Dear John,

Health Affairs Scholar follows a continuous publication model, meaning articles become freely available online as "advance articles" as soon as they are ready.

On October 18, an article recently published as an advance article was cited in written testimony for a congressional Budget Committee hearing.

The paper, written by Nikhil Sahni, Pranay Gupta, Michael Peterson, and David Cutler, outlines steps to reduce administrative spending associated with financial transactions in US health care.

Health Affairs Scholar Issue 4 Highlights

Issue 4 of Health Affairs Scholar features two editor’s choice papers:

Lauren A. Taylor and coauthors explore a prominent defense of nonprofit hospitals: contract failure theory or the “signaling defense,” which suggests that people are more likely to trust nonprofits than for-profits in markets defined by large information asymmetries.

The authors find little evidence that hospitals' nonprofit status influenced Americans' decisions about where to seek care, suggesting that the value of nonprofit hospitals should not be primarily attributed to their ability to signal greater trustworthiness to the public. 

The second editor’s choice paper examines the ability of the employer-sponsored insurance system in the United States, particularly in small firms, to pay for life-altering gene therapies.

The study shows that private group insurance financing for cost-effective gene therapies is viable and competitively necessary across the labor market, regardless of group size.

However, the authors caution that continual growth of stop-loss premiums could impact the long-term resilience of the system.

Also included in this issue:

Kevin Fiscella and Ronald Epstein advocate for the adoption of a multifaceted, holistic definition of health to guide innovations in research, health care, and health equity.

A study by Jim Stimpson and Alexander Ortega reveals that 82 percent of US adult social media users perceived false or misleading health information on social media platforms.

Gary Stein and coauthors demonstrate that LGBTQ+ patients and their families often experience disrespectful or inadequate care due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. 

For the complete table of contents and access to the issue, visit the Health Affairs Scholar website.

The Task Force’s Latest PrEP Recommendation For HIV Is Just More Of The Same

Richard Hughes IV

Listening Sessions Can Help CMS Become More Patient-Centered. Here’s How The Sessions Could Be More Effective

Elisabeth M. Oehrlein et al.

Catch Up on Research and Justice For All

Don’t sleep on the first season of our new health equity podcast series, Research and Justice For All, sponsored by CVS Health.

The series has provided perspectives on how to dismantle unjust systems and structures that have long impacted health outcomes in historically marginalized populations.

Hosted by CVS Health’s Sree Chaguturu and Joneigh Khaldun, the inaugural season explored how to challenge injustices in health care through research, evidence, community-building, and other innovative solutions.

If you haven’t listened yet, here’s a good chance to get caught up on the first season, “Private Sector Solutions for Health Equity.”