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A Weekly Health Policy Round Up From Health Affairs
October 25, 2020
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THIS WEEK ON THE BLOG
STORIES OF COVID-19
Physician Heroism Is Not A Sustainable Solution For Health Care
By Joy E. Obayemi (10/22/20)
When a COVID-19 patient cannot access her opioid use disorder medication, a medical student goes the extra mile. But the kindness and lauded “heroism” of providers should not be the only glue for a very broken health care system. Read More >>
Caring For The Caregivers
By Nekee Pandya (10/22/20)
Recounting her experience as a hospitalist in a Manhattan ICU during the pandemic’s height, Nekee Pandya argues that
hospitals must start prioritizing the well-being of providers in order to help them process trauma, prevent burnout, and provide the best possible care for patients.
Read More >>
Chronic Disease Care Is Essential Care
By Dania Palanker (10/22/20)
While the shift to telehealth enabled continued care for many people during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it failed those of us who still needed in-person services, particularly people with chronic conditions.
There is a level of care that is essential to people living with chronic illness and chronic pain, and it must be treated as such. Read More >>
The Fine Line Between Essential And Non-Essential Care
By Amy K. Rosen (10/22/20)
CMS’s decision to postpone non-essential care during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was a necessary step, but it had considerable repercussions for patients with
non-COVID-19 illnesses. This is the story of one patient who fell through the cracks. Read More >>
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Applying Value Assessment To The Health Care Sector For COVID-19
By William V. Padula (10/21/20)
Investing in rapid diagnostics for COVID-19 testing, managing critical care volume surges, or finding potential cures or vaccines are obvious steps, but to what extent are these investments cost-effective? I explore the role of value assessment in identifying ways to address the COVID-19 pandemic and prepare for future crises. Read More >>
Opportunities To Improve Value In Health Following The COVID-19 Pandemic
By Kevin N. Griffith and Melinda B. Buntin (10/21/20)
What could possibly make the COVID-19 tragedy even worse? Failing to take advantage of a learning opportunity. The pandemic presents a natural experiment, where researchers could observe the consequences of stalled routine/elective care for patients’ short- and long-term health outcomes. Read More >>
SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH
Connecting The Dots: Improving Child Care Workers’ Conditions Leads To Better Health, Economic Stability, And Greater Equity
By Debbie I. Chang (10/21/20)
Child care workers are a linchpin for broader health and economic security, especially during the pandemic, says the leader of a California foundation. Improving these workers' wages, job quality, and work conditions leads to better health for children and economic stability for the workers and the families they serve. We must invest in child care and child
care workers at a level commensurate with the value of improved health outcomes for millions of families and the value of our economic stability and recovery. Read More >>
SYSTEMS OF CARE
Prioritizing The Elimination Of Prior Authorizations For Inpatient Psychiatric Care
By Jessica E. Becker, Robert Accordino, and Eric Hazen (10/23/20)
Improvements in reimbursements to clinicians, as well as
increased access to and reimbursement for psychosocial resources for these patients, could help create a better safety net system for patients with mental illness, diminish the problem of prior authorization, and do right by some of our most needy, and most stigmatized, patients. Read More >>
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IN THE JOURNAL
CHILDREN'S HEALTH
Children And The Opioid Epidemic: Age-Stratified Exposures And Harms
By Kelby W. Brown, Kayla Carlisle, Sudha R. Raman, Peter Shrader, Megan Jiao, Michael J. Smith, Lisa M. Einhorn, and Charlene A. Wong
Among adult patients admitted for opioid use disorder treatment, one-third report having their first opioid exposure in childhood,
highlighting the importance of addressing early opioid exposures. In this study Kelby Brown and coauthors characterized age-stratified opioid exposures, opioid-related harms, and disparities for North Carolina Medicaid–insured children. Read More >>
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New podcast! Alan Weil sits down with Health Affairs Senior Editor Jessica Bylander to discuss how certain families must find other ways, when schools close, to secure the health and social services they provide.
Listen here.
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CHILDREN'S HEALTH
Children’s Oral Health: Progress, Policy Development, And Priorities For Continued Improvement
By James J. Crall and Marko Vujicic
James Crall and Marko Vujicic examine children’s oral health. They report declines during the past thirty years in dental carries—the most common pediatric oral disease—with particular improvement among poor and near-poor children and Mexican American children. Yet major gaps in coverage and care remain, leading the authors to recommend a range of payment, delivery system redesign, and education reforms. Read More >>
Changing The Face Of Health Care Delivery: The Importance Of Youth Participation
By Linda S. Sprague Martinez, Catalina Tang Yan, Astraea Augsberger, Uchenna J. Ndulue, Emanuel Ayinde Libsch, Ja’Karri S. Pierre, Elmer Freeman, and Katherine Gergen Barnett
Linda Sprague Martinez and coauthors partnered with twelve Black and Latinx youth researchers, ages 13–18, to conduct a youth needs assessment in six Boston neighborhoods. Although two-thirds of survey respondents agree that mental health is important for young people’s well-being, only 29 percent think it is easy to get help.
Read More >>
Trends In Orphan Drug Spending And Out-Of-Pocket Spending Among US Children, 2013–18
By Kao-Ping Chua and Rena M. Conti
In this national study of privately insured children, mean annual out-of-pocket spending for orphan drugs increased from $486 in 2013 to $866 in 2018 (78.2 percent). Findings demonstrate
that pediatric orphan drug spending is increasingly burdening payers and families and suggest that payers should better protect families against the prices of orphan drugs by improving benefit design. Read More >>
Pediatric Drug Policies Supporting Safe And Effective Use Of Therapeutics In Children: A Systematic Analysis
By Mary Carmack, Thomas Hwang, and Florence T. Bourgeois
Under the Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act of 2002 and the Pediatric Research Equity Act of 2003, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can request pediatric studies for new drug and biologic indications. Concerns have been raised that
delays and noncompliance with study requests contribute to high rates of off-label and potentially unsafe or ineffective medication use in children. Mary Carmack and coauthors used publicly available FDA documents to analyze all indications for new drugs and biologics approved by the FDA from 2002 through 2018. Read More >>
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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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