A Health Podyssey

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

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

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

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

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

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Thomas Dobbs of the University of Mississippi Medical Center to offer observations on the current state of public health funding, current career potential in the public health field, and reflections from being the namesake on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization Supreme Court Case.

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

On May 13, A Health Podyssey's Rob Lott chatted with Andrew Ryan of Brown University about his paper in the May 2025 edition of Health Affairs that explores how Rhode Island's affordability standards impacted hospital prices and insurance premiums. 

Order the May 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' Jeff Byers welcomes Christina Farr, advisor, investor, editor-in-chief of Second Opinion Media, to the pod to discuss recent moves by Omada Health and Hinge Health to take the companies public, how the IPOs could impact the digital health market, and what gains her attention when companies make their investment pitches.

Health Affairs released their first trend report, which is exclusive for Health Affairs Insiders. The first report focuses on AI in health care and you can get full access to this report by becoming an Insider. Insiders also will receive access to our June 17 event...

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Thomas Buchmueller of the University of Michigan to discuss his recent paper that explores how during the Medicaid 'Unwinding' of 2023, the reduction in Medicaid-paid prescriptions was offset by increased commercial coverage.

Order the May 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

Health Affairs' Jeff Byers welcomes Katie Keith of Georgetown Law back to the pod to discuss President Trump's potential changes to the rulemaking process, how that may impact rulemaking at HHS, and break down the house Republican budget reconciliation bill and the impacts it could have on Medicaid and more.

Become an Insider today to get access to our May 29 event on the FDA under the second Trump Administration as well as our upcoming premiere trend report on AI in health care.

Also, join us on May 27 for a free virtual event featuring a conversation...

Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Caitlin Carroll of the University of Minnesota to discuss her recent paper that explores how rural hospital closures led to an increase in prices for nearby remaining hospitals.

Order the May 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

Health Affairs' Jeff Byers welcomes Farzad Mostashari, founder & CEO of Aledade and the former National Coordinator for Health IT, to the pod to break down insights in the latest MedPAC report, quality measurement reform, and areas of opportunity for value-based care.

Health Affairs is hosting an Insider exclusive event on May 29 focusing on the FDA's first 100 days under the second Trump administration featuring moderator Rachel Sachs alongside panelists Richard Hughes IV and Arti Rai.

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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

Health Affairs' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Akilah Wish to the program to discuss the impacts of preserving the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, the effects of physical exercise on health, and how this type of data helps inform policy making.

We are hosting another live podcast recording of A Health Podyssey featuring host Rob Lott and guest Andrew Ryan where they will discuss his paper in the May 2025 edition of Health Affairs and take questions from a live audience. Sign up today.

Health Affairs is hosting an Insider exclusive event on May 29 focusing on t...

Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Mary Kathryn Poole of Harvard University to discuss her recent paper that breaks down and compares economic assistance models on food security and diet quality.

Order the April 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

Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Shuyue (Amy) Deng of Tufts University to discuss her recent paper that takes a closer look at the estimated impact of medically tailored meals on health care use and expenditures in the US.

Order the April 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

Welcome to the final episode in a special four-part series from Health Affairs on the intersection of food, nutrition, and health. This special series compliments the release of a theme issue on food, nutrition, and health, which is currently available to read.

In this episode, Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Ellen Bayer speak with Heather Thomas from the nonprofit A Place to Stand about her Narrative Matters essay from the issue, "A Different Type of Hunger."

The essay explores Thomas' experience fighting to access and maintain food benefits in the US as a mother of...

Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Kurt Hager of the University of Massachusetts to discuss his recent paper that explores how Medicaid nutrition supports were associated with reductions in hospitalizations and emergency department visits in Massachusetts through 2020–23.

Order the April 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

In a special podcast episode, Health Affairs Scholar Associate Editor Loren Adler interviews Elizabeth Popp-Berman about the Health and Political Economy series of papers recently published in Health Affairs Scholar.

The series asks how might the U.S. build a more just and inclusive political economy for health rather than take the status quo for granted.

This paper collection was developed in partnership with the The New School’s Health and Political Economy Project (HPEP), a field catalyst initiative advancing a just and inclusive economy for health, and supported by the Comm...

Welcome to the third episode in a special four-part series from Health Affairs on the intersection of food, nutrition, and health. This special series compliments the release of a theme issue on food, nutrition, and health to be released this week.

In this episode, Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander and Ellen Bayer discuss the content in the theme issue.

Order the Food, Nutrition, and Health Issue.

Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Seth Berkowitz of the UNC School of Medicine to discuss his recent paper that explores a new approach to help guide research and policy at the intersection of income, food, nutrition, and health.

Order the April 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

Welcome to the second episode in a special four-part series from Health Affairs on the intersection of food, nutrition, and health. This special series compliments the release of a theme issue on food, nutrition, and health to be released April 7, 2025.

