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by Health Affairs
Health Affairs This Week places listeners at the center of health policy’s proverbial water cooler. Join host Jeff Byers, editors from Health Affairs Publishing, and guests as they discuss health policy’s most pressing news and trends.
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- Today16 min
The Next Phase of Medicare Drug Price Negotiations Is Here | Rachel Sachs
This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.Delivered weekly from David Lim, Semafor Healthcare connects the dots between decisions in government, business, and technology to reveal how they impact the future of healthcare. Each edition will provide the analysis you need to understand and stay ahead of a rapidly changing landscape. Subscribe for free.Last week, a new rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services was finalized, establishing the framework for the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program in 2029. In this emergency podcast episode, Rachel Sachs of Washington University in St. Louis breaks down the new framework, explains how the Medicare drug price negotiation process continues to evolve, and highlights the key questions stakeholders will be watching as implementation moves forward. The conversation also examines the broader trajectory of federal drug pricing policy in the wake of the Trump administration's Great Healthcare Plan.RELATED LINKSAdministration Releases Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program Proposed Rule For 2029 (Health Affairs Forefront)Administration Finalizes Medicare Part B International Reference Pricing Model (Health Affairs Forefront)Podcast: The Great Health Care Vision Board (Health Affairs This Week)CMS Final Rule Strengthens Supports Lasting Drug Savings (CMS Press Release) Subscribe to Semafor Healthcare for free.
- 4 days ago16 min
The Blue Wave's Health Care Agenda: What Congress Could Do Next
This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.Delivered weekly from David Lim, Semafor Healthcare connects the dots between decisions in government, business, and technology to reveal how they impact the future of healthcare. Each edition will provide the analysis you need to understand and stay ahead of a rapidly changing landscape. Subscribe for free.Health Affairs Publishing's Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Kathleen Haddad back to the pod to unpack the 2026 midterm election results and their potential implications for health policy.The conversation explores potential Democratic health care priorities, including reversing Medicaid cuts and ACA subsidy restoration, drug pricing initiatives, examining the role of prior authorization in coverage denials, and the prospects for broader coverage expansion at both the federal and state levels. Join Health Affairs Publishing on November 17 for an exclusive event with Jetson Leder-Luis, PhD of Boston University getting Insiders up to speed on fraud policies and what to watch in the health care industry moving forward.Sign up for Insider to get exclusive access to this event and our trend report focusing on the current prior authorization landscape.Related Links:MEMORANDUM TO THE LEADER (Politico)Americans’ Challenges with Health Care Costs (KFF)Battleground Issue Tracker (The Cook Political Report)Prior Authorization's Next Era: CMS Reform, AI, and Faster Approvals (Health Affairs This Week)TREND REPORT: The Current Prior Authorization Landscape (Health Affairs Insider)Sign up for Health Affairs' free newsletter to catch up on our new articles, podcasts, and events. Subscribe to Semafor Healthcare for free.
- 6 days ago30 min
How Stimulants Are Reshaping the Overdose Crisis | SPONSORED
THIS SPONSORED PODCAST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE COBRE ON OPIOIDS AND OVERDOSE AT RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL.The US overdose crisis is changing. While opioid-related overdose deaths have begun to decline, researchers are seeing a growing role for stimulants, including cocaine and methamphetamine, in overdose risk.In this sponsored episode, Leslie Erdelack speaks with Dr. Jaclyn White Hughto from Brown University about what researchers are learning from the evolving overdose epidemic. They discuss findings from the POINTS (Preventing Overdoses Involving Stimulants) study, a CDC-funded project examining stimulant-involved overdoses in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.The conversation explores:How the US overdose epidemic has evolved, from prescription opioids to fentanyl and stimulant involvementWhy stimulant-involved overdoses differ from opioid overdosesThe rise of stimulant-only overdose deathsWhat researchers learned from interviews with people who use drugsMisconceptions about fentanyl contamination in the stimulant supplyHow people who use stimulants perceive and manage overdose riskThe role of fentanyl test strips, naloxone, and other harm-reduction toolsCommunity-driven strategies to improve overdose preventionChallenges surrounding Good Samaritan laws and emergency responseWhy surveillance data and public health monitoring remain criticalNew research examining potent stimulants and opportunities for earlier interventionDr. Hughto also discusses ongoing NIH-funded research aimed at understanding rising stimulant-only overdoses and identifying ways policymakers, clinicians, and communities can respond more effectively.RELATED LINKS:The Center of Biomedical Research Excellence on Opioids and OverdoseThe POINTS (Preventing Overdoses Involving Stimulants) study
- 1 weeks ago13 min
PhRMA vs. CMS' GLOBE: The New Medicare Part B Drug Pricing Fight
This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.Delivered weekly from David Lim, Semafor Healthcare connects the dots between decisions in government, business, and technology to reveal how they impact the future of healthcare. Each edition will provide the analysis you need to understand and stay ahead of a rapidly changing landscape. Subscribe for free.How far can international reference pricing go in lowering prescription drug costs?Health Affairs Publishing's Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Michael Gerber back to the pod to discuss the finalized GLOBE model for Medicare Part B drugs, the administration’s broader "most favored nation" strategy, the PhRMA lawsuit against CMS over the model, and what policy watchers should monitor in the months ahead. Join Health Affairs Publishing on November 17 for an exclusive event with Jetson Leder-Luis, PhD of Boston University getting Insiders up to speed on fraud policies and what to watch in the health care industry moving forward. Related Links:Health Affairs Moves Exclusively Online (Health Affairs Forefront)CMS Finalizes New Mandatory Drug Payment Model to Deliver Lower Drug Prices for Beneficiaries in Original Medicare Part BAdministration Finalizes Medicare Part B International Reference Pricing Model (Health Affairs Forefront)PhRMA Challenges CMS’ MFN Policy as Unlawful Overreach (PhRMA)Sign up for Health Affairs' free newsletter to catch up on our new articles, podcasts, and events. Subscribe to Semafor Healthcare for free.
