Episode 92
Frank Pasquale, Nicolas Terry and their guests discuss the most pressing issues in Health Law & Policy.
Health policy researcher Heather H. Howard returns to the pod and, not surprisingly, Medicaid was the focus of our talk. Howard is a lecturer at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, where she teaches courses on implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the social determinants of health, and state and local health policy. She works with states implementing health reforms and served as New Jersey’s Commissioner of Health and Senior Services from 2008-2010. She tweets at @HeatherHHoward.
We discussed various Medicaid issues; the extent non-expansion was driven by policy or politics, work requirements under Section 1115 waivers, state administrative costs associated with draconian Medicaid expansion criteria (particularly when compared to the macroeconomic effects of a robust healthcare system), cost-sharing and the “private option” in existing state plans, and the likelihood of Section 1332 waivers moving states to universal care or, at least, meaningful innovation.
Our lightning round addressed various issues, including an Altarum study on the macroeconomic effects of the ACA, and state AG's actions regarding mHealth apps and privacy.