Health policy at a crossroads: What to watch in 2025

Health policy at a crossroads: What to watch in 2025
Health Affairs; by Katie Keith; 1/21/25
This article is the first in a new Health Affairs Forefront featured topic, “Health Policy at a Crossroads.” Articles in this topic will offer timely analysis of prominent regulatory, legislative, and judicial developments in health policy... 2025 could mark a major inflection point in health policy. Over the past four years, among many other changes, the nation rebounded from a once-in-a-generation pandemic; the uninsured rate reached a record low—with record enrollment across Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act marketplaces; Medicare beneficiaries began to see savings on prescription drugs; overdose deaths dropped; and women lost the right to reproductive choice under the US Constitution, leading to abortion bans in more than 20 states less than three years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.