Health Affairs

David Colby, vice president of Research and Evaluation at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), has announced the lineup for RWJF’s Most Influential Research Articles of 2011. As it has done in past years, the foundation has listed 20 RWJF-funded articles across the broad spectrum of its program areas. The articles were selected based on... Read the rest of this entry »

The community development sector –a network of real estate developers, banks, city planners, and non-profit groups — has traditionally focused on promoting jobs, affordable housing and improved quality of life in low-income communities.  Now it is increasingly taking on the role of improving public health, and building healthier, more prosperous communities with nutritious food, clean... Read the rest of this entry »

Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 8, Health Affairs will release its November 2011 issue, “Linking Community Development & Health.”  The issue explores the connection between improving the health of populations and undertaking efforts to raise incomes, employment and overall economic activity in low-income communities.  In addition to the community health material, the issue features a number of... Read the rest of this entry »

Uwe Reinhardt will speak at the release event for the November issue of Health Affairs. Reinhardt, the James Madison Professor of Political Economy at Princeton University and the author of an article in the issue, will offer a presentation titled “An All-Payer System: Solution For The Alleged Cost-Shift.” The event will take place on Tuesday,... Read the rest of this entry »

On Tuesday, November 8, Health Affairs will release its November 2011 issue, “Linking Community Development & Health.”  The issue explores the connection between improving the health of populations and undertaking efforts to raise incomes, employment and overall economic activity in low-income communities. The issue builds on the work of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and... Read the rest of this entry »

In terms of both health and health care, America is an unequal nation. There are well-documented differences in health between whites and racial and ethnic minorities—for example, in life expectancy.  There are also demonstrable differences in health care provided to people of different races and ethnicities—for example, in screening rates for cancers. Despite these gaps,... Read the rest of this entry »

On Thursday, October 6, Health Affairs will hold a briefing to release its October 2011 issue, “Agenda For Fighting Disparities.”  The issue explores the relationship of social and economic determinants to health disparities; the role of specific environmental factors; disparities in the quality of health care delivered at hospitals; and other relevant topics. Health Affairs... Read the rest of this entry »

The author, who is president of the Pfizer Foundation, spoke at a UN meeting this week on noncommunicable diseases. The United Nations (UN) has been hosting its High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases September 16–21 in New York City. This is an important opportunity to highlight the alarming incidence of chronic diseases in developing countries and... Read the rest of this entry »

Thomas Saving’s and John Goodman’s post on the implications of the Affordable Care Act for Medicare leads the list of most-read Health Affairs Blog posts for May. On the list as well are posts on the hazards of ignoring the lessons of the Clinton years; the opportunities offered by clinical registries; and the implications of... Read the rest of this entry »

In the May Health Affairs issue, Sarah Vogel and Judy Roberts map out the disastrous history of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the major legislation that regulates chemicals.  TSCA makes it difficult for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to restrict use of any of the 62,000 chemicals already in commerce.  It does not... Read the rest of this entry »

Health Affairs plans a thematic cluster for its November 2011 issue on the topic of community development and health. Manuscript submissions are due no later than July 5, 2011. Papers will be selected for the issue based on competitive review. The publication of this cluster is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which in... Read the rest of this entry »

With growing evidence of the link between exposure to toxic chemicals and chronic diseases, especially in children, the United States needs to step up its efforts to protect the public from hazardous chemicals, say researchers writing in the May issue of Health Affairs. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), stymied by the outdated Toxic Substances Control... Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s Note: In our April issue, Health Affairs examined efforts to improve quality in hospitals and other health care settings. Our May issue, which will be published online later this week, looks at the myriad connections between the environment and health. These two themes come together in the blog post below, which examines how hospitals have sought... Read the rest of this entry »

Poor childhood health caused by environmental factors, such as air pollution and exposure to toxic chemicals, cost the United States $76.6 billion in 2008, according to a new study in the May issue of Health Affairs. This price tag represents a dramatic increase,  from 2.8 percent of total health care costs in 1997 to 3.5... Read the rest of this entry »

Tomorrow, on Wednesday,  May 4, Health Affairs will hold a Washington D.C. briefing in connection with its first ever issue on environmental health. National environmental health and policy experts will discuss the state of environmental health and its future, and will present new research in the field. The briefing and Health Affairs issue on environmental... Read the rest of this entry »

Amid the ongoing debate over restructuring health care and implementing health reform, other factors that could affect health usually get far less attention.  One, the recently enacted $1.6 billion cut in the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency for fiscal 2011, could impair the agency’s ability to enforce rules governing clean air and water. Also... Read the rest of this entry »