Preview

FAST TRACK AHEAD OF PRINT

COVID-19

Increased Intensity Of PCR Testing Reduced COVID-19 Transmission Within Countries During The First Pandemic Wave
By Ravindra Prasan Rannan-Eliya, Nilmini Wijemunige, J. R. N. A. Gunawardana, Sarasi N. Amarasinghe, Ishwari Sivagnanam, Sachini Fonseka, Yasodhara Kapuge, and Chathurani P. Sigera

Ravindra Prasan Rannan-Eliya and coauthors used data from multiple online sources to quantify testing impact on COVID-19 transmissibility in 173 countries and territories (accounting for 99 percent of the world’s cases) between March and June 2020.
Read More >>

TODAY ON THE BLOG

MEDICARE

Eroding Progress On Evidence And Outcomes: CMS’s New Proposed Pathway For Medical Device Coverage
By Peter J. Neumann and James D. Chambers

Medicare’s coverage rules serve as the gateway for the adoption and use of new medical devices. Thus, CMS’ new proposed regulation to streamline the coverage pathway for medical devices has important implications, not only for patient access but also for evidentiary standards, Medicare spending, and the incentives for product manufacturers as they invest in further advances. Read More >>

COSTS AND SPENDING

International Reference Pricing: A Lazy, Misguided, Bipartisan Plan To Lower US Drug Prices
By Anirban Basu, Peter J. Neumann, and Sean D. Sullivan

International reference pricing dodges critical drug value assessment issues and would lead to more inaction on high drug prices in the US. Read More >>

FOLLOWING THE ACA

HHS Finalizes Rule On Risk Adjustment Data Validation

By Katie Keith

On November 24 the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule to amend the Affordable Care Act’s risk adjustment data validation (RADV) program. The final rule is largely similar to the proposed rule, issued in late May 2020; it includes two sets of changes. First, HHS adopts three changes to its methodology for error rate calculations. Second, HHS will change the way that it applies the RADV results to risk adjustment transfers. Read More >>

IN THE JOURNAL

GLOBAL HEALTH POLICY

Universal Health Coverage: Are Older Adults Being Left Behind? Evidence From Aging Cohorts In Twenty-Three Countries
By James Macinko, Flavia Cristina Drumond Andrade, Fabiola Bof de Andrade, and Maria Fernanda Lima-Costa

As many countries aim to implement universal health coverage, James Macinko and coauthors examine whether adults ages fifty and older are being left out. Using survey data from twenty-three high- and middle-income countries, the authors find that catastrophic health care expenditures (out-of-pocket expenses that are 25 percent or more of the household’s income) were more prevalent among rural inhabitants, those with incomes in the lowest quintile, people with a greater number of health problems, and current and former smokers. 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.

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