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.
What's Next for Health Policy? Tim Jost and Katie Keith Look Ahead
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.
As Health Affairs Forefront celebrates its 20th anniversary, two of the publication's most influential contributors join Editor Chris Fleming for a conversation about the future of health policy.
Tim Jost and Katie Keith, whose rapid-response analyses h...
ACA Marketplace Turbulence: Fraud, Brokers, and Coverage Loss
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 Meg Winchester back to the pod to discuss the Trump administration's decision to terminate ACA marketplace coverage for more than 760,000 people as part of a broader effort to combat fraud...
Prior Authorization's Next Era: CMS Reform, AI, and Faster Approvals
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 discuss the evolving prior authorization landscape, including CMS efforts to streamline approvals, insurer responses, and emerging questions around AI-driven decision-making.
A...
Is Medicare-Medicaid Integration Working? Depends On Who You Ask
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 Allison Rizer, chief growth and innovation officer at ATI Advisory, about her recent Forefront article. They discuss upcoming 2027 Medicare-Medicaid integration requirements, how to measure if integration is valuable, and why decades of...
The $22 Billion Surprise Inside the No Surprises Act | Jack Hoadley
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 Jack Hoadley of Georgetown University to the pod to discuss the rapid growth of the No Surprises Act’s independent dispute resolution process and its estimated $22.4 billion cost over four years. They ex...
The Business of Autism: Private Equity, Medicaid & the Cost of Care
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 Dan Arnold of Brown University to discuss the rapid growth of Medicaid spending on autism treatment and the expanding role of private equity-backed providers in the applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy market. <...
Medicare Advantage's $16 Billion Quality Bonus Program: Litigation, Reform, and Rising Costs
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 Erica Socker of Georgetown University to the pod to discuss her recent Forefront article that explores how the Medicare Advantage quality bonus program is working in the wake of a Clover Health-CMS l...
AI and the Future of Patient Empowerment
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.
In this episode of Health Affairs This Week, David Betts, founder and board chair at StoryFlight Labs, shares how his ALS diagnosis inspired him to launch StoryFlight Labs and develop Talk To Me Goose, an AI-powered tool that...
When Academic Research Meets The Attention Economy
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.
On this episode, Health Affairs Publishing's Jeff Byers gets meta and invites Kent Anderson and Joy Moore, authors of the new book How The Internet Disrupted Science, onto the podcast to discuss how media trends have affected academic...
BEST OF: Future of Primary Care: Bright or Broken? w/ Troyen Brennan
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 This Week is on vacation in July. We will return with new episodes in August 2026.
This episode originally aired on October 25, 2025.
Health Affairs This Week will return with new episodes next week.<...
Health Research Funding Suddenly Cut: Dr. Aaron Carroll Explains
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.
We interrupt the summer break for this special "emergency pod" episode.
Health Affairs Publishing's Jeff Byers welcomes Dr. Aaron Carroll, President and CEO of AcademyHealth, back to the pod to examine the sudden discontinuation of over $100...
BEST OF: The Great Health Care Vision Board (Stacie Dusetzina)
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 This Week is on vacation in July. We will return with new episodes in August 2026.
This episode originally aired on January 21, 2026.
On an emergency pod episode, Health Affairs' Jeff Byers welcomes Stacie...
BEST OF: CMS's 10-Year Value-Based Primary Care Experiment
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 This Week is on vacation in July. We will return with new episodes in August 2026.
This episode originally aired on June 23, 2023.
Health Affairs' Marianne Amoss and Michael Gerber break down CMS's new...
BEST OF: Is Value-Based Payment Failing U.S. Healthcare? | Andrew Ryan
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 episode originally aired on February 27, 2026.
Health Affairs’ Jeff Byers welcomes Brown University's Andrew Ryan to the pod to discuss his recent Forefront article that explores whether value-based payment and managed care can lead to addressing th...
Why Healthcare Costs Are Rising in America: The $9 Trillion Outlook for 2025 and Beyond
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 Michael Chernew, professor at Harvard Medical School, back to the pod to discuss the recently released National Health Expenditures Projections for 2025–34 from the Office of the Actuary (OACT) at the Centers for...
Medicaid Work Requirements: Who’s Affected and What’s at Stake
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 Alison Barkoff of George Washington University to the pod to explore the evolving landscape of Medicaid work requirements.
They break down who is impacted by these policies, how the req...
Will the Rural Health Transformation Fund Deliver?
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 Sarah Jane Tribble of KFF Health News to the pod to discuss the Rural Health Transformation Fund, highlighting how it aims to improve infrastructure and access in rural communities amid ongoing ch...
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...
Will the Medicare ACCESS Model Spark the Next Health Tech Gold Rush?
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 Andrew Rundle of the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health to the pod to discuss his recent Forefront article about Medicare’s upcoming ACCESS model and its potential to expand digit...
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.
<...Why Teens Are Turning to AI for Mental Health | Caroline Figueroa
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.
Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussion of youth mental health challenges, including suicide and self-harm. Listener discretion is advised.
Health Affairs Publishing’s Kathleen Haddad welcomes Caroline Figueroa of Stanford University to the pod to discuss ho...
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.
<...Abortion Access In The High Court, Again | Katie Keith
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 Georgetown University’s Katie Keith and Deputy Editor Chris Fleming back to the podcast to unpack a new court case over mifepristone that could alter telehealth access to medication abortion and test...
How the One Big Beautiful Bill Changes Medicaid for Older Adults and State Health Policy
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...
When Screening Guidelines Shift: Impacts on Healthcare Access & Use
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 Duke University School of Medicine's Mike Pignone to the pod to explore the new cholesterol screening guidelines, how evolving screening and treatment guidelines (including colon cancer and breast cancer screening guidelines) influence...
Healthcare Price Transparency 2.0: Proposed Federal Updates Explained
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 Stacey Pogue of Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy about her recent Forefront article examining proposed updates to health plan price transparency rules, focusing on efforts to improve data usability an...
New Prior Authorization Proposals: Implications for Prescription Drug Access
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 Michael Gerber back to the pod to discuss recent federal action on prior authorization, including CMS’s proposal to expand response-time requirements to prescription drugs. The conversation also covers insurer ef...
The FY 2027 HHS Budget Proposal: Changes, Cuts, and Investments
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 Deputy Editor Jessica Bylander back to the pod to explore the White House’s proposed FY 2027 HHS budget, outlining major cuts to health agencies and research programs and the emphasized investment on th...
Health Policy Roundup: ACA Reform, MedPAC & Conversion Therapy in the Courts
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 discuss recent health policy developments, including a Supreme Court ruling on conversion therapy, renewed Democratic interest in Affordable Care Act reform, and key...
2027 Medicare Advantage Final Payment Rule: Key Changes Explained | David Meyers
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.
On an emergency pod episode, 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...
Abandon High‑Deductible Health Plans Linked to Health Spending Accounts | Jeanne Lambrew
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 Jeanne Lambrew of The Century Foundation to discuss her recent Forefront article exploring whether high deductibles and health spending accounts achieve their intended goals and how alternative approaches could improve healthcare affordability...
Innovation, Consumers, and How We Get to Better Health Care | Halle Tecco
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' Jeff Byers welcomes Halle Tecco, investor, founder of Rock Health and professor at Columbia Business School, to the pod to discuss her new book, Massively Better Healthcare: The Innovator's Guide to Tackling Healthcare's Biggest Challenges. Their...
Medicare Advantage Payment & Coding Fights Intensify
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' Jeff Byers welcomes Ben Ippolito of the American Enterprise Institute to the pod to discuss the growing debate over Medicare Advantage (MA) payments and coding intensity. They break down why MA plans typically receive higher federal...
FDA & Rare Disease Drugs: Why Policy and Politics Are Heating Up
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' Jeff Byers welcomes Deputy Editor Leslie Erdelack back to the pod to break down recent turbulence at the FDA following the departure of Vinay Prasad, whose decisions around rare‑disease gene therapies courted controversy. They explore th...
State of the Union Healthcare Policy Breakdown
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' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Margaret Winchester to the pod to discuss Trump's recent State of the Union Address and unpacking its health care and health policy talking points, including most-favored nation drug pricing, health savings a...
Healthcare Storytelling and Digital Health Investment Trends | Christina Farr
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' Jeff Byers welcomes Christina Farr, CEO and editor-in-chief of Second Opinion Media, back to the pod to discuss her book, The Storyteller's Advantage: How Powerful Narratives Make Businesses Thrive. The conversation explores the value of storytelling...
Sweeping Affordable Care Act Changes Proposed for 2027 (Katie Keith)
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’ Jeff Byers welcomes Georgetown University’s Katie Keith back to the podcast to break down the newly proposed HHS rule that could bring major changes to the ACA beginning in 2027.
They discuss the proposal’s bigge...
2025 Dietary Guidelines: Protein, Policy, and the Ultra-Processed Foods Problem
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' Jeff Byers welcomes dietitian Jenny Lo from Wellness and Sports Dietetics to discuss the recently revised dietary guidelines for Americans. They discuss what's changed, the emphasis on protein, the ambiguity over ultraprocessed foods, and the best...
Pharmacy Benefit Manager Reforms Are (Finally) Afoot
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' Jeff Byers welcomes Senior Editor Kathleen Haddad back to the pod to discuss the recently passed $1.2 trillion spending appropriations bill, its included reforms for pharmacy benefit managers, the latest round of drugs slated for the Medicare...
What Health Policy Katie Keith Is Watching In 2026
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' Jeff Byers welcomes Katie Keith of Georgetown Law and Deputy Editor Chris Fleming to the pod to discuss what to watch out for in 2026 for health policy. The conversation touches on Affordable Care Act subsidies, Medicaid...