- 2 weeks ago18 min
What Gen Z Healthcare Workers Want From Their Careers and Employers
This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.Delivered weekly from David Lim, Semafor Healthcare connects the dots between decisions in government, business, and technology to reveal how they impact the future of healthcare. Each edition will provide the analysis you need to understand and stay ahead of a rapidly changing landscape. Subscribe for free.Why are so many Gen Z health care workers thinking about their next career move?Health Affairs Publishing's Jeff Byers welcomes Adele Webb of Workforce Edge to the pod to unpack new survey findings on health care workforce expectations, career advancement, and the strategies employers can use to retain emerging talent. Related Links:2026 Healthcare Workforce Barometer (Workforce Edge)Sign up for Health Affairs' free newsletter to catch up on our new articles, podcasts, and events. Subscribe to Semafor Healthcare for free.
- 3 weeks ago14 min
When a Hospital Chain Goes Nonprofit: Quorum's Conversion Explained | Stat News' Tara Bannow
This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.Delivered weekly from David Lim, Semafor Healthcare connects the dots between decisions in government, business, and technology to reveal how they impact the future of healthcare. Each edition will provide the analysis you need to understand and stay ahead of a rapidly changing landscape. Subscribe for free.Health Affairs Publishing's Jeff Byers welcomes Tara Bannow of Stat News to the program to discuss Quorum Health’s proposed transition from a for-profit to nonprofit hospital system, including the operational, financial, and policy implications of the move.The discussion explores Quorum’s history of debt and restructuring, where CHS fits into the story, the financial advantages of nonprofit status, and whether similar transitions could become a pathway for struggling investor-owned health care organizations.Related Links:A private equity-owned hospital chain is becoming a nonprofit. Is it just a bailout for investors? (STAT)Will the Rural Health Transformation Fund Deliver? (Health Affairs This Week)Sign up for Health Affairs' free newsletter to catch up on our new articles, podcasts, and events. Subscribe to Semafor Healthcare for free.
- 3 weeks ago34 min
Why Prior Authorization Still Frustrates Everyone: DrFirst's Colin Banas on What's Changing | SPONSORED
This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.Delivered weekly from David Lim, Semafor Healthcare connects the dots between decisions in government, business, and technology to reveal how they impact the future of healthcare. Each edition will provide the analysis you need to understand and stay ahead of a rapidly changing landscape. Subscribe for free.THIS SPONSORED PODCAST EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY DrFIRST.In this sponsored episode, Dr. Colin Banas, chief medical officer at DrFirst, joins Health Affairs Publishing's Rob Lott to discuss prior authorization, why the process continues to create delays and administrative burden, and the future of prior authorization in the health care ecosystem.Colin Banas joined DrFirst in 2019 after spending 17 years as CMIO at VCU Health System, where he also practiced as an internal medicine hospitalist. He has testified before the U.S. Senate on health IT and meaningful use and previously served as a health IT Fellow at the ONC. At DrFirst, Dr. Banas drives innovation in medication workflows, focusing on non-disruptive decision support that creates better experiences for providers and patients, including how AI can reduce clinical burnout and improve patient outcomes. This conversation explores the root causes of prior authorization challenges, from fragmented workflows and outdated technology to the competing incentives facing providers and payers. Dr. Banas and Lott also discuss how automation, interoperability, and artificial intelligence are beginning to reshape prior authorization and help organizations reduce friction while maintaining appropriate oversight of care. Subscribe to Semafor Healthcare for free.
- Oct 9, 202621 min
Tragedy of the Commons: Health Care's Coming Breaking Point
This episode is brought to you by Semafor Healthcare.Delivered weekly from David Lim, Semafor Healthcare connects the dots between decisions in government, business, and technology to reveal how they impact the future of healthcare. Each edition will provide the analysis you need to understand and stay ahead of a rapidly changing landscape. Subscribe for free.Health Affairs Publishing's Jeff Byers welcomes Trilliant Health’s Allison Oakes to discuss the findings of the organization’s 2026 Trends Shaping the Health Economy report and the pressures affecting the U.S. health care system. Together, they examine trends in affordability, insurance coverage, health care utilization, and payment policy that could shape the industry in the years ahead. Join Health Affairs Publishing on October 21 for an Insider exclusive event exploring risk adjustment, coding incentives, spending, and outcomes with Richard Kronick and Matthew Fiedler.Sign up for Health Affairs' free newsletter to catch up on our new articles, podcasts, and events. Subscribe to Semafor Healthcare for free.
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About Health Affairs This Week
Health Affairs This Week places listeners at the center of health policy’s proverbial water cooler. Join host Jeff Byers, editors from Health Affairs Publishing, and guests as they discuss health policy’s most pressing news and trends.
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