Are we ready for the next public health emergency?

Rob Lott speaks with physician, researcher, and New Yorker writer Dhruv Khullar about the state of U.S. public health preparedness, the growing challenges facing infectious disease surveillance, and the connection between chronic and infectious disease.

The conversation also explores Khullar’s work as a clinician, health policy researcher, and journalist, including his research on health care consolidation, Medicare Advantage, and the commercialization of medicine.

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Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Grace Mackleby of the University of Southern California about her recent paper that explores how vertically integrated Medicare Advantage plans and hospital systems set prices, finding that most affiliated and unaffiliated plans pay similar rates, with notable variation in certain markets.

 
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Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Jiebing Wen of The University of Texas at Austin about her recent paper exploring how hospice acquisitions by investor-owned firms were associated with lower care staffing intensity and fewer patient visit minutes, especially in patients' final days.

 
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Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Keith Ericson of Boston University about his recent paper exploring how inflation-adjusted spending benchmarks would provide a more accurate picture of state health care cost growth.

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Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Betsy Cliff from the University of Chicago about her paper in the July 2026 issue of Health Affairs exploring trends in US healthcare spending by income.

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A Health Podyssey is on vacation in July. We will return with new episodes in August 2026.

This episode originally aired on April 18, 2023

Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Michael Chernew from the Harvard Medical School on his recently-published paper examining the effects of lower Medicare Advantage benchmarks on plan generosity and benefits.

The authors found that a $1,000 per year decrease in the benchmarks would lead to only moderate increases in annual premiums, deductibles and co-pays.

Order the April 2023 issue of Health Affairs.

Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

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A Health Podyssey is on vacation in July. We will return with new episodes in August 2026.

This episode was originally aired on August 15, 2023.

In a crossover episode with Health Affairs' Policy Spotlight event series, Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Meena Seshamani, director at the Center for Medicare at CMS. They discuss the evolution of Medicare Advantage, value-based programs, and more.

Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcasts free for everyone.

A Health Podyssey is on vacation in July. We will return with new episodes in August 2026.

This episode originally aired on April 14, 2026.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews James Robinson of the University of California Berkeley about his recent paper exploring most favored nation drug pricing, weighing its feasibility, likely effects on drug launch prices, and implications for global pharmaceutical innovation and investment.

Order the April 2026 issue of Health Affairs.

This episode originally aired on February 3, 2026.

Health Affairs' Rob Lott interviews Dr. Robert Wachter, Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at UCSF, about his new book A Giant Leap: How AI Is Transforming Healthcare and What That Means for Our Future. Wachter reflects on his own daily use of AI as a clinician, the reasons he has grown optimistic about its potential, and the challenges of regulating fast‑evolving technologies.

Currently, more than 70 percent of our content is freely available - and we'd like to keep it that way. With your support, we can continue to keep our digital publication Forefront and podcast for everyone.

Health Affairs Publishing’s Rob Lott speaks to Adam Markovitz of the University of Michigan about his recent paper exploring the growing role of third-party firms in Medicare ACOs, highlighting how they have contributed to wider participation and more geographically dispersed networks while raising questions about how these structures relate to shared savings outcomes.

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