AHEAD OF PRINT

Today, Health Affairs is releasing six commentaries from the National Academy of
Medicine’s (NAM’s) Vital Directions for Health and Health Care project, which proposes health and health care priorities for the new Biden administration. The cluster includes these articles:

Vital Directions For Health And Health Care: Priorities For 2021
Victor J. Dzau of the National Academy of Medicine and coauthors identify the overarching theme of this series as "the clear and urgent obligation for the US to turn its full attention to the growing problem of health inequities and to the structural racism that perpetuates [health] disparities."
Infectious Disease Threats: A Rebound To Resilience
Peter Daszak of Ecohealth Alliance and coauthors review pandemic preparedness in the US and outline steps to strengthen our ability to anticipate and respond to future pandemics.
Optimizing Health And Well-Being For Women And Children
Elena Fuentes-Afflick of the University of California San Francisco and coauthors draw upon a life-course framework to identify promising interventions to improve the health of women and children.
Actualizing Better Health And Health Care For Older Adults
Terry Fulmer of The John A. Hartford Foundation and coauthors identify six strategies to improve care and quality of life for older adults.
Transforming Mental Health And Addiction Services
Margarita Alegría of Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Mass General Research Institute and coauthors describe new models of care that focus on mental health and addiction.
Health Costs And Financing: Challenges And Strategies For A New Administration
William H. Shrank of Humana and coauthors discuss health costs and financing priorities to advance health care access, affordability, and equity.

This initiative was originally established by the NAM in 2016 with the goal of providing the US presidential administration as well as other policy makers, opinion leaders, and the public with nonpartisan, evidence-based analysis of the most compelling opportunities and priorities in health, health care, and biomedical science. The resulting 2017 publication brought together some 150 policy experts to provide guidance on 19 priorities. In 2020, the NAM reassessed the priorities and issues of urgent attention for the next administration; today’s cluster of commentaries is the result of the NAM’s recent review.

These articles will also be published in Health Affairs’ February issue. The publication of the Vital Directions series in Health Affairs was supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The John A. Hartford Foundation, the National Academy of Medicine, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

A CLOSER LOOK—Executive Orders And The ACA

Just over four years ago, Timothy Jost penned a blog post titled "What Could President Trump Do Through Executive Order To Dismantle The ACA?" As the country prepared for the new administration to take office, many Americans had the same question. In his post, Jost discusses the steps needed to take apart the ACA, as it was implemented primarily through regulation and guidance, as well as the way lawsuits challenging ACA requirements could dismantle it. After four years of attempts by the Trump administration to weaken the ACA— many successful—the Biden administration will begin to rebuild it.

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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