Health affairs scholarPub Date : 2024-05-03eCollection Date: 2024-05-01DOI: 10.1093/haschl/qxae058
Howard Bauchner, Frederick P Rivara
{"title":"Use of artificial intelligence and the future of peer review.","authors":"Howard Bauchner, Frederick P Rivara","doi":"10.1093/haschl/qxae058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxae058","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Conducting high-quality peer review of scientific manuscripts has become increasingly challenging. The substantial increase in the number of manuscripts, lack of a sufficient number of peer-reviewers, and questions related to effectiveness, fairness, and efficiency, require a different approach. Large-language models, 1 form of artificial intelligence (AI), have emerged as a new approach to help resolve many of the issues facing contemporary medicine and science. We believe AI should be used to assist in the triaging of manuscripts submitted for peer-review publication.</p>","PeriodicalId":94025,"journal":{"name":"Health affairs scholar","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11095530/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140961382","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health affairs scholarPub Date : 2024-05-02eCollection Date: 2024-06-01DOI: 10.1093/haschl/qxae055
David D Kim, Jennifer H Hwang, A Mark Fendrick
{"title":"Balancing innovation and affordability in anti-obesity medications: the role of an alternative weight-maintenance program.","authors":"David D Kim, Jennifer H Hwang, A Mark Fendrick","doi":"10.1093/haschl/qxae055","DOIUrl":"10.1093/haschl/qxae055","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Despite remarkable clinical advances in highly effective anti-obesity medications, their high price and potential budget impact pose a major challenge in balancing equitable access and affordability. While most attention has been focused on the amount of weight loss achieved, less consideration has been paid to interventions to sustain weight loss after an individual stops losing weight. Using a policy simulation model, we quantified the impact of a weight-maintenance program following the weight-loss plateau from the initial full-dose glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists or incretin mimetic use. We measured long-term health care savings and the loss of some health benefits (eg, maintenance of weight loss, improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors, and reductions in diabetes and cardiovascular events). Our model suggested that, compared with continuous long-term full-dose GLP-1 receptor agonists or incretin mimetic drugs, the alternative weight-maintenance program would generate slightly fewer clinical benefits while generating substantial savings in lifetime health care spending. Using less expensive and potentially less effective alternative weight-maintenance programs may provide additional headroom to expand access to anti-obesity medications during the active weight-loss phase without increasing total health care spending.</p>","PeriodicalId":94025,"journal":{"name":"Health affairs scholar","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11138958/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141201581","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health affairs scholarPub Date : 2024-05-02eCollection Date: 2024-05-01DOI: 10.1093/haschl/qxae054
Langou Lian, Marina Lovchikova, Andrew Feher
{"title":"Automating benefits delivery: lowering health insurance costs for unemployment insurance recipients.","authors":"Langou Lian, Marina Lovchikova, Andrew Feher","doi":"10.1093/haschl/qxae054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxae054","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To provide financial relief to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, from July to December 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act temporarily expanded eligibility for cost-sharing reduction (CSR) silver 94 plans that cover 94% of medical costs for unemployment insurance (UI) recipients enrolled in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces. In June 2021, California's ACA Marketplace automatically redetermined eligibility and enrollment for 79 645 UI recipients so the enhanced subsidies would be applied without any action required among program participants. Using administrative data from California and a difference-in-differences design, we found that enrollees automatically moved to CSR silver 94 plans for the second half of 2021 saved $295 in premiums and $180 in out-of-pocket expenses (or $475 in total). These findings can inform state and federal policymakers exploring ways of automating benefits delivery for consumers already engaging with other safety-net programs to increase health insurance affordability.</p>","PeriodicalId":94025,"journal":{"name":"Health affairs scholar","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11095557/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140961377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Health and political economy: building a new common sense in the United States","authors":"Victor Roy, Darrick Hamilton, Dave A Chokshi","doi":"10.1093/haschl/qxae041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxae041","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The prevailing economic paradigm, characterized by free market thinking and individualistic cultural narratives, has deeply influenced contemporary society in recent decades, including health in the United States. This paradigm, far from being natural, is iteratively intertwined with politics, social group stratification, and norms, together shaping what is known as political economy. The consequences are starkly evident in health, with millions of lives prematurely lost annually in the United States. Drawing on economic re-thinking happening in fields like climate and law, we argue for a new “common sense” towards a health-focused political