the past two-plus years after Congress’s zeroing out of the individual mandate in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. Read More >>

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

Marketplace Premiums Rise Faster For Tobacco Users Because Of Subsidy Design
By Karina C. Manz, Teresa M. Waters, and Cameron M. Kaplan

Karina Manz and coauthors examined individual premiums based on age, tobacco use, and geographic premium rating area for all health plans available through the federal health insurance Marketplace to describe trends over time in premium prices and affordability for tobacco users compared with nonusers. Read more >>

A CLOSER LOOK—Diseases Of Despair

Before COVID-19 and the mental health challenges brought by social distancing, America was starting to fight the opioid epidemic through community efforts. In their 2018 blog post, Benjamin F. Miller and Larissa Estes discussed advantages and successes of community efforts to address the social determinants of health that underlie addiction. Reread and consider how COVID-19 and social distancing have impacted community-based health solutions.

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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