In this episode, Health Affairs' Jessica Bylander speaks with Diane Schanzenbach from Northwestern University on the topic of food support programs and their impacts on very young children.

Pre-order the Food, Nutrition, and Health Issue.

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Health Affairs' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Dr. Meena Seshamani, the incoming Maryland Secretary of Health, to discuss her time as the director of Medicare at the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services and what the future holds in her new role.

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.

Welcome to a special four-part series from Health Affairs on the intersection of food, nutrition, and health. This special series compliments the release of a theme issue on food, nutrition, and health to be released April 7, 2025.

In the first episode, Health Affairs' Ellen Bayer speaks with Na'Taki Osborne Jelks from Spelman College on the topic of water insecurity.

Pre-order the Food, Nutrition, and Health Issue.

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On March 12th, A Health Podyssey's Rob Lott invited Yashaswini Singh of Brown University to the program for a virtual podcast taping to discuss her paper on the effect of private equity on physician turnover. The two discussed the paper and took questions from the audience in attendance.

Order the March 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 Erica Eliason of Rutgers University on her recent paper that explores how continuous eligibility policies and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) structure affected children's coverage loss during Medicaid unwinding.

Order the March 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 Richard Leuchter from the University of California Los Angeles on his recent paper that explores how socioeconomically disadvantaged groups may have underused emergency departments for non-avoidable visits.

Order the March 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 Jihye Han of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard University on her recent paper that takes a closer look at the regulatory treatments for first-in-class drugs and how those differ between the US and Europe.

Order the March 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 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 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' Senior Deputy Editor Rob Lott interviews Jennifer Wolff of John Hopkins University about her recent paper that explores the increasing number of family caregivers that are assisting older US adults, including adults with dementia.

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 Paige Nong of the University of Minnesota about her recent paper that evaluates and explores the current use of artificial intelligence and predictive models in US hospitals.

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.

A Health Podyssey is taking a holiday break. We will return to regular production on January 14, 2025.

Until that time, enjoy a special series we created on our other podcast, Health Affairs This Week. In this special series, Rob Lott gets an update on health policy briefs surrounding the release of our theme issue on housing and health, which was released in February of this year.

In this episode, Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Michael Lens from the University of California Los Angeles.

Order the issue here.

Subscribe to Health Affairs This...

Guest: Philip Alberti, Founding Director, AAMC Center for Health Justice & Senior Director, Health Equity Research & Policy at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)

Rhea Boyd, MD, MPH, Pediatrician and Child and Public Health Advocate, interviews Philip Alberti from the AAMC to discuss health outcomes and what it means to achieve health equity across sectors.

This season is sponsored by Deloitte.

Learn more about Deloitte's work with Drivers of Health or the Deloitte Health Equity Institute.

Related Links:  

A Health Podyssey is taking a holiday break. We will return to regular production on January 14, 2025.

Until that time, enjoy a special series we created on our other podcast, Health Affairs This Week. In this special series, Rob Lott gets an update on health policy briefs surrounding the release of our theme issue on housing and health, which was released in February of this year.

In this episode, Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Ingrid Gould Ellen from the NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy.

Order the issue here.

...

Guest: Andrew Winn, Executive Director, Insight Garden Program

Rhea Boyd, MD, MPH, Pediatrician and Child and Public Health Advocate, interviews Andrew Winn from the Insight Garden Program about the relationship between the environment and people in incarcerated spaces and access to nature as a human right.

This season is sponsored by Deloitte.

Learn more about Deloitte's work with Drivers of Health or the Deloitte Health Equity Institute.

Related Links:  

A Health Podyssey is taking a holiday break. We will return to regular production on January 14, 2025.

Until that time, enjoy a special series we created on our other podcast, Health Affairs This Week. In this special series, Rob Lott gets an update on health policy briefs surrounding the release of our theme issue on housing and health, which was released in February of this year.

In this episode, Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Craig Pollack from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Order the issue here.

Subscribe to Health Affairs...

Guest: Sarah Hemminger, Co-Founder and CEO, Thread

Rhea Boyd, MD, MPH, Pediatrician and Child and Public Health Advocate, interviews Sarah Hemminger of Thread about social isolation and wellbeing, particularly for young people. They discuss innovative ways to connect people and achieve transformational change. 

This season is sponsored by Deloitte.

Learn more about Deloitte's work with Drivers of Health or the Deloitte Health Equity Institute.

Related Links:  

A Health Podyssey is taking a holiday break. We will return to regular production on January 14, 2025.

Until that time, enjoy a special series we created on our other podcast, Health Affairs This Week. In this special series, Rob Lott gets an update on health policy briefs surrounding the release of our theme issue on housing and health, which was released in February of this year.

In this episode, Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Corianne Scally from the Urban Institute.

Order the issue here.

Subscribe to Health Affairs This Week.

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