FEATURE STORIES

Six Ways Researchers Can Better Analyze Medicare Advantage

Medicare Advantage (MA) now covers 54% of seniors, but it costs taxpayers more money and the data are flawed. Rachel M. Werner and David J. Meyers offer steps to sharpen MA data analyses.

Caring for Disadvantaged Patients 

A study by Margo Brooks Carthon, K. Jane Muir, Daniela Golinelli, and colleagues uncovered key barriers and solutions to achieving better hospital care for disadvantaged patients. 

Surprising Findings on Bundled Payments for Surgeries

Aidan Crowley, Amol Navathe, and Austin Kilaru revealed surprising findings on bundled payments, including that they saved money in outpatient joint replacement and spine surgeries by reducing hospital readmissions.

Addiction Care Often Overlooks Older Adults

Margaret Lowenstein, Shoshana Aronowitz, Jeanmarie Perrone, and colleagues discussed urgent reforms to better support older adults living with opioid use disorder.

Safety Net Hospital Definitions and Funding

Research by Paula Chatterjee and Amol Navathe found that variation in safety net hospital definitions has an impact on funding.

 UPCOMING EVENTS

Health and Politics in the Aftermath of COVID-19

Friday, September 19, 2025
12:00–1:00 p.m. ET

A Conversation with Frances Lee, PhD, and Paul Offit, MD. Moderated by David Grande, MD, MPA.

Virtual seminar open to the public.

Rural Health Policy for Non-Rural Health Researchers: Why Now is the Time to Pay Attention

Tuesday, September 30, 2025
12:00–1:00 p.m. ET

Virtual roundtable open to LDI Fellows only.

IN THE MEDIA

“A New Way to Reduce Children’s Deaths: Cash.” Harsha Thirumurthy. New York Times

“Right to Try Movement Finds Powerful Allies Under Trump.” Holly Fernandez Lynch. Bloomberg

“Don't Just Legalize Marijuana.” Dominic Sisti. Philadelphia Citizen

“Influencers Criticize Birth Control and Push 'Natural' Methods. Here's What To Know.” Emily Pfender. NPR

“How Health Insurance Rates Could Rise in Florida in 2026.” Mark V. Pauly. Newsweek

PUBLICATIONS

“Trends in US Children's Mortality, Chronic Conditions, Obesity, Functional Status, and Symptoms.” Christopher B. Forrest, Lauren J. Koenigsberg, Francis Eddy Harvey, Mitchell G. Maltenfort, Neal Halfon. JAMA

“Ending the HIV Epidemic: Development and Evaluation of CyberGIS-HIV, a Web-Based Prediction Application.” Man-pui Sally Chan, Bita Fayaz-Farkhad, Su Yeon Han, Jinwoo Park, Shaowen Wang, Dolores Albarracin. American Journal of Public Health

“Impact of the MISSION Act on Quality and Outcomes of Major Cardiovascular Procedures Among Veterans.” Jingyi Wu, Genevieve P. Kanter, Todd H. Wagner, Danny Chu, John P. Cashy, Jason M. Prigge, Thomas J. Glorioso, Natalia Rahman, Nandini Murali, Jay Giri, Ashwin S. Nathan, Stephen W. Waldo, Peter W. Groeneveld. JAMA

“Association of Nurse Work Environment, Staffing, and Skill Mix With Length of Stay for Patients With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.” Lynne Moronski, Jesse L. Chittams, Eileen T. Lake, Matthew D. McHugh. Medical Care

One of the world's leading university institutes, Penn LDI is guided by our mission to improve health and health care by catalyzing collaborative, multidisciplinary research that influences policy and practice.