economy. Central to this proposed shift is action in 3 interconnected areas: capital, care, and culture. Re-orienting capital to prioritize longer-term investments, such as in public options for health care and baby bonds, can promote health and affirmatively include historically marginalized groups. Recognizing that caregiving is economically valuable and necessary for health, approaches like local cadres of community health workers across the United States would be part of building robust caregiving infrastructures. Advancing momentum in these directions, in turn, will require displacing dominant cultural narratives. As the health arena pursues change in the face of real obstacles, recent efforts reinvigorating industrial policy and addressing concentrated market power can serve as inspiration.","PeriodicalId":94025,"journal":{"name":"Health affairs scholar","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141041798","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Use of artificial intelligence and the future of peer review","authors":"Howard Bauchner, F. Rivara","doi":"10.1093/haschl/qxae058","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxae058","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Conducting high-quality peer review of scientific manuscripts has become increasingly challenging. The substantial increase in the number of manuscripts, lack of a sufficient number of peer-reviewers, and questions related to effectiveness, fairness, and efficiency, require a different approach. Large-language models, 1 form of artificial intelligence (AI), have emerged as a new approach to help resolve many of the issues facing contemporary medicine and science. We believe AI should be used to assist in the triaging of manuscripts submitted for peer-review publication.","PeriodicalId":94025,"journal":{"name":"Health affairs scholar","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141026265","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Automating benefits delivery: lowering health insurance costs for unemployment insurance recipients","authors":"Langou Lian, Marina Lovchikova, Andrew Feher","doi":"10.1093/haschl/qxae054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxae054","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract To provide financial relief to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, from July to December 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act temporarily expanded eligibility for cost-sharing reduction (CSR) silver 94 plans that cover 94% of medical costs for unemployment insurance (UI) recipients enrolled in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces. In June 2021, California's ACA Marketplace automatically redetermined eligibility and enrollment for 79 645 UI recipients so the enhanced subsidies would be applied without any action required among program participants. Using administrative data from California and a difference-in-differences design, we found that enrollees automatically moved to CSR silver 94 plans for the second half of 2021 saved $295 in premiums and $180 in out-of-pocket expenses (or $475 in total). These findings can inform state and federal policymakers exploring ways of automating benefits delivery for consumers already engaging with other safety-net programs to increase health insurance affordability.","PeriodicalId":94025,"journal":{"name":"Health affairs scholar","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141030764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health affairs scholarPub Date : 2024-04-30eCollection Date: 2024-05-01DOI: 10.1093/haschl/qxae052
Peter Amico, Elizabeth E Drye, Peter Lee, Carolee Lantigua, Dana Gelb Safran
{"title":"The business case for quality: estimating lives saved and harms avoided in a value-based purchasing model.","authors":"Peter Amico, Elizabeth E Drye, Peter Lee, Carolee Lantigua, Dana Gelb Safran","doi":"10.1093/haschl/qxae052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxae052","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ever-increasing concern about the cost and burden of quality measurement and reporting raises the question: How much do patients benefit from provider arrangements that incentivize performance improvements? We used national performance data to estimate the benefits in terms of lives saved and harms avoided if US health plans improved performance on 2 widely used quality measures: blood pressure control and colorectal cancer screening. We modeled potential results both in California Marketplace plans, where a value-based purchasing initiative incentivizes improvement, and for the US population across 4 market segments (Medicare, Medicaid, Marketplace, commercial). The results indicate that if the lower-performing health plans improve to 66th percentile benchmark scores, it would decrease annual hypertension and colorectal cancer deaths by approximately 7% and 2%, respectively. These analyses highlight the value of assessing performance accountability initiatives for their potential lives saved and harms avoided, as well as their costs and efforts.</p>","PeriodicalId":94025,"journal":{"name":"Health affairs scholar","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11098439/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140961361","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health affairs scholarPub Date : 2024-04-29eCollection Date: 2024-05-01DOI: 10.1093/haschl/qxae053
Deborah A Marshall, Nicolle Hua, James Buchanan, Kurt D Christensen, Geert W J Frederix, Ilias Goranitis, Maarten Ijzerman, Jeroen P Jansen, Tara A Lavelle, Dean A Regier, Hadley S Smith, Wendy J Ungar, Deirdre Weymann, Sarah Wordsworth, Kathryn A Phillips
