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A Weekly Health Policy Round Up From Health Affairs            

**July 28, 2019**

HEALTH AFFAIRS EVENTS

HEALTH SPENDING:  MOVING FROM THEORY TO ACTION

Wednesday, September 11, 2019
9:00 am - 3:00 pm Eastern
National Press Club - Washington, DC
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

Eighteen months ago, Health Affairs teamed with the National
Pharmaceutical Council and Anthem, Inc. to launch a multi-year project
to promote an evidence-based conversation about health spending. To
continue the discussion, Health Affairs and the National Pharmaceutical
Council are hosting a forum that will address:

* The pressures presented by soaring health costs on individuals,
employers, and government

* Strategies among payers and others to promote cost effective care

* Efforts currently underway to bring costs under control

Speakers include:

* Mandy Cohen, Secretary, North Carolina Department of Health and Human
Services

* Patrick Conway, President and CEO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North
Carolina

* Robert W. Dubois, Executive Vice President and Chief Science Officer,
National Pharmaceutical Council

* Christopher F. Koller, President, Milbank Memorial Fund

* Reed Tuckson, Managing Director, Tuckson Health Connections, LLC

* Alan Weil, Editor-in-Chief, Health Affairs

Be part of the conversation on September 11.
                                    
Getevent-specific emails
delivered directly to your inbox.

THIS WEEK ON THE BLOG

HEALTH REFORM

Could States Do Single-Payer Health Care?

By Erin C. Fuse Brown  Elizabeth Y. McCuskey

The time has come to remove ERISA's obstructions and to unlock
states' capacities as laboratories of health reform. Read More >>

PHARMACEUTICALS & MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

Senate Hearings On Drug Prices: Many Questions, Few (Useful) Answers

By Inmaculada Hernandez and Walid F. Gellad

Given the opacity of the pharmaceutical system, the most valuable part
of congressional hearings on drug prices is arguably the collection of
information that is otherwise invisible to public discussion. Read more
>>

To Fulfill Their Mission, Health Care Facilities Should Better
Accommodate Cannabis Patients

By Shereef M. Elnahal and Jeff Brown

Medicinal marijuana is becoming an ever more common remedy among
patients and physicians alike. Read more >>

It's Time To Limit Drug Price Increases

By Gerard Anderson

Since a price inflation penalty would apply to all drugs covered under
Medicare Part D, the incentive would be the same for all companies: keep
price hikes below the allowable rate of increase in the list price. Read
more >>

Orphan Drugs For Opioid Use Disorder: An Abuse Of The Orphan Drug Act

By Kao-Ping Chua and Rena M. Conti

The FDA should require that criteria for orphan designation are still
met each time a drug is approved under a previously granted designation.
Read More >>

Understanding The Senate Finance Committee's Drug Pricing Package

By Rachel Sachs

In this post, I first summarize key provisions from the package,
explaining how it aims to lower prescription drug prices. Next, I
situate the Committee's package within the broader set of drug pricing
reforms being considered by the federal government. Finally, I explain
the key objections levied by Senators during Thursday's markup and how
those objections might affect the development of the package going
forward. Read more >>

FOLLOWING THE ACA

ACA Round-Up: Delaware's 1332 Application, Cadillac Tax Repeal, and
More

By Katie Keith

This post discusses Delaware's new application for a state-based
reinsurance program, the House's bipartisan repeal of the Cadillac
tax, recent guidance on health savings accounts pursuant to President
Trump's recent executive order, and other guidance issued by the
Internal Revenue Services (IRS) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS). Read more >>

ETHICS

Remembering Daniel Callahan, A Pioneer Of Bioethics

By Arthur Caplan

Daniel Callahan, who pioneered the field of bioethics, died July 17th,
two days before his 89th birthday. Dan's mentoring tree seems to
involve half the people doing bioethics today.  No one played a bigger
role in my career than Dan. Read More >>

MEDICAID

The Problematic Law And Policy Of Medicaid Block Grants

By Rachel Sachs and Nicole Huberfeld

Capped spending would very likely involve disenrollment and other
cost-cutting measures that endanger the lives of the most vulnerable
patients. Read More >>

ACCESS TO CARE

Forging A Realistic Path To Universal Coverage

By Jack Meyer

Instead of repealing the ACA or forcing people out of private coverage,
we can construct a mixed public/private approach using large building
blocks to forge a solid structure. Read More >>

