We often hear that the U.S. underinvests in primary care and prevention—and that this explains why Americans live shorter, less healthy lives. In our new @thelancetph.bsky.social, we take a closer look at this issue. #IrenePapanicolas @Brown www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Comparing US prevention efforts to other high-income countries

Life expectancy in the USA is considerably lower than in most high-income countries, with many deaths considered preventable. The extent by which poor…

sciencedirect.com

It’s hard to put into words how inspiring Dr. Sue Goldie is. An extraordinary teacher, researcher, leader, and mentor to so many of us @hsph.harvard.edu who now shares her deeply personal story fighting against Parkinson’s disease. Her story in @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Sue Goldie Has Parkinson’s Disease

An acclaimed researcher is an expert at explaining complicated problems. Now she has to confront the most vexing question: What is happening to her?

nytimes.com

In new #HealthAffairs Forefront piece, we show a troubling trend: Rapid growth of “Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans (C-SNPs)” enrolling dual-eligibles. We argue their growth is threatening national integrated care efforts for duals. www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/f...

Growth Of C-SNPs May Be Jeopardizing Medicare-Medicaid Integration | Health Affairs Forefront

With the new availability of Medicare enrollment data for 2025, we examine ongoing enrollment growth of chronic condition special needs plans (C-SNPs) overall and among the dual-eligible population.

healthaffairs.org

Federal funding reportedly sent to Harvard for about 200 grants totaling $46 million. Some welcome relief hopefully to so many. Story below: www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Viewpoint: #Medicaid is vital for low-income, dual-eligible adults and people with disabilities, but coverage disruptions due to administrative barriers increase health risks. ja.ma/4pBxGUO

Sign of a broken health care system when patients with cancer feel like this: “I always told myself the stress of dealing with insurance was worse than the cancer.” Insights from patients w/ cancer dealing with prior authorizations in @jamanetworkopen.com study jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Patient Perspectives on Prior Authorization for Cancer Care

This qualitative study characterizes the perspectives of patients with cancer regarding their experience with prior authorization for cancer care.

jamanetwork.com

The true cost of the reconciliation bill will be measured in lives—over 50,000 per year. It’s a predictable result when you cut off insurance to people who are old, poor and sick. Eric Roberts @pennldi.bsky.social and I discuss @msnbc.com @harvardhpm.bsky.social www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnb...

Opinion | The true cost of the GOP’s megabill will be measured in lives. Tens of thousands of lives.

It’s a predictable result when you cut off health insurance to people who are old, poor and sick.

msnbc.com

Promising development in Congress: A bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers considering finally fixing the MA to VA cost-shifting loophole that currently leads to billions in MA profits to provide zero care while VA foots the bill. Story by @wsj.com www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Exclusive | Lawmakers Seek to Close VA Loophole That Funnels Billions to Private Medicare Insurers

A Wall Street Journal investigation found the federal government paid insurers an estimated $44 billion from 2018 through 2021 to cover veterans in Medicare Advantage plans who were also getting healt...

wsj.com

Our new @JAMAHealthForum study adds more evidence on how Medicare Advantage plans enrolling veterans are maximizing profits by not paying for care. Veterans in high-veteran MA plans are much more likely to have surgical care paid by VA than plan itself—even when surgery occurs in non-VA hospitals…

JAMA Health Forum@jamahealthforum.com · last yr.

Veterans enrolled in high-veteran Medicare Advantage plans are more likely to have their surgical care costs shifted to the Veterans Health Administration instead of being covered by the MA plans. #ARM25 @academyhealth.bsky.social https://ja.ma/4jKGy6e

I’m honored and excited to have been selected as one of the 2025 Aspen Ideas Health Fellows this year! Forum brings together a diverse set of people working on issues related to improving health. Full list of @aspenideas.bsky.social Health Fellows: www.aspenideas.org/articles/202...

2025 Aspen Ideas: Health Fellows | Aspen Ideas

The Aspen Ideas: Health Fellows are a diverse group of health leaders who are selected for their innovative work, inspired accomplishments, and ability to transform ideas into action. Get to know the ...

aspenideas.org

I want to emphasize that this is 18,000 avoidable deaths per year *of Medicare enrollees.* They aren't in CBO's "uninsured" count — they're older people and folks with disabilities on Medicare who won't get extra financial help because of a proposed moratorium on a regulation.

Jose Figueroa, MD, MPH@joefigs.bsky.social · last yr.

CBO projects that House reconciliation bill will cause 1.38 million low-income Medicare beneficiaries to lose Medicaid coverage We estimate that this will lead to over 18,000 avoidable deaths per year stemming from loss of drug subsidies Link to our memo led by @pennldi.bsky.social: bit.ly/4mwfcDA

CBO projects that House reconciliation bill will cause 1.38 million low-income Medicare beneficiaries to lose Medicaid coverage We estimate that this will lead to over 18,000 avoidable deaths per year stemming from loss of drug subsidies Link to our memo led by @pennldi.bsky.social: bit.ly/4mwfcDA

Last week was hard for us @hsph.harvard.edu after losing all NIH grants. This week, we are forced to reckon with what’s next, including shutting down research portfolios, considering staffing cuts, and scrambling to cover salaries. HSPH: “ground zero” of NIH cuts www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/u...

