Dear John,

ICYMI, Sarah Gordon of the Department of Health and Human Services and Boston University appeared on A Health Podyssey to discuss her recent paper that explores lessons from the continuous enrollment provision of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020.

Tomorrow, we premiere a new episode featuring author Courtney Baird of Brown University discussing her recent paper on how county-level mandates were generally effective at slowing COVID-19 transmission.

Nursing Home Ownership Transparency

Private equity (PE) and real estate investment trusts (REITs) are increasingly investing in nursing homes.

In 2022, the Biden administration announced a series of reforms aimed at improving nursing home ownership transparency and accountability.

In the March issue of Health Affairs, Amanda Chen of Harvard University and her team of coauthors evaluate the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ publicly available ownership data.

The researchers find gaps in this data, noting that “only a third of the PE investments and fewer than a fifth of the REIT investments identified in the proprietary files were also present in CMS’s change of ownership file.”

The researchers make a series of recommendations for improving the accuracy and completeness of ownership data.

Next week, A Health Podyssey will feature a conversation between Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil and author Amanda Chen as they explore the study's findings.

Health Affairs Branded Post:

After decades of disproportionate harm done by the tobacco industry, we’re fighting for the health of Black Americans. We’re also fighting for justice.

Kathy Crosby and Dr. Valerie Yerger

Sponsored by Truth Initiative

Improving Hospital Compliance With Price Transparency Rules

David Muhlestein and Yuvraj Pathak

Congress Has The Opportunity To Deliver Health Care Price Transparency

Christopher M. Whaley et al.

Advancing PrEP Access And Utilization For Black Women And Girls

Jessica McCann et al.

Celebrating Women's History Month

This Women's History Month, we're elevating women who work to advance health equity and policy.

In a February 2024 article, Kierra S. Barnett and coauthors determine how policies have affected segregated neighborhoods—such as Linden in Columbus, Ohio—and shaped neighborhood-level demographics and resources during the past 100 years.

Tomorrow, March 19, you are invited to join Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil when he welcomes Douglas Jacobs, the Chief Transformation Officer of the Center for Medicare at CMS, for a Policy Spotlight event.

Jacobs is a frequent contributor to Health Affairs Forefront. Among the topics to be covered on March 19 is his latest article, "Update On The Medicare Value-Based Care Strategy: Alignment, Growth, Equity."