CONSIDERING HEALTH SPENDING

Revisiting The Internal Revenue Service's Eligible Medical And Dental
Expenses

By Laura C. Myers, David W. Bates, and Bonnie B. Blanchfield

We believe that Publication 502 can be clarified and improved by
allowing for the deduction of expenses related to disease prevention,
incentivizing healthy eating and exercise behaviors, and providing
clear, religiously neutral guidance about what qualifies as a medical or
dental expense. Read more >>

ELSEWHERE@HEALTH AFFAIRS

From The Archives: Health Spending

By Rachel Dolan

While this post is by no means a comprehensive review of all of the
health spending literature, it attempts to at least skim the surface of
everything that's been covered in the pages of Health Affairs (plus a
few other sources). Read more >>

GRANTWATCH

Lessons In Philanthropy: Three Decades Of Improving Health In Kansas

By Steve Coen

The leader of the Kansas Health Foundation (since 2008) reflects on his
31 years of working at the statewide foundation and looks to retirement.
For example, he says, the foundation saw a need for health data and for
leadership skill-building in the state, and so the KHF created the
nonprofit Kansas Health Institute, which focuses on health policy, and
the Kansas Leadership Center. Read more >>

IN THE JOURNAL

CONSIDERING HEALTH SPENDING

The Impact of Price Regulation On The Availability of New Drugs In
Germany

By Ariel D. Stern, Felicitas Pietrulla, Annika Herr, Aaron S.
Kesselheim, and Ameet Sarpatwari

Ariel Stern and coauthors study how Germany's regulatory regime,
adopted in 2011, affects the availability of new drugs. Read More >>

Listen to the Newsmakers Podcast
.

GLOBAL HEALTH POLICY

Epidemiological And Health Systems Implications Of Evolving HIV And
Hypertension In South Africa And Kenya
By
Brianna Osetinsky, Jan A. C. Hontelez, Mark N. Lurie, Stephen T.
McGarvey, Gerald S. Bloomfield, Sonak D. Pastakia, Richard Wamai, Till
Bärnighausen, Sake J. de Vlas, and Omar Galárraga

Brianna Osetinsky and coauthors analyze changing disease demographics in
regions of South Africa and Kenya. Read More >>

MEDICAID

Low-Income Childless Adults' Access To Antidiabetic Drugs In Wisconsin
Medicaid After Coverage Expansion

By Nam Hyo Kim, Kevin A. Look, and Marguerite E. Burns

Nam Hyo Kim and coauthors analyze administrative drug claims data to
evaluate changes in the use of and out-of-pocket spending on
antidiabetic drugs among childless adults who experienced the drug
coverage expansion. Read more >>

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

Blue-Collar Workers Had Greatest Insurance Gains After ACA
Implementation

By Sumit D. Agarwal, Anna L. Goldman, and Benjamin D. Sommers

Sumit Agarwal and coauthors analyze national survey data and find that
workers in traditionally blue-collar industries experienced the largest
gains in health insurance after implementation of the Affordable Care
Act (ACA) in 2014. Read More >>

NURSING HOMES
[link removed] Fewer
Bonuses, More Penalties At Skilled Nursing Facilities Serving Vulnerable
Populations

By Jennifer Gaudet Hefele, Xiao "Joyce" Wang, and Emily Lim

Jennifer Hefele and coauthors report findings for the first round of
incentives and penalties under the Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility
Value-Based Purchasing Program. Read more >>

Call For Submissions: Narrative Matters Poetry Contest 2019

The Narrative Matters section of Health Affairs is seeking poetry
submissions for an upcoming issue of the journal.

We are holding a poetry contest, from July 1 to August 31, looking for
well-crafted poems that touch on topics related to health and health
policy. Three winning poems will be announced in September. Winning
poets will receive a monetary prize-$500 for first place, $300 for
second, and $100 for third-as well as publication in Health Affairs,
and two copies of the issue containing the winning poem.

All entries will be read and judged by Health Affairs staff.

* Limit 3 poems submitted per person. Each poem-in pdf or word doc
format-should be submitted as a separate entry through our submission
portal here .

* Poems must be no longer than a single-spaced page, with double spaces
between stanzas

* Font size no smaller than 11 point.

* Poems must be written in English.

* Poems must be previously unpublished.

* Poems themselves should contain no personal identifiers.

You can read some earlier poems published by

**Health Affairs**, including the winners of the 2015 Narrative Matters
poetry contest
,
poems by patients and consumers
,
poems on vulnerable populations
,
and poems on the cancer experience
.

We look forward to reading your submissions!

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mailto:[email protected]

About Health Affairs

Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewed journal
at 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.

Copyright © Project HOPE: The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

Health Affairs, 7500 Old Georgetown Road, Suite 600, Bethesda, MD 20814, United States

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