Dear John,

ICYMI, Health Affairs' Jeff Byers welcomed Senior Editor Kathleen Haddad back to Health Affairs This Week to discuss the upcoming 2024 open enrollment season for Medicare and what changes to expect with recent news that large insurance companies may be scaling back Medicare Advantage offerings in the coming year.

Oral Paxlovid is highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death from COVID-19, yet it has been remarkably underused.

In an ahead-of-print article released today, Gillian K. Steelfisher and coauthors examine public awareness and perceptions of Paxlovid and discover that a majority of Americans have limited awareness of the at-home COVID-19 treatment.

Before Paxlovid loses full government subsidies, the researchers declare that further public outreach is needed to ensure that the public accesses it when needed.

Brokers Accused Of Misconduct Sue To Block Suspension From ACA Marketplaces

Zachary Baron

To Measure Diversity And Representation In Health Policy Research, Journals Should Adopt Personal Identity Disclosures

Yarden S. Fraiman et al.

In a Health Policy brief released earlier this month, Paula Lantz and Emma Carter write about the role of direct democracy in state policy making as it relates to the drivers of population health and health disparities.

Direct democracy through state ballot initiatives holds potential for policy change relating to a large array of important social issues.

Although citizen-initiated ballot measures have shown advancement for population health policy in many states, there are still many challenges faced.