JAMA Health Forum Conversations – Details, episodes & analysis

Both sex- and gender-based factors influence the health of women. A fully realized population health agenda needs to center women’s health as an area of conceptual and pragmatic focus. Rosa M Gonzalez-Guarda, PhD, MPH, RN, joins JAMA Health Forum Editor in Chief Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, to discuss women’s health, inequities, and how women’s many and different identities shape their health.

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• The Consequences of Selective Defunding of Health-Relevant Research Areas

About 1 in 5 adults in the US live with a mental health condition. In 2023, approximately 32% of US adults reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. Ruth Shim, MD, MPH, of the University of California, Davis, joins JAMA Health Forum Editor in Chief Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, to discuss how national policy can better support mental health in the US.

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• Toward a Strategy to Improve National Mental Health

Research shows that Tobacco 21 (T21) policies with a minimum legal age to purchase tobacco products of 21 years reduce youth smoking, yet their potential long-term impact varies across US states. Jamie Tam, MPH, PhD, of the Yale University School of Public Health discusses these findings with JAMA Health Forum Editor John Ayanian, MD, MPP, and Deputy Editor Melinda Buntin, PhD.

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• US Tobacco 21 Policies and Potential Mortality Reductions by State

Extreme heat in the US led to deaths and hospital admissions among community-dwelling older adults with low incomes. Hyunjee Kim, PhD, of the Oregon Health & Science University, and Jose F. Figueroa, MD, MPH, of Harvard University, discuss these findings with JAMA Health Forum Editor John Ayanian, MD, MPP, and Deputy Editor Melinda Buntin, PhD.

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• Heat Waves and Adverse Health Events Among Dually Eligible Individuals 65 Years and Older
• The Alarming Risks for Dually Eligible Beneficiaries During Heat Waves

The use of care by patients of physicians considered more altruistic differs from the use of care of physicians considered less. Lawrence P. Casalino, MD, PhD, MPH, of Weill Cornell Medicine, discusses his work around this with JAMA Health Forum Editor John Ayanian, MD, MPP, and Deputy Editor Melinda Buntin, PhD.

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• Physician Altruism and Spending, Hospital Admissions, and Emergency Department Visits

JAMA Health Forum Editor John Ayanian, MD, MPP, and Deputy Editor Melinda Buntin, PhD, spoke with Sherry Glied, PhD, and Dong Ding, MA, MPA, of New York University, about the effects of participation in health care savings accounts. Participation in flexible spending accounts is linked to higher health care and tax expenditures, while health care savings accounts do not reduce expenditures.

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• Health Care–Related Savings Accounts, Health Care Expenditures, and Tax Expenditures

AcademyHealth CEO Aaron Carroll, MD, MS, shares highlights from the AcademyHealth 2024 Annual Research Meeting in an interview hosted by JAMA Health Forum Editor John Ayanian, MD, MPP, and Deputy Editor Melinda Buntin, PhD. John and Melinda then discuss key findings from 4 highly rated abstracts presented at the meeting that were published concurrently as Original Investigations in JAMA Health Forum.

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• Coverage and Access Changes During Medicaid Unwinding
• Changes in Health Care and Prescription Medication Affordability in the US During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Household Health Care Payments Under Rate Setting, Spending Growth Target, and Single-Payer Policies
• Pay-for-Performance Incentives for Home Dialysis Use and Kidney Transplant
• JAMA Health Forum Highlights From the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting

More than 50 million adults in the US are eligible to vote but not registered. Alister F. Martin, MD, MPP, of Harvard University, and Katherine McCabe, PhD, of Rutgers University speak with JAMA Health Forum Editor John Ayanian, MD, MPP, and Deputy Editor Melinda Buntin, PhD, about a program to register new voters in health care settings that has enrolled younger and racially and ethnically diverse adults.

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• Increasing Voter Participation Through Health Care–Based Voter Registration

JAMA Health Forum Editor John Ayanian, MD, MPP, speaks with Kelsey M. Owsley, PhD, of the University of Arkansas, and Sayeh Nikay, PhD, MPH, of the University of Minnesota, about how the 340B drug discount program influences the services offered by public and nonprofit hospitals. They also discuss new state policies and proposed federal policies to promote greater transparency and accountability in the 340B program.

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• US Hospital Service Availability and New 340B Program Participation
• Public Hospitals May Use the 340B Program Differently Than Nonprofit Hospitals

Benjamin D. Sommers, MD, PhD, of Harvard University, speaks with JAMA Health Forum Editor John Ayanian, MD, MPP, and Deputy Editor Melinda Buntin, PhD, about differences in Medicaid enrollment as measured in surveys and administrative data. These differences have implications for estimating coverage now that the federal policy of continuous Medicaid eligibility during the COVID-19 pandemic has ended.

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• Survey-Reported Coverage in 2019-2022 and Implications for Unwinding Medicaid Continuous Eligibility