| The Abstract | | > By Torie Ludwin, Arnold Ventures | Lesa Rair, health care public affairs and communications director at Arnold Ventures, points out yet another indication and further call for bipartisan support for cost-saving policies in health care. Bipartisan wins are few and far between these days, but site neutral payment reforms offer just that, and a chance to lower health care costs. This week, former U.S. Health and Human Services secretaries Alex Azar (Trump) and Kathleen Sebelius (Obama) came together to pen an op-ed calling for Congress to adopt policies that advance site neutral payment reforms to save patients and taxpayers money. As hospitals continue to buy up independent clinics and physician offices, change the name on the door and increase prices, policymakers on both sides of the aisle have made efforts to enact site neutral payment reforms. Despite different approaches, both sides agree site neutral payment reforms arean important stepin controlling costs. Paying more for where care is performed drives up costs, encourages consolidation, and makes it difficult for smaller, independent practices to compete.As Azar and Sebelius note, “people should pay for the care they receive, not for the sign on the door.” Read their op-ed>
Related:AV's Site Neutral fact sheet> | | Why Clinical Drug Trials Matter |  By Lesa Rair, health care public affairs and communications director What's Happening:A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that of the cancer drugs receiving accelerated approval from the FDA, more than half did not show clinical benefit after five years. Why It Matters:These results show why it is important for prescription drug manufacturers to show their work via clinical trials. While accelerated approvals help provide patients with swift access to new therapies, patients should know whether these medications are proven effective, particularly when they cost of thousands of dollars. What's Next: Arnold Ventures continues to push for stronger FDA approval standards and greater transparency into the FDA’s review of clinical data to ensure that approved drugs work. Learn moreabout our work supporting clinical drug trials> | | Getting Higher Education Data
to Students and Families on Time |
By Evan Mintz, executive communications director
What’s Happening: The Postsecondary Data Collaborative (of which Arnold Ventures is a member)sent a letter calling on the U.S. Department of Education to implement its Financial Value Transparency framework by the deadline of Oct. 1, 2024.
Why It Matters: The Financial Value Transparency framework will provide students and families with the information they need to make informed decisions about higher education, and the information that policymakers need to make data-driven decisions. This information includes metrics such as a program’s total cost, typical student loan debt, and typical earnings for graduates.
What’s Next: If everything goes according to the timeline, these higher education metrics will be made public in January 2025. Read the letter> | | | | $233 billion to $521 billion
| | | | Criminal Justice - After an Associated Press (AP) investigation, several attempts at reform, and a civil lawsuit, the Bureau of Prisons announced it will close the FCI Dublin prison in California. The women-only prison has been beset for years by damaging and illegal conditionsincluding crumbling infrastructure, inadequate health care, and sexual abuse of prisoners by corrections officers, AP reports.
- Investigative journalist Radley Balkoreleased part two of his series on the state of public defense systems across the country. This new installment focuses on Colorado, Connecticut, and Delaware.
- Unsolved homicides and other violent crimes causeimmense pain and suffering for victims and their families, Mattie Scott writes in an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times. Scott, whose son's murder remains unsolved, urges policymakers to prioritize solving homicides and provide more transparency for victim’s families.
Health Care - Maryland’s prescription drug affordability board (PDAB) identified eight medications to go to the stakeholder council for possible upper payment limit. WYPR reports the drugs were selected based on the board’s criteria of being cost prohibitive to state residents.
- Matt Fiedler and Loren Adler at the Brookings Institute released an analysis on the No Surprises Act’s independent dispute resolution (IDR) data, finding that for three services (emergency, imaging, and neonatal/ pediatric critical care) the prices resulting from arbitration are 3.7 times greater than Medicare's prices, far above mean-in-network rates (median decision is 50% higher), and more like historical mean out-of-network rates.
- More than 100 health care professionals in Minnesota signed a letter supporting a strong MinnesotaCare Public Option in the Grand RapidsHerald Review,urging the governor to implement the program;an expanded public option allows more residents access to high quality, affordable health coverage.
- The Lown Institute’s Fair Share Spending report, covered inSTAT News and Fierce Health Care, found that of the 2,425 nonprofit hospitals evaluated, 80% spent less on financial assistance and community investment than the estimated value of their tax breaks.
Public Finance - Wall Street Journal tax reporter Richard Rubin describes the status of the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, a tax package that strengthens the Child Tax Credit for low-income families and restores tax breaks for businesses investing in research and development – paid for by ending the fraud-ridden, costly pandemic-era Employee Retention Credit program. (free link)
- In The Hill, Aris Folley lays out why conservative head of Americans for Tax Reform Grover Norquist continues to advocate for the tax package in the face of Senate Republican opposition.
- For the newsletter Slow Boring, former Undersecretary for Economic Affairs at the Commerce Department Jed Kolko describes the types of economic research that are most useful to policymakers.
Higher Education - New America examinedhow a college accreditor faced no consequences after it failed to spot repeated fraud and abuse atFlorida Career College, calling on the U.S. Department of Education to hold accrediting agencies to higher standards.
- Master of Arts degrees are on the rise, according to a new brief by the that highlights the need for more research on the factors driving this growth.
Infrastructure - What does the future of power look like? Solar, storage, and wind make up 95% of active capacity in queue to connect to the grid, according to a new report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
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On the latest edition of the Ezra Klein Show, Jerusalem Demsas, a staff writer at The Atlantic, talks about the paradox ofprogressive Blue states that have grand ambitions for infrastructure and policy goals — and miles of red tape that slow any progress. | | | | - In celebration of Community College Month, Kelly McManus, vice president of higher education and Clare McCann, director of higher education, will be taking part in a funder forum webinaron the CUNY ASAP|ACE college completion programonMonday, April 22, hosted by the SHEEO|ASAP College Completion Coalition Learning Community. Register here.
- On Monday, April 29, Arnold Ventures and Stono Public Affairs will be hosting a panel conversation on criminal justice reform with the New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus in Union, New Jersey. Register here.
- The documentary "For the Record" will air on PBS's Reel South series on Monday, May 6,across the country. This episode, supported by Arnold Ventures, explores the collapse of the newspaper industry and its ramifications. The Texas Standard profiled Laurie Brown, publisher of the Canadian Record, which is featured in the documentary. PBS’s News Hour also produced a story about the decline of local papers.
| | | | - In 2004, 19-year-old Benard McKinley was sentenced to 100 years in prison. This fall, he will join the Northwestern Law School class of 2027.Here's his story.
| | | | Have an evidence-based week,– Torie | | | | Torie Ludwinfocuses on engagement with Arnold Ventures' core audiences (that's you). | | | | | |
