Friday, July 1, 2022 | The Latest Research, Commentary, And News From Health Affairs
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This week, the White House released the Maternal Health Blueprint which cites several papers from Health Affairs. Subscribe to Health Affairs to read the research behind the blueprint.
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ACOs And End-Stage Renal Disease
In October 2015 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services launched the Comprehensive End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Care Model, the first specialty-oriented accountable care organization (ACO) model designed to serve a specific Medicare subpopulation.
In their June 2022 paper, Darin Ullman and coauthors find that, relative to a fee-for-service Medicare comparison group and a traditional ACO group, beneficiaries participating in the model had reduced Medicare payments, hospitalizations, and likelihood of hospital readmission after one year.
"Results of our study suggest that care for patients with ESRD can improve modestly under fee-for-service Medicare–alternative models focused on their needs, even under lower-financial-risk structures," the authors conclude.
Ullman and coauthors discuss several policy implications of their findings, including that other populations with chronic conditions may benefit from the testing of a specialty-oriented ACO model
The authors also add that primary care–based ACOs may benefit from applying CEC Model strategies to high-need subpopulations.
Today in Health Affairs
Forefront, Elizabeth Alpert and coauthors argue that developing policies promoting value-based dental care requires a better understanding about the extent of the oral disease burden impacting older Americans.
Shantanu Agrawal and coauthors argue that federal measures of drivers of health, such as food insecurity, housing instability, and access to transportation, are needed to improve health outcomes and address health inequities.
Budget Neutral Medicaid Demonstrations w/ Cindy Mann
Listen to Health Affairs' Chris Fleming interview Manatt Health's Cindy Mann on budget neutrality requirements for Medicaid 1115 demonstrations.
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.
