What We're Reading

The health policy journal club is an interdisciplinary, inter-professional group convened monthly by the Farley Health Policy Center to discuss timely topics in health policy. A curated selection of high-yield articles provides the basis for discussion. Past topics have included income inequality and health, professionalism in medicine, patients as consumers, and adjusting payment for measures of social risk. This page presents the reading list from the most recent journal club.

Readings

Progress (or lack thereof) toward Health Care Equity

1. Keynote: David R. Williams. The Past and Current Social/Political Context of Health Inequities. Unequal Treatment at 20: Accelerating Progress toward Health Care Equity. Urban Institute. 
2. Panel: Charmaine Bartholomew, Marshall Chin, Mai Pham, Carla Willis, Damon Francis. Payment Reform: How can payment reform work to eliminate inequities? How can we direct resources where needed?  Unequal Treatment at 20: Accelerating Progress toward Health Care Equity. Urban Institute
3. Panel: Juliet K. Choi, Dayna Bowen Matthew, Margaret Moss, Tom Saenz, Daniel Dawes. Political and Legal Determinants of Health and the Current Backlash Against Equity – How Can We Move the Pendulum Forward?  Unequal Treatment at 20: Accelerating Progress toward Health Care Equity. Urban Institute.  

Pushback on equity and anti-racist efforts in health care   

1. Johnson DH, Moffitt RE. Fairness in Our Healthcare System. Heritage Foundation. August 31, 2022. 
2. Moffit RE. What Medicare Patients Should Know About Biden’s Woke “Anti-Racism” Rule. June 13, 2022. 

Summary

This month’s health policy journal club was held on Juneteenth, and in honor of the holiday we focused on racial health equity. The recordings come from a symposium on the 20th anniversary of the National Academies Press report, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care on March 21, 2023, held by the Urban Institute. This symposium recognizes the lack of progress made since this landmark report was published and sets the stage for their launch of a new program to elevate health care inequities as a national priority. We focused our discussion on the above keynote and panels but there are many other excellent remarks, keynotes and panel recordings available on the symposium landing page.