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The Latest Research, Commentary, And News From Health Affairs

Friday, February 26, 2021

Dear John,

Happy Friday. Today we will explore the need to improve health care for
older Americans and highlight two book reviews from the February issue,
just in time for some weekend reading.

Prioritizing Older Adults Plus Books To Try

The US doesn't stack up well when it comes to taking care of its
elders. For example, in 2017 the elderly population of the United States
was sicker than similar populations in other countries
.

With about 26 million Americans aging into Medicare eligibility through
2030
,
health care providers and policy makers alike can't ignore that older
adults need better care. As part of the National Academy of Medicine's
Vital Directions For Health And Health Care

series, Terry Fulmer and colleagues outline and address six challenges
to improving the care and quality of life for all older Americans
.

Of note, they posit that fixing the current system, "will take a
willingness to work across traditional silos, a commitment to prolonging
optimal health and independence, the restructuring of financing, and
unwavering support for person-centered care."

February's issue also features book reviews by David T. Liebers and
Kathryn A. Phillips.

Leibers' calls Our Malady: Lessons in Liberty from a Hospital Diary

by Timothy Snyder a "a short but impassioned meditation on the state
of US health care." Interestingly, it was conceived as Snyder
recovered from a failed appendicitis diagnosis that led to other serious
health concerns, at the same time COVID-19 was emerging as a global
crisis. Leibers summarizes Snyder's claims as, "a collective failure
to recognize health care as a human right and prerequisite to human
freedom undermines democracy in the United States."

In her review of Discovering Precision Health: Predict, Prevent, and
Cure to Advance Health and Well-Being

by Lloyd Minor and Matthew Rees, Phillips credits the book for
demonstrating that "precision health is much more than counting your
steps with a tracker" by placing it into a broader context. Minor and
Rees use timely and engaging case studies to illustrate their points,
but they do not delve into "what it will take to bring the vision of
precision health to fruition," writes Phillips. "Discovering
Precision Health lays out a compelling vision, but now the real work
begins: figuring out how to implement it."

Explore all of our book reviews here
.

On the final day of our Elevating Voices series for Black History Month,
we feature Leonard E. Egede, the lead author of a study about
racial/ethnic differences in COVID-19 screening, hospitalization, and
mortality in Southeast Wisconsin
.
Egede and his colleagues found that Blacks and Hispanics were both more
than three times more likely to test positive for COVID-19 and two times
more likely to be hospitalized relative to non-Hispanic whites. Their
findings were published in Health Affairs'  November issue and
discussed on A Health Podyssey
.

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Podcast:
COVID-19 Vaccine Production Is Dramatically Ramping Up

Listen to Leslie Erdelack and Chris Fleming discuss the latest on
COVID-19 and vaccine availability as well as the status of various
health policy court cases and administrative regulations.

Listen here.

Worthy Of Your Time

Managing Metabolic Risk Factors, Obesity, And Smoking Among Working-Age
Adults Could Save US Billions

Howard J. Bolnick, Francois Millard,  and Joseph Dieleman

During COVID-19, FDA's Vaccine Advisory Committee Has Worked To Boost
Public Trust-It Can Still Do More

Ravi Gupta, Jason L. Schwartz, Joseph S. Ross, and Genevieve P. Kanter

To Support Health Equity, Let's Rethink How Foundations Evaluate
Grantees

Jason Lacsamana

Physicians' Perceptions Of People With Disability And Their Health
Care

Lisa I. Iezzoni, Sowmya R. Rao, Julie Ressalam, Dragana Bolcic-Jankovic,
Nicole D. Agaronnik, Karen Donelan, Tara Lagu, and Eric G. Campbell

Variation In Telemedicine Use And Outpatient Care During The COVID-19
Pandemic In The United States

Sadiq Y. Patel, Ateev Mehrotra, Haiden A. Huskamp, Lori Uscher-Pines,
Ishani Ganguli, and Michael Lawrence Barnett

Higher Medicare Advantage Star Ratings Are Associated With Improvements
In Patient Outcomes

David J. Meyers, Amal N. Trivedi, Ira B. Wilson, Vincent Mor, and
Momotazur Rahman

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What are the policy priorities regarding US health costs and financing,
women's and children's health, mental health and addiction, older
adults' health care, and infectious disease threats? Hear from an
expert panel at the Vital Directions for Health and Health Care:
Priorities for 2021 virtual briefing.

Register Now

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About Health Affairs

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Update .  

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