A Health Podyssey

Welcome to the first episode in a new, limited podcast series exploring major policy changes affecting older adults. The episode is part of our Age-Friendly Health series, which explores topics at the intersection of aging, health, health care, and health policy. In our first episode, host Katherine Ornstein welcomes Hemi Tewarson of the National Academy for State Health Policy to discuss how The Big Beautiful Bill will impact Medicaid and state health policies affecting older adults. Their conversation explores work requirements, Medicaid financing changes, rural health investments, the sustainability of age‑friendly services, and more.Support for the Age-Friendly Health series is provided by The John A. Hartford Foundation.

Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks with Cynthia Strathmann of SAJE about her recent paper that examines how climate impacts such as extreme heat affect low‑income renters and what policymakers can do to balance climate adaptation with housing stability.Order the May 2026 issue of Health Affairs.Sign up for our free Health Affairs newsletters to stay up to date on health policy news and analysis.

Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks with Maud Powell of Oregon State University about her recent paper examining stress and anxiety among farmers and ranchers and the interventions that may help address these challenges.Order the May 2026 issue of Health Affairs.Sign up for our free Health Affairs newsletters to stay up to date on health policy news and analysis.

In this episode of Behind the Pages, Health Affairs Publishing's Margaret Winchester interviews theme issue advisor Sacoby Wilson of The University of Maryland about key themes from the May Health Affairs issue on climate, health, and equity, with a focus on community‑led approaches, health system interventions, and scalable policy solutions to address climate‑related health risks. Order the May 2026 issue of Health Affairs.Join Health Affairs Publishing on May 6th for a free virtual event discussing research, insights, data, and takeaways from the May 2026 theme issue on climate, health, and equity.Sign up for our free Health Affairs newsletters to stay up to date on health policy news and analysis.

Health Affairs Publishing's Rob Lott interviews Jason Buxbaum of Brown University about his recent paper that explores new research on administrative spending in U.S. health insurance and why it varies so widely across states and markets. Order the March 2026 issue of Health Affairs.'Sign up for our free Health Affairs newsletters to stay up to date on health policy news and analysis.

Health Affairs Publishing's Rob Lott interviews Andrew Anderson of Johns Hopkins University about his recent paper that explores new research on the Medicare Advantage Star Ratings program and how effectively it has driven quality improvement over time. Sign up for our free Health Affairs newsletters to stay up to date on health policy news and analysis.Order the April 2026 issue of Health Affairs.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews James Robinson of the University of California Berkeley about his recent paper exploring most favored nation drug pricing, weighing its feasibility, likely effects on drug launch prices, and implications for global pharmaceutical innovation and investment. Order the April 2026 issue of Health Affairs.

On a special emergency pod episode of Health Affairs This Week coming to you on the A Health Podyssey feed, Health Affairs Publishing’s Jeff Byers welcomes Brown University's David Meyers to the pod to unpack the 2027 Medicare Advantage final payment rule, including the higher-than-anticipated rate increase, changes to risk adjustment models, what is V28, and the tradeoffs between market stability and long-term program sustainability.To view an Insider Cheat Sheet on the MA rule, purchase Insider.On April 20th, join us for our upcoming Insider exclusive event exploring the evolution of the Medicare Advantage market featuring Sachin Jain, David Meyers, and Grace Mackleby.Related Links:Assessing Recent Regulatory Action On Medicare Advantage (Health Affairs Forefront)

