Health affairs scholar最新文献

Despite acknowledgment that social and economic policies fundamentally shape health, persistent geographic and sociodemographic inequities in the United States reflect the deliberate choices embedded in policy decisions. There is a critical need for policy research that illuminates not just associations of social policies with health, but also mechanisms and pathways to equitable impact. The special collection of articles in Health Affairs Scholar on "Intersections of Social Policies and Health" advances the field by examining how the effects of social policies are shaped by legal, political, and cultural contexts; the uneven implementation and enforcement that contribute to health disparities; and the crucial role of narratives and administrative processes in mediating policy impact. Through nuanced analyses-such as exploring policy ecosystems, administrative burdens, and media framing-these studies move beyond single-policy assessments to explore the complex realities of translating policy intent into population health improvements. Collectively, the collection points toward new research priorities: advancing nuanced measurement of policy contexts, integrating equity and subgroup analyses, prioritizing implementation science, incorporating political and narrative determinants, and embracing intersectoral approaches. By deepening our understanding of how and why policy effects unfold unevenly, this scholarship charts a course for more effective and equitable policy research and action.

Introduction: Cannabis use in the United States is increasing. However, the prevalence and trends in cannabis use disorder (CUD) and cannabis poisoning among Medicaid enrollees, a vulnerable population, are not evident.

Methods: Using the Merative MarketScan Multistate Medicaid Claims and Encounters Database from 2011-2022, we examined adjusted prevalence and trends in CUD and cannabis poisoning among Medicaid enrollees and by age, sex, and insurance type (managed care [MC]/fee-for-service [FFS]).

Results: During the 2011 quarter (Q) 1-2022 Q4, the CUD rate increased from 336.54 to 548.96 per 100 000 enrollees per quarter-a 1.63-fold increase; the cannabis poisoning rate increased from 1.45 to 7.04 per 100 000 enrollees per quarter-a 4.86-fold increase. CUD rates were highest among those aged 18-34 years, while cannabis poisoning rates among those aged 0-17 years surpassed the rate of those aged 18-34 years by 2020 Q3. CUD and cannabis poisoning rates increased among both males and females and among those with FFS and MC, although females and MC enrollees experienced higher increases than males and FFS enrollees, respectively.

Conclusion: CUD and cannabis poisoning rates among Medicaid enrollees increased significantly during 2011-2022, especially among older adults, females, and MC enrollees. Targeted education campaigns on safe use and storage of cannabis may help reduce increasing trends in CUD and cannabis poisonings.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently released a document titled "Leading in Gold Standard Science-An NIH Implementation Plan." We offer reflections on 4 of the 9 "tenets" of gold standard research and recommendations for improving scholarly publication.

The FDA Commissioner's new National Priority Voucher program seeks to accelerate drug approvals for products meeting certain criteria. Interestingly, the program intends to increase affordability of new drugs. With few specifics available as to how the program will achieve that goal, this paper proposes a framework for leveraging independent value assessments to achieve affordable access while incentivizing evidence development and innovation.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) relies on the American Medical Association's Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) to estimate the physician work and direct practice expense associated with the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). However, as CMS notes in the 2026 MPFS proposed rule, the RUC's processes, which rely heavily on surveys and expert panels of physicians who are members of specialty societies, create conflicts of interest and overvalue specialty services. Although CMS and the RUC regularly assess MPFS codes for misvaluation, significant distortions remain, in part because the RUC develops new values by simply repeating the survey and expert panel processes that created the misvaluation in the first place. To correct this longstanding program, CMS should implement a technical expert panel to provide unbiased recommendations on the fee schedule, and Congress should require CMS to validate work and direct practice expense values using alternative, empirical data sources.

Introduction: The rapidly ageing population and multimorbidity are associated with increased emergency department (ED) visits by older adults. In the ED, older adults have higher risk of hospitalization, functional and cognitive decline, and mortality. Boarding, holding admitted patients in the ED awaiting a hospital bed, exacerbates these negative outcomes, which disproportionately affect older adults.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis to investigate US boarding trends by age using clinical administrative data from 5 health systems and publicly available NHAMCS data from 2018 to 2024.

