Dear John,

FYI, new episodes of Health Affairs This Week drop every Friday!

Check out last week's episode, which kickstarted a special series on housing and health featuring Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviewing Corianne Scally from the Urban Institute. 

Growing Share of Immigrant Certified Nursing Assistants

In the January issue of Health Affairs, Hankyung Jun and David Grabowski of Harvard University examine trends in the certified nursing assistant (CNA) workforce in US nursing homes between 2010–21, and explore potential relationships between the share of foreign-born CNAs and nursing home quality.

The researchers find that the absolute number of CNAs declined during the study period, and find that this drop was primarily due to a large decrease in native-born staff.

Between 2010–21, native-born direct care labor decreased, while the share of immigrant CNAs increased.

And while nursing home staff decreased during the pandemic, the percentage of immigrant workers increased during the pandemic in most states.

Jun and Grabowski also conclude that “before the pandemic, having a higher share of immigrant CNAs was associated with more direct care staff hours per resident and better nursing home quality performance.”

Today, author Hankyung Jun joined Health Affairs editor Leslie Erdelack for a discussion about the paper’s data, methods, and policy implications.

To access a recording of this event, become a Health Affairs Insider.

Cristian Herrera on the COVID-19 Disruption to Latin American and Caribbean Countries

Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Cristian Herrera of the World Bank about his recent Health Affairs paper, which sought to identify disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to routine health care services and how eight Latin American and Caribbean countries responded.

To Build A Culture Of Health, We Must See How Culture Shapes Health

Karabi Acharya

ICYMI, we announced the continuation of our Forefront Series "Medicare and Medicaid Integration."

Due to the ongoing support from Arnold Ventures, we are able to reissue our call for submissions for this series. We will accept submissions until October 31, 2024.

With this in mind, let's take a look back at the series, which has featured policy analysis, proposals, and commentary that we hope will elevate the issues for our audience and inform policies on the state and federal levels to advance integrated care for those dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.

• How The CMS Innovation Center Can Drive State Investments In Health-Related Social Needs (December 2023)
• From Natural Disasters To Bureaucratic Ordeals, Dual-Eligible Beneficiaries Face Hurdles In Accessing Durable Medical Equipment (September 2023)
• Engaging Dual-Eligible Beneficiaries To Build Effective Integrated Care Programs (May 2023)
• Requiring Integrated Care Plans To Offer Spiritual Care To Dually Eligible Individuals (January 2023)

Jobs at Health Affairs

Health Affairs is the perfect place to advance your career while contributing to the leading research and analysis on improving health policy and health care.

Our team contains a deep bench of experienced professionals in health policy, dedicated to making health care better.

Below are the current job openings at Health Affairs:

• Senior Editor
• Senior Development Director