Health Affairs Publishing's Rob Lott interviews Dr. Ashish Jha about the future of public health education, the growing threat of engineered pathogens and building a bio-intelligence company, and practical approaches to slowing health care spending while preserving access and innovation.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Em Balkan of Brown University about their recent paper showing that rapid disenrollment from Medicare Advantage plans tripled from 2017 to 2022, with higher rates among dual‑eligible beneficiaries and certain racial and ethnic groups  — raising questions about how well plans are meeting beneficiaries’ needs.Order the March 2026 issue of Health Affairs.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews David Powell of the University of Pennsylvania about his recent paper exploring new research showing SSDI beneficiaries face significantly elevated mortality during the mandatory two‑year waiting period for Medicare for such beneficiaries, why the waiting period exists, how it affects access to care, and what policy options could better serve this vulnerable population.Order the March 2026 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Anna Zink of Tufts University about on her recent paper examining studies of an FDA‑approved cardiac diagnostic AI tool, fractional flow reserve derived from computed tomography. They discuss how the tool shifts testing patterns, raises some costs, reduces invasive procedures, and may improve outcomes—along with what it all means for Medicare reimbursement and the future of AI regulation.Order the March 2026 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel about his new book, Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life. He explains why he wrote a wellness guide for the general public, what frustrates him about today’s “wellness industrial complex,” and why evidence‑based habits — not trendy supplements or extreme routines — are key to long‑term health.Pick up a copy of his new book, Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Derek T. Lake on his recent paper exploring new research on Optum’s acquisitions, finding the company tended to buy physician practices already using ambulatory surgery centers and that its ASC acquisitions were followed by higher prices for competing insurers.Order the February 2026 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews So-Yeon Kang of Georgetown University about her recent paper exploring trends in biopharmaceutical clinical trials after The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 authorized Medicare to negotiate prices for selected drugs. Order the January 2026 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Jane Zhu of Oregon Health & Science University about her recent paper exploring how many physicians enrolled in Medicaid see few or no Medicaid beneficiaries as patients, highlighting a greater need for targeted policies to boost participation and improve access.Order the February 2026 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews John Scott of the University of Washington about his recent paper exploring findings on the financial fallout from traumatic injuries, highlighting persistent medical debt burdens and the policy gaps that leave many patients unprotected. Order the February 2026 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Dr. Robert Wachter, Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSF, about his new book A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future. Wachter reflects on his own daily use of AI as a clinician, the reasons he has grown optimistic about its potential, and the challenges of regulating fast‑evolving technologies. Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Sayeh Nikpay of the University of Minnesota about her recent paper exploring how The Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and the 340B Program interact in ways that can unintentionally increase costs, the adoption of cost-saving strategies to mitigate these interactions, and how policymakers can act to balance Medicaid savings with revenue impacts on 340B-participating safety-net providers.Order the January 2026 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Roslyn Murray of Brown University to discuss her paper exploring how Oregon’s 2019 hospital payment cap saved $50 million annually while having little impact on hospital finances, operations, or patient care. Order the December 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Sherry Glied of New York University on her paper that explores how U.S. health spending growth slowed to less than half its historical rate, driven by lower utilization, slower price growth, and shifts in care delivery and administration.Order the January 2026 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews J. Michael McWilliams of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital on his recent paper that explores opportunities for the use of patient health survey data for risk adjustment to limit distortionary coding incentives in Medicare. Order the January 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Steven M. Lieberman of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles on his recent paper that explores how Medicare Advantage has seen significant enrollment growth and what reform efforts can be attempted to rebalance traditional Medicare and MA.Order the August 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Zirui Song of Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital on his recent paper that explores how private equity acquisition impacts hospital costs and utilization and what variations were seen throughout 2005–19. Order the February 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Don Berwick of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement about his paper as part of the Vital Directions for Health and Health Care: Priorities for 2025 package that proposes strategies for how health care in the US could be transformed.Order the February 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Eric Topol, Executive Vice President of Scripps Research, on his new book, Super Agers, which provides an evidence-based approach on extending healthy lifespans.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Tiffany Lemon of Arizona State University on her recent paper exploring the concept of job-lock as it pertains to employer-sponsored health insurance and its impacts on adult physical and mental health.Order the November 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Dan Arnold of Brown University to discuss his recent paper exploring higher payments within UnitedHealth’s Optum network, which found UHC Paid Optum providers more than non-Optum Providers using price transparency data. Order the November 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Matthew Rae, Associate Director of the Health Care Marketplace Program at KFF, about his recent paper exploring the findings from the KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey, reporting on benefits in 2025. Order the November 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Michael T. Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), about the future of U.S. public health, the politicization of vaccine oversight, and why fragmented state guidance threatens pandemic preparedness. He also discusses his new book, The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics. Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

