A Health Podyssey
Each week, Health Affairs' Rob Lott brings you in-depth conversations with leading researchers and influencers shaping the big ideas in health policy and the health care industry. A Health Podyssey goes beyond the pages of the health policy journal Health Affairs to tell stories behind the research and share policy implications. Learn how academics and economists frame their research questions and journey to the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Health policy nerds rejoice! This podcast is for you.
Medicare Is Moving Surgeries Out of Hospitals (And Possibly Saving Billions) | David Howard
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What happens when Medicare stops requiring certain surgeries to be performed in hospitals?
In this episode of A Health Podyssey, host Rob Lott speaks with David H. Howard about new research estimating that removing procedures from M...
Do Provider-Owned Health Plans Lower Healthcare Costs? New Evidence on Vertical Integration | Mitchell Mead
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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.
Hospital systems are increasingly becoming both providers and insurers, but what does that mean for healthcare prices?
In this episode of A Health Podyssey, host Rob Lott speaks with University of Michigan's Mitchell Mead about his n...
The Real Savings From Generic Drugs: What Medicare Part D Data Reveals | CBO's Scott Laughery
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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 Rob Lott speaks to Scott Laughery of the Congressional Budget Office about new research examining how generic drug entry affects net prescription drug prices and spending in Medicare Part D.
Their conversation expl...
Why Prior Authorization Still Frustrates Everyone: DrFirst's Colin Banas on What's Changing | SPONSORED
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...
Diagnosing Dementia: Confidence Gaps Across the Health Care Workforce
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Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Sumedha Gupta of Indiana University about new research on the dementia care workforce and how clinician experiences vary across provider types. They examine what those differences could mean for access, dia...
Building Forefront: 20 Years of Shaping Health Policy Conversations
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This month marks a major milestone for Health Affairs. In October 2006, the Health Affairs Blog was launched as a new experiment in health policy dialogue. Twenty years later, that platform has evolved into Health Affairs Forefront, publishing hundreds o...
Dr. Alister Martin on the Future of Public Health in New York City
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A Health Podyssey host Rob Lott chats with Dr. Alister Martin, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, about his path from emergency medicine to public health leadership, his vision for improving health o...
How Much Do Americans Really Pay for Health Care?
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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 Rob Lott speaks to Irene Papanicolas of Brown University about her recent paper examining how Americans contribute to health care financing through taxes, premiums, and out-of-pocket spending. The conversation explores differences in those contributions acr...
Medicare Advantage Risk Adjustment: Why CMS's Payment Cuts Didn't Raise Premiums
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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.
What happens when Medicare Advantage plans receive lower payments under a new risk adjustment model?
Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Niru Ghoshal-Datta of the University of California, Berkeley about his recent paper exploring CMS...
How Remote WIC Benefits Increased Enrollment
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Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Emily Dore of Tufts University School of Medicine about her recent paper exploring COVID-era WIC policy flexibilities, increased program participation, and what those findings mean for the future of safety net...
Medicaid Funding Fight: $52 Billion on the Chopping Block
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Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Debra Lipson, health policy analyst and consultant, about her recent paper that explores how new federal limits on Medicaid state directed payments could force significant Medicaid spending cuts in many sta...
Dhruv Khullar on Public Health, Pandemic Preparedness & the Future of Healthcare
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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.
Are we ready for the next public health emergency?
Rob Lott speaks with physician, researcher, and New Yorker writer Dhruv Khullar about the state of U.S. public health preparedness, the growing challenges facing infectious disease s...
Hospital-Owned Medicare Advantage Plans: A Look at Pricing Patterns
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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 Rob Lott speaks to Grace Mackleby of the University of Southern California about her recent paper that explores how vertically integrated Medicare Advantage plans and hospital systems set prices, finding that most affiliated and una...
Health Care Acquisitions: What Happens to Patient Care Intensity?
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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 Rob Lott speaks to Jiebing Wen of The University of Texas at Austin about her recent paper exploring how hospice acquisitions by investor-owned firms were associated with lower care staffing intensity and fewer patient vis...
How Inflation Skewed State Health Care Spending Targets
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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 Rob Lott speaks to Keith Ericson of Boston University about his recent paper exploring how inflation-adjusted spending benchmarks would provide a more accurate picture of state health care cost growth.
Order the Augu...
Why Are Wealthy Americans Spending So Much More on Healthcare?