{"title":"Paving the path for implementation of clinical genomic sequencing globally: Are we ready?","authors":"Deborah A Marshall, Nicolle Hua, James Buchanan, Kurt D Christensen, Geert W J Frederix, Ilias Goranitis, Maarten Ijzerman, Jeroen P Jansen, Tara A Lavelle, Dean A Regier, Hadley S Smith, Wendy J Ungar, Deirdre Weymann, Sarah Wordsworth, Kathryn A Phillips","doi":"10.1093/haschl/qxae053","DOIUrl":"10.1093/haschl/qxae053","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Despite the emerging evidence in recent years, successful implementation of clinical genomic sequencing (CGS) remains limited and is challenged by a range of barriers. These include a lack of standardized practices, limited economic assessments for specific indications, limited meaningful patient engagement in health policy decision-making, and the associated costs and resource demand for implementation. Although CGS is gradually becoming more available and accessible worldwide, large variations and disparities remain, and reflections on the lessons learned for successful implementation are sparse. In this commentary, members of the Global Economics and Evaluation of Clinical Genomics Sequencing Working Group (GEECS) describe the global landscape of CGS in the context of health economics and policy and propose evidence-based solutions to address existing and future barriers to CGS implementation. The topics discussed are reflected as two overarching themes: (1) system readiness for CGS and (2) evidence, assessments, and approval processes. These themes highlight the need for health economics, public health, and infrastructure and operational considerations; a robust patient- and family-centered evidence base on CGS outcomes; and a comprehensive, collaborative, interdisciplinary approach.</p>","PeriodicalId":94025,"journal":{"name":"Health affairs scholar","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11115369/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141088221","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health affairs scholarPub Date : 2024-04-26eCollection Date: 2024-05-01DOI: 10.1093/haschl/qxae051
Ilina C Odouard, Jeromie Ballreich, Mariana P Socal
{"title":"Medicaid spending and utilization of gene and RNA therapies for rare inherited conditions.","authors":"Ilina C Odouard, Jeromie Ballreich, Mariana P Socal","doi":"10.1093/haschl/qxae051","DOIUrl":"10.1093/haschl/qxae051","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Gene and RNA therapies are promising treatments for many rare diseases. Pediatric populations that could benefit from these drugs are overrepresented among state Medicaid programs. Using Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data, we examined Medicaid spending and utilization of rare disease gene and RNA therapies. Between 2017 and 2022, the number of available gene and RNA therapies increased from 3 to 13, yearly Medicaid spending increased from $148.3 million to $879.7 million, and the number of yearly treatments (a proxy for number of patients) increased from 327 to 1638. Nearly all spending was attributed to spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and Duchenne muscular dystrophy drugs. States participating in Medicaid pooled purchasing initiatives had 39% higher treatments per 100 000 enrollees with no differences in spending. Compared to states without a carve-out, states that carved SMA drugs out of managed Medicaid contracts had higher utilization (54%). Spending among carve-out states varied according to managed care enrollment, being higher for those with <80% of enrollees in managed care as compared with those with ≥80% of enrollees in managed care. This suggests that multi-state purchasing initiatives and managed care carve-outs can help increase access to gene and RNA therapies among Medicaid beneficiaries, but it is unclear if these strategies are effective at managing spending.</p>","PeriodicalId":94025,"journal":{"name":"Health affairs scholar","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11104525/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141072474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health affairs scholarPub Date : 2024-04-25eCollection Date: 2024-05-01DOI: 10.1093/haschl/qxae050
Olajumoke A Olateju, Chan Shen, James Douglas Thornton
{"title":"The Affordable Care Act and income-based disparities in health care coverage and spending among nonelderly adults with cancer.","authors":"Olajumoke A Olateju, Chan Shen, James Douglas Thornton","doi":"10.1093/haschl/qxae050","DOIUrl":"10.1093/haschl/qxae050","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) significantly reduced uninsured individuals and improved financial protection; however, escalating costs of cancer treatment has led to substantial out-of-pocket expenses, causing severe financial and mental health distress for individuals with cancer. Mixed evidence on the ACA's ongoing impact highlights the necessity of assessing health-spending changes across income groups for informed policy interventions. In our nationally representative survey evaluating the early- and long-term effects of the ACA on nonelderly adult patients with cancer, we categorized individuals-based income subgroups defined by the ACA for eligibility. We found that ACA implementation increased insurance coverage, which was particularly evident after 2 years of implementation. Early post-ACA (within two years of implementation), there were declines in out-of-pocket spending for the lowest and low-income groups by 26.52% and 38.31%, respectively, persisting long-term only for the lowest-income group. High-income groups experienced continuously increased out-of-pocket and premium spending by 25.39% and 34.28%, respectively, with a notable 122% increase in the risk of high-burden spending. This study provides robust evidence of income-based disparities in financial burden for cancer care, emphasizing the need for health care policies promoting equitable care and addressing spending disparities across income brackets.</p>","PeriodicalId":94025,"journal":{"name":"Health affairs scholar","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11135644/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141177136","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}