In this episode, Rob Lott interviews Jennifer Kao of the UCLA Anderson School of Management in front of a live audience about her paper in the October 2025 issue of Health Affairs exploring the impact of risk evaluation and mitigation strategies on generic approvals of US pharmaceutical products.Order the October 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Matthew Maughan of Brown University about his paper exploring how commercial insurers paid more for procedures at hospital outpatient departments as compared to ambulatory surgical centers. Order the October 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Alexander Soltoff of Emory University about his recent paper exploring how private equity-owned hospices reported higher profits and lower patient care spending when compared to other ownership models.Order the October 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Tris Dyson, Founder of Challenge Works on his efforts in cultivating challenge prizes as an opportunity to nurture innovation in science and health care, the newly launched Longitude Prize on ALS, the transformation of drug discovery, and more.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Stephen Crystal of Rutgers University about his recent paper exploring how states with substantial increases in buprenorphine uptake as an opioid use disorder treatment response grew alongside increased Medicaid prescribing from 2018–24.Order the September 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Elizabeth Van Nostrand of Temple University about her recent paper exploring how Indiana adults participating in treatment court program tended to have better health outcomes than individuals who applied and were accepted but chose not to participate.Order the September 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Aimee Moulin of the University of California Davis about her recent paper exploring a model for low-barrier treatment of opioid use disorder that could increase emergency department patient navigation and Buprenorphine use.Order the September 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health, to discuss addiction as a brain disorder, treatments for opioid use disorder, and what’s next in addiction research. Order the September 2025 issue of Health Affairs, which focuses on insights on the opioid crisis.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Brendan Saloner of Brown University about his recent paper exploring how scaling up opioid treatment and harm reduction programs could reach more people. Order the September 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

On August 12, A Health Podyssey's Rob Lott chatted with Kenton Johnston of Washington University about his paper in the August 2025 edition of Health Affairs that explores changes in clinician's participation across Medicare value-based payment models.Order the August 2025 issue of Health Affairs. Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Cal Chengqi Fang of the University of Chicago about his recent paper that explores how pay gaps grew between nonprofit hospital CEOs and employees from 2009–23. Order the August 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Jonathan Perlin of The Joint Commission about the origins of this commission, the impacts made on health care through quality improvement and patient safety, the role of accreditation, the public policy levers that drive change, and more. Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Margaret Sieger of the University of Kansas Medical Center about her recent paper that reviews how Connecticut's novel prenatal substance exposure policy was associated with declining Child Protective Services reports and foster placements. Order the July 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews J. Wyatt Koma of Harvard University about his recent paper that explores enrollment trends and characteristics of low-income beneficiaries within Medicare Savings Programs.Order the July 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Bohan Li of Harvard University about her recent paper that explores substantial shifts in market landscape and acquisitions in Medicaid managed care.Order the July 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Paula Chatterjee of the University of Pennsylvania about her recent paper that explores whether or not rural hospitals saw financial improvements from participation in the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model.Order the July 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Uché Blackstock, CEO and Founder of Advancing Health Equity (AHE), on her experiences founding AHE in 2019, the mission statement of the organization to pursue health equity in health care, and her generational memoir, LEGACY: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine. Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Robert Burke of the University of Pennsylvania about his recent paper which evaluates outcomes for skilled nursing facilities value-based purchasing programs. Order the June 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews MacKenzie Hughes of NORC at the University of Chicago about her recent paper reviewing how transitional care management was associated with healthier days at home and lower spending after hospital discharges for patients.Order the June 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Keith Drake of Greylock McKinnon Associates about his recent paper that explores trends in authorized generic drug launches and the effects observed on competition in pharmaceutical markets in the US. Order the June 2025 issue of Health Affairs.Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.