The issue covers a broad range of topics, including hospital finances and billing, equity in clinical trials and HIV/AIDS prevention, the effects of
providing people with a transportation benefit, and considerations in covering cancer screening.
After controlling for market and hospital characteristics, they determine that although all types are more likely to offer a service if it is relatively profitable, "nonprofit hospitals offer relatively unprofitable services more than for-profit hospitals and less than government hospitals. Profitable services typically exhibit the opposite pattern."
On the topic of equity, another article by Angela Green and
colleagues assesses the equity surrounding clinical trials for treatments and drugs.
In 2015, the Food and Drug Administration launched a plan aimed at improving the diversity of participants in clinical trials and the transparency of trial results for newly approved drugs.
Thomas Tsai and coauthors find that about half of Affordable Care Act Marketplace enrollees live in counties where the health plan offering with the highest quality rating is three stars out of five, whereas 46 percent have access to a four or five-star-rated plan.
Overall, there are no disparities in access to high-rated plans in counties with a higher percentage of Black or Hispanic residents.
A new Health Affairs Policy Brief, William Bleser and coauthors examine pandemic-driven health policies to address social needs and health equity.
The COVID-19 pandemic has spawned new health policies and interventions to address social needs and social determinants of health.
Bleser and coauthors share lessons from interventions developed during the COVID-19 pandemic and similar prepandemic initiatives and describe how they can guide policy makers in designing more permanent approaches.
In Health Affairs Today, we published
an essay from Seth Berkowitz, assistant professor in the Division of General Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine.
Berkowitz discusses a new study he and coauthors published about a nonemergency medical transportation program offered to members of a Medicare accountable care organization (ACO).
The authors find that participation in such a benefit in an ACO is associated with 9.2 more outpatient visits and $4,420 in additional outpatient costs per person per year, with no reductions in emergency department visits or inpatient admissions.
"Ultimately, there are many instances where some involvement of health care systems in HRSN programs provides benefit," writes Berkowitz. "But fundamentally such programs need to be viewed as complements to, not substitutes for, social policy to prevent poverty, material deprivation, and HRSNs."
In Health Affairs Forefront, Katie Keith examines new guidance issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) designed to help protect transgender youth.
Elizabeth Pollock and coauthors discuss the robust body of literature tying the health of our democracy to the health of people and populations.
Linda Richter and coauthors argue that smart use of new federal funding for youth mental health initiatives and effective allocation of state opioid settlement funds can prevent youth substance use and mental health problems.
Stay up-to-date on the latest health care analysis by visiting Forefront
to read our newly published articles.
Finally, in a new podcast episode of This Week, Harvard Medical School's Michael Chernew talks about the new direct contracting model for Medicare accountable care organizations.
Health Policy Podcast Fellowship
Health Affairs is accepting applications to the Health Affairs Podcast Fellowship program. This program is an opportunity for US-based applicants who are in the early or mid-early stages of their career.
The program is intended for professionals with an interest in health policy and storytelling to pursue an audio project with support of their employer, school, or as a freelancer to dedicate the time and resources to complete their
project.
Welcome to While We Wait, the second series from Health Affairs Pathways. In this series, Sania Ali and Avni Kulkarni explore the mental health boarding crisis.
Ruth Zambrana Argues Structural Racism Is A Social Determinant Of Health
Ruth Enid Zambrana from the University of Maryland joins Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil to discuss the intellectual history of scholarship on racism and health.
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.