Federal Cuts Become ‘All Consuming’ at Harvard’s Public Health School

nytimes.com

Great summary of 2 recent studies in @npr.org by @lesliemwalker.bsky.social that show: 1) Value of having Medicaid (Wyse & Meyer, NBER) 2) Human costs of losing Medicaid & linked subsidized drug coverage in @nejm.org Lives saved in study 1 and lives lost in study 2 www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Veterans in Medicare Advantage and Traditional Medicare used dental and vision services at similar rates, with no significant difference in total spending. #SGIM25 https://ja.ma/3ZficKj

Many veterans enrolling in Medicare Advantage get zero care paid by plans. MA insurers argue that vets get extra benefits (vision + dental). But in new @jama.com study, we find that this claim is NOT actually the truth. @adambeckman.bsky.social @hsph.harvard.edu jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Loss of Subsidized Drug Coverage and Mortality among Medicare Beneficiaries | New England Journal of Medicine www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.... How important is help with drug costs? For dual Medicare-Medicaid beneficiaries, it saves lives.

Loss of Subsidized Drug Coverage and Mortality among Medicare Beneficiaries | NEJM

A total of 14 million Medicare beneficiaries receive the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS), which reduces cost sharing in Medicare Part D. Losing the LIS may impede medication access and affect mortality. U...

nejm.org

As @lesliemwalker.bsky.social writes for Tradeoffs today, discussing the paper’s findings, that regulation “was poised to help nearly 1 million more duals gain this extra medication assistance, but the latest Republican proposal delays that rule until 2035.”

Tradeoffs: How Cutting Medicaid Could be Deadly

Two new research papers add important data to the fierce political debate over Medicaid in Washington, D.C. Both offer strong evidence that Medicaid, the public insurance program that covers more than...

mailchi.mp

Talk about some timely research. Here's the punchline: "Loss of drug subsidies after Medicaid disenrollment was associated with higher mortality among low-income Medicare beneficiaries." www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Eric Roberts and @joefigs.bsky.social led a groundbreaking new study on Medicaid and Medicare, out today in NEJM. I’m lucky to have been a part of it. Medicare saves lives. But is it enough to save lives of the most vulnerable Americans? The study suggests no; Medicaid still matters. (1/11)

Loss of Subsidized Drug Coverage and Mortality among Medicare Beneficiaries | NEJM

A total of 14 million Medicare beneficiaries receive the Low-Income Subsidy (LIS), which reduces cost sharing in Medicare Part D. Losing the LIS may impede medication access and affect mortality. U...

nejm.org

The White House's "skinny budget" clarifies that they are, indeed, proposing to end all new extramural AHRQ funding while folding it into ASPE. www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u... (Standard disclaimer that AHRQ is an agency created and funded by Congress, not at the whims of the executive branch)

Quality of care has been improving for older people with HIV (PWH) In new @JAMANetwOpen study, we show rates of filling older, toxic ART among PWH has substantially declined to near zero in favor of newer/preferred ART regimens. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

After 28 years, the legendary Arnie Epstein is stepping down as chair of HPM at HSPH @hsph.harvard.edu He’s been an incredible chair that has guided & grown the department for nearly 3 decades, and we will all miss him as our chair… @harvardhpm.bsky.social

New study on Y1 of ACO REACH finds that it did not achieve its goal of enrolling organizations that serve beneficiaries with high levels of social risk. “Without broader participation, ACO REACH is unlikely to achieve its goal of reducing health inequities.” jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Year 1 of Medicare’s Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health Model

This cross-sectional study compares characteristics between participants in Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health with Medicare Shared Savings Program and the br...

jamanetwork.com

As Harvard prepares for its defense against the federal govt and the looming NIH freeze, Mass General Brigham (MGB) leadership begins to distance itself from the Harvard name…

New @nejm.org study with alarming results. The wealthiest Americans do not live as long as the wealthiest in other countries. In fact, mortality among the wealthiest Americans appeared to be similar to people in the poorest quartile in northern and western Europe. www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Agencies of the federal government just announced that they will begin comprehensive review of federal contracts and grants of “@Harvard and its affiliates.” Up to $225.6 million in contracts at stake plus >$8.7 billion in grants. www.hhs.gov/about/news/t...

Across the board, US states are all falling behind other countries when it comes to avoidable deaths. Check out great @medscape.com explanation and short video by @fperrywilson.bsky.social on our recent #JAMAIM study www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...

How are MA plans recruiting a veterans that get most of their care paid by VA and not by MA? 1. Make it cheap to enroll (offer $0 premiums & cash backs) 2. Offer no Part D drug coverage (rare for MA) Our new #JAMAHealthForum study led by PhD student Allie Dorneo jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Viewpoint from former VA employees, including former Veterans Health Administration Undersecretary for Health and former director of the Health Services Research program jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Veterans Affairs Research Under Threat

This Viewpoint discusses the critical importance of continued funding for the intramural research program in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

jamanetwork.com