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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 Rob Lott speaks to Betsy Cliff from the University of Chicago about her paper in the July 2026 issue of Health Affairs exploring trends in US healthcare spending by income.
Order the July 2026 iss...
BEST OF: Michael Chernew on Medicare Advantage Benchmarks
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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.
A Health Podyssey is on vacation in July. We will return with new episodes in August 2026.
This episode originally aired on April 18, 2023
Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Michael Chernew from the Harvard Medical S...
BEST OF: A Health Podyssey x Policy Spotlight w/ Meena Seshamani
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.
A Health Podyssey is on vacation in July. We will return with new episodes in August 2026.
This episode was originally aired on August 15, 2023.
In a crossover episode with Health Affairs' Policy Spotlight event series, E...
BEST OF: What Most Favored Nation Drug Pricing Would Mean for the US
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.
A Health Podyssey is on vacation in July. We will return with new episodes in August 2026.
This episode originally aired on April 14, 2026.
Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews James Robinson of the University of California B...
BEST OF: Will AI Fix Health Care? Robert Wachter Weighs In
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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 episode originally aired on February 3, 2026.
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 a...
How ACO Conveners Are Changing the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) Behind the Scenes
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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 Rob Lott speaks to Adam Markovitz of the University of Michigan about his recent paper exploring the growing role of third-party firms in Medicare ACOs, highlighting how they have contributed to wider participation and mor...
Why Medicare’s Hospital Wage Index Exceptions Jumped 60%
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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 Rob Lott speaks to Geoffrey Hoffman of the University of Michigan about his recent paper exploring the structure of Medicare’s hospital wage index and discusses the growth of exceptions over time, exploring their impli...
Private Equity in Primary Care: Costs, Care, and Impact
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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 Rob Lott speaks to Yashaswini Singh of Brown University about her recent paper that explores how private equity acquisitions in primary care are associated with changes in utilization, spending, and workforce composition.
Ord...
Inside CVS Caremark: The Role of PBMs in Drug Costs & Access | 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 CVS HEALTH.
In this sponsored episode, James Margiotta, Chief Growth Officer at CVS Caremark, joins Health Affairs Publishing's Jessica Bylander to unpack the role of pharmacy benefit m...
Inside CMS: How Medicare Innovation Models Are Working to Lower Costs & Scale Digital Health
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 Rob Lott speaks to Abe Sutton, Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, about the ACCESS model and broader efforts to test payment and delivery reforms aimed at improving affordability, expanding digital hea...
Policy Changes Reshaping Family Caregiving
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.
Welcome to a new, limited podcast series exploring major policy changes affecting older adults. This episode is part of our Age-Friendly Health series, which explores topics at the intersection of aging, health, health care, and health policy.
Extreme Heat’s Impact on Healthcare Use and Spending
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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 Rob Lott speaks to Jeff Romine of Carelon Research about his recent paper exploring new research on how extreme heat affects health care use and costs, finding consistent increases in emergency department visits and som...
How the Healthcare Workforce Is Responding to New Aging Policies | Age-Friendly Health Series
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.
Welcome to a new, limited podcast series exploring major policy changes affecting older adults. This episode is part of our Age-Friendly Health series, which explores topics at the intersection of aging, health, health care, and health policy.
The Deadly Rise of Cold-Related Illness at the Intersection of Social Inequality
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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 Rob Lott speaks to Dhara Patel of the Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School about her recent paper exploring national trends in cold‑related illness hospitalizations and how climate change and social vulnerability shape...
How the One Big Beautiful Bill Changes Medicaid for Older Adults and State Health Policy | Age-Friendly Health Series
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.
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, a...
Tenant Protections At The Intersection Of Climate And Health
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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 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...
How Climate Change Is Affecting Farmers’ And Ranchers’ Mental Health
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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 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...
Behind The Pages: Climate, Health, and Equity with Sacoby Wilson
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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.
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...
What Drives Administrative Costs in U.S. Health Insurance?
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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.
Which Star Ratings Are Driving Medicare Advantage Quality Gains
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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 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.
2027 Medicare Advantage Final Payment Rule: Key Changes Explained | David Meyers
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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 Adv...
Ashish Jha on Public Health Policy, Affordability & Preparedness
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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 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 a...
What Rising Disenrollment Rates Reveal About Medicare Advantage
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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' 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 — raisin...
Medicare, Disability Insurance & Mortality During A Two-Year Waiting Period
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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' 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...
How AI Changed Cardiac Clinical Practice and Outcomes
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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' 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 tes...
