The Latest Research, Commentary, And News From Health Affairs
November 15,
2021
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What's New In Health Affairs
In an ahead-of-print article released this week, Gary Claxton and coauthors present findings from the twenty-third annual Kaiser Family Foundation Employer Health Benefits Survey. The survey asked firms about eligibility for and enrollment in their health benefits programs, as well as the characteristics of their largest health plans.
One of the biggest takeaways from this year’s results: "Despite pandemic uncertainties in the labor market and health care use, employer health benefit programs have not experienced big changes." In 2021 the average annual premium for single coverage for workers covered by their own firms increased 4 percent, the same percentage increase as in 2020. Also, preferred provider organization (PPO) plans remained the most common plan type in 2021, with 46 percent of covered workers enrolled in a PPO.
To the researchers’ surprise, 2021 "saw a very large increase in the share of small firms that said that their largest plan type was level-funded, from 13 percent in 2020 to 42 percent this year."
To celebrate A Health Podyssey's one-year anniversary, we featured a special episode with Ashish Jha from the Brown University School of Public Health, who discussed lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and the future of health care payment reform.
This week on Health Affairs Blog, Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil announced that Health Affairs is exploring launching a new open access
journal.
Health Affairs Deputy Editor Rob Lott hosts Maninder Kahlon of theUniversity of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School for a conversation about the latest trends in health system transformation, with a particular focus on addressing the social determinants of health. The discussion will feature highlights from Leading To Health, Health Affairs’ ongoing project on health system transformation, and other novel approaches currently being tested by Kahlon and colleagues at Factor Health.
Date: Tuesday, November 16, 2021 Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (ET) Place: Online details will be shared
with registrants 24 hours in advance of the event
Ashish Jha on Health Care Payment Reform, COVID-19 & Health Policy Twitter
Listen to Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interview Ashish Jha from the Brown University School of Public Health on what he's learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, the bright spots he sees for health care payment reform, and how he uses social media.
Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewedjournalat 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.
