There’s an emergence of Medicare Advantage plans aggressively enrolling Veterans. (e.g., “Honor Plan, Patriot Plan”) Our new Health Affairs study highlights why we think this is a troubling trend leading to billions in wasteful federal spending. healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hl… 🧵 1/5

This is a great example of the research Arnold Ventures funds to identify, and then works to reduce, waste in the healthcare system: Older vets are generally eligible for both Medicare and subsidized/free care from the VA. Many vets sign up for Medicare Advantage but then use

1 in 7 Medicare Advantage beneficiaries are now enrolled in MA health plans offered by health systems Key question is whether these health plans offer higher quality or mostly serve to refer patients in-network back to health systems JAMA Health Forum jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-…

Congratulations to Stella Lee for her appointment to associate professor of otolaryngology head and neck surgery and Thomas Tsai, MD, MPH for his promotion to associate professor of surgery Harvard Medical School !

What happens to residents after a hospital closes? Our new study in JAMA Internal Medicine looks at how Medicare redistributes GME spots and funding after hospital closure through Section 5506. jamanetwork.com/journals/jamai…

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have become prominent financial actors in healthcare by acquiring hospital properties and leasing them back to providers. In The Lancet, we highlight this growing trend thelancet.com/journals/lance…

Excited to join the American College of Surgeons to help train next generation of surgeon-health policy innovators and to develop evidence-based policies that improve the access, affordability, and quality of surgical care.

Check out our latest in JAMA Surgery, a large-scale analysis of the rates and leading causes of death among surgeons jamanetwork.com/journals/jamas… /1

Great to see Austin Frakt take on leadership role as chief research officer for the Joint Commission. Can't imagine a better person to generate impactful insights from Joint Commission to improve the quality of health care. Lots of opportunities to collaborate ahead!

Thoughtful commentary in NEJM this weekend led by Thomas Tsai, MD, MPH about Massachusetts' groundbreaking efforts to regulate private equity in health care: an important step forward for recentering delivery from away profit and back towards patients 👇 nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.105…

As private equity and REITs continue to expand into healthcare, states are taking the lead in limiting the increasing financialization of healthcare David Blumenthal Gregg Meyer and I discuss the Massachusetts approach in a new NEJM perspective nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…

📰 Paper out today in JAMA Surgery with Geronimo Bejarano David Meyers Thomas Tsai, MD, MPH suggesting that aligning care through payer-hospital integration in Medicare Advantage is associated with better postsurgical outcomes. jamanetwork.com/journals/jamas… CAHPR @ Brown University School of Public Health Brigham and Women’s Department of Surgery The Warren Alpert Medical School

In a new Perspective, Thomas C. Tsai, MD, MPH (Thomas Tsai, MD, MPH), Gregg S. Meyer, MD, and David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, write that a new Massachusetts law may be the most far-reaching U.S. state legislation aimed at curtailing the influence of private equity in health care, and it could

Perspective by Thomas C. Tsai, MD, MPH (Thomas Tsai, MD, MPH), Gregg S. Meyer, MD, and David Blumenthal, MD, MPP: Regulating Private Equity in Health Care — The Massachusetts Model nej.md/3V2k0E0 #HealthPolicy #MedicalEthics

#Medicare beneficiaries assigned to an accountable care organization (ACO) showed reduced mortality but increased spending for TEAM-targeted surgical procedures. ja.ma/46oGmpI

New JAMA study on forthcoming TEAM bundled payment. ACO patients associated with higher spending but improved outcomes for surgical episodes

Thank you Mark Takano for the opportunity to share our research (with Jose Figueroa, MD, MPH and HQO Lab) with House Veterans' Affairs Democrats As VA shifts to community care, important to monitor quality of care veterans are receiving. healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.137… Brigham and Women’s Department of Surgery Harvard Health Policy and Management

Great to collaborate with incredible team lead by Michael Barnett and Rene Karadakic using a novel method to identify surgical subspecialists based on procedural billing--identifying surgeons by what procedures they do and not only by what residency/fellowship they pursued.

East Wing Colonnade, 2022 Magical.

Even though rural hospitals have been the focus of policy attention, urban, safety net hospitals may be most vulnerable to looming Medicaid cuts Our lab collaborated The New York Times to identify hospitals most at risk nytimes.com/2025/11/18/ups… via @NYTimes