Policy & Regulation

This study updates ASPE’s previous analysis of the associations between COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths among Medicare beneficiaries and COVID-19 vaccination rates, with full year data through the end of 2021.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has several different policy groups such as the HHS Data Council, Data Governance Board, Evidence and Evaluation Policy Council, and the HHS AI Council that frequently use many terms related to data, but likely with inconsistent understanding of their definitions and how these terms should be used.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) enhances the health and well-being of all Americans by advancing equity, addressing social determinants of health, and supporting underserved communities.

High prescription drug costs are a leading concern among Americans. Americans pay higher prices for prescription drugs than any other country in the world, with prescription drug prices in the U.S. more than 2.5 times as high as those in other similar high-income nations.

Prescription drug price increases create affordability challenges for patients and for the government. This report tracks drug price changes from 2016-2022. There were 1,216 products whose price increases during the twelve-month period from July 2021 to July 2022 exceeded the inflation rate of 8.5 percent for that time period. The average price increase for these drugs was 31.6 percent.

This Brief presents information about the risk of needing care and associated costs to provide content for policymakers and others considering long-term care financing proposals. It revises a brief that was written in October 2020.

Nutrition assistance programs have been shown to increase children’s health and well-being and decrease the risk of child maltreatment. At the same time, food insecurity rose in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Improving health equity in the United States is a priority for the Biden-Harris Administration in order to address longstanding disparities in health outcomes. Health inequities can be conceptualized and measured as drivers of differences in health outcomes.

This brief introduces the HHS Roadmap for Behavioral Health Integration, which advances the President’s Strategy to Address our National Mental Health Crisis. It provides a general overview of the approach HHS is taking to drive toward integrated care within the three pillars of the President’s Strategy and highlights selected programs and policy actions that will get us there.

Payers across the health care spectrum have begun transitioning from paying for quantity toward paying for quality. These value-based payment (VBP) programs vary in scope and focus, but generally share the goals of improving cost-savings and linking payments to value rather than volume.