Results: Boarding ≥3 h in the ED has increased across diverse hospital types, with oldest adults (85+) facing the greatest risk (System 4: IRR [95% CI] = 1.18 [1.15-1.20], System 5: IRR [95% CI] = 1.20 [1.17-1.23], System 3 [Community Hospital]: IRR [95% CI] = 1.25 [1.19-1.33]). These results were recapitulated at the national level in NHAMCS (IRR [95% CI] = 1.30 [1.05-1.61]).

Discussion: The trend of increased boarding has serious implications for patients, caregivers, and health systems. The 2025 CMS Age-Friendly Hospital Measure offers opportunities to improve processes and procedures to mitigate the negative effects of hospital boarding on older patients. We highlight opportunities to address this challenge, including ongoing quality improvement initiatives, bed prioritization algorithms, and alternate admission pathways.

Introduction: Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, including chronic and pregnancy-induced hypertension, pose significant risks to maternal health. This study evaluated the association of New York State (NYS)'s Paid Family Leave (PFL) law, implemented in 2018, with postpartum healthcare utilization among women with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy.

Methods: Using commercial claims data (2017-2022) for 312 470 employed women aged 15-45 years with live births, we assessed postpartum outpatient visits, hospital admissions, and medication adherence.

Results: The PFL law was associated with a 3.7%-point increase in outpatient visits within 7 days postpartum for women with chronic hypertension (from 25.9% to 29.6% in NYS, P < 0.001) and an 8.6%-point increase for women with pregnancy-induced hypertension (from 26.3% to 35.0%) in NYS, P < 0.001). The PFL law was associated with a 1.5%-point reduction in inpatient admissions for women with chronic hypertension (from 3.6% to 2.1% in NYS, P < 0.001), and a 7.1%-point improvement in antihypertensive medication adherence for women with chronic hypertension (from 26.6% to 33.8% in NYS, P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Study findings suggest that PFL laws may enhance postpartum hypertension management, providing useful insights for policymakers aiming to improve maternal health outcomes through workplace policies.

Risk adjustment is used in healthcare payment to mitigate the payer incentive to select for healthier populations and to improve fairness of quality assessment. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has used a spending-based metric, the CMS Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) score, to determine risk. However, the HCC score is potentially confounded by access and utilization differences, which are related to income and rurality. In this study, we investigate how related HCC scores are to mortality, a more objective indicator of clinical risk state, and whether that relationship differs between rural and urban populations. We examined calibration of the HCC spending model by calculating the predicted-to-observed spending ratio within deciles of the HCC score. We then compared urban and rural beneficiaries' clinical risk by comparing observed mortality rates within deciles. Our results demonstrate that the HCC model underpredicts mortality, while overpredicting spending, for rural beneficiaries. In contrast, it is well-calibrated for urban beneficiaries. These findings suggest that risk models based on HCCs may systematically disadvantage rural beneficiaries because HCC-based risk-adjusted spending may not fully account for baseline clinical risk.

Introduction: Family caregiving is receiving increased attention in state and national policy, while caregivers face constrictions in workplace flexibility.

Methods: A survey of employed caregivers in Utah (n = 226) was used to assess how often they reported having trouble managing paid work and caregiving responsibilities, the challenges they encountered in finding balance between roles, and effective strategies for caregivers to manage both roles.

Results: Almost half (44%) experienced moderate to severe difficulties balancing paid work and caregiving. Based on open-ended responses, time burden was the most commonly difficult aspect of balancing. Caregivers who had difficulty managing caregiving and work were twice as likely to have made employment changes, including hybrid/remote work or reducing hours. Caregivers said flexibility in work schedule and help with caregiving from family and friends were important to helping them achieving balance.

Conclusion: Difficulties balancing caregiving with paid employment are common and span health, financial, and time challenges. Policies supporting caregivers in their dual roles should address the common difficulties that caregivers experience. These policies could benefit employers, workers, and people with chronic health conditions and disability.