Monday, January 24, 2022 | The Latest Research, Commentary, And News From Health Affairs
Dear John,
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Medicare Programs
In their January paper, Aaron Schwartz and coauthors characterized coverage denials in Aetna’s Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and found that during 2014–19, service denial rates increased by 15 percent and spending denial rates increased by 60 percent.
Overall they reported $416 million in denied spending resulting from Medicare or MA plan coverage criteria, with 0.81 denials and $60 of denied spending per beneficiary annually.
Yet they found that "nearly two-thirds of AIM ACOs exited the Medicare Shared Savings Program when faced with the requirement to assume downside financial risk, starting in year four of participation." Trombley recently joined A Health Podyssey to discuss the paper and his findings
Today in Health Affairs Forefront, Rebecca Haffajee from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) discusses HHS’ Overdose Prevention Strategy, which includes
evidence-based activities in four priority areas: primary prevention, harm reduction, evidence-based treatment, and recovery support.
Katherine LeMasters and coauthors argue prisons and jails should release as many individuals as possible to preserve the health of people behind the walls and staff.
Michael Chernew and J. Michael McWilliams argue that population-based payment models are a better way
to promote efficiency and equity than the dominant fee-for-service system.
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New Podcast: Health Affairs Pathways Health Affairs is launching a new podcast next week!
Health Affairs Pathways explores the avenues and
alleyways of the health care system through varied storytelling. Our first season is a six-part series from Lalita Abhyankar, a physician based in San Francisco, California.
Her series, titled Piecemeal, examines how consolidation in health care is affecting independent
primary care.
Every year, practices are evaluating the performance of their EHR, patient portal, billing, and/or e-prescribing software. Don’t spend thousands of dollars on software that isn’t working for you. Use this guide to identify the red flags and find the right software within your budget.
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About Health Affairs
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.
