Summit on Health Care Costs in America

The conversation on health care costs in America is decades old, yet progress has been elusive. Terms like sustainability, affordability, and value are set forward as goals, but perspectives on how to achieve them vary widely. Speakers and panelists will provide insights on current and projected health care cost trends, what different stakeholders hope to achieve, and new approaches to consider.

State Opportunities to Address Prescription Drug Costs in Medicaid

The purpose of this briefing is to orient federal policymakers and stakeholders to the legislative and regulatory actions that state officials are perusing to address the rising cost of prescription drugs in Medicaid. Panelists will outline the rationale for these actions, detail the mechanisms of state policies, and describe opportunities to leverage flexibility within federal parameters.






Prescription Drug Costs: Can Increased Competition Restrain Prices?

This webinar will focus on the first approach and will explore different perspectives on how increasing the number of generic and biosimilar options may affect the drug pricing market. Specifically, panelists discussed the main opportunities and challenges of the generic and biosimilar market, how past administrations have approached this issue, and how different stakeholders, including consumers, are impacted.






Competition and Consolidation: Understanding Recent Trends in the Health Care Market

This is the first webinar, part of the Beyond the Beltway: Health Webinars for Journalists series, focused on the implications and tradeoffs of the recent trends in the health care market. Panelists helped define the basics of market concentration and competition, how experts measure the effects on different areas of the market, and how regulators approach assessing partnership proposals.






Healthy Aging and Immunizations

This purpose of this briefing was to review the value of immunizations for aging adults, highlight factors that impact access to immunizations, and provide a review of coverage for adult vaccines under public and private insurance.






What’s Next for Medicare Provider Payment?

The goal of this briefing was to provide an update on MACRA implementation, the issues on the table as policymakers consider next steps around shifting the way providers are paid, by both public and private payers, and what this all means for improving health outcomes and quality.






Navigating Next Steps on Payment Reform

This briefing provided an update on the overall state of play with payment reform, and the effort to move away from fee for service and toward value-based payment. Panelists discussed the interplay between the public and private sectors, and, given likely future directions for the CMS Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, highlighted areas where the private sector may be best positioned to lead. Panelists shared what this means for future policy options and needs.






Marketplace Open Enrollment Preview

This webinar unpacked the knowns and unknowns heading into the upcoming Affordable Care Act marketplace open enrollment period that begins on Nov. 1.






Measuring Quality for Person-Centered Accountable Care

New payment and delivery system models for Medicare, Medicaid and private coverage rely on accurate quality measures to improve care for patients. The Alliance held an in-depth briefing on what it means to design “person-centered” quality measures, and how the patient perspective can be used to improve how care is delivered to patients with complex needs.






New Administration, New Approach to Medicaid Waivers?

This webinar gave attendees an understanding of the Medicaid waiver landscape heading into a busy fall, when precedent-setting decisions are expected on several states’ proposals. Speakers discussed the kinds of flexibility states have asked for – and are likely to ask for in the coming months and years – and how these changes may affect Medicaid beneficiaries, state budgets, and the future of the ACA coverage discussion.