Health Policy Convenings

More than 100 leaders from CMS, Congress, plans, providers, and academia spent the day working through one question: how should the relationship between Medicare Advantage payers and providers change to better serve patients, beneficiaries, and taxpayers? The program now enrolls 54% of Medicare beneficiaries and is absorbing the most significant payment recalibration in its 20-year history.

On December 16, 2025, CEO Mark Cuban, venture capitalist Bill Gurley, and Optum CEO Patrick Conway joined Johns Hopkins faculty and students for a conversation on careers, entrepreneurship, and the future of U.S. health care at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C.

The Hopkins Business of Health Initiative hosted a panel on October 8, 2025, titled “Setting a New Agenda for Medicare’s Post-Acute Care Payment Policy” as part of the Future of Health Care Delivery Nexus Convening Series. The panel brought together leading researchers, David Grabowski, PhD (Harvard Medical School), R. Tamara Konetzka, PhD (University of Chicago), and Anne Deutsch, RN, PhD (RTI International/Northwestern University), and was moderated by Kathryn Linehan, MPH. They discussed how Medicare’s post-acute care payment systems can better balance fiscal sustainability and patient needs as Medicare Advantage continues to reshape the delivery landscape.

The Nexus Award Program is a One University initiative supporting the growth of Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C. as a hub of robust debate and dialogue.

Hear from keynote speaker Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and other panelists

HBHI and the Center for Health Systems and Policy Models (CHSPM) invited a panel of three guests to discuss this issue: Senator Richard Burr, Chair of DLA Piper’s health policy strategic consulting service; Michael Darden, PhD, academic program director for the Master of Science in healthcare management at the Carey School of Business; and Lauren Taylor, professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

HBHI convened an expert panel at the Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C. to discuss how the healthcare industry at large and providers at the grassroots level are working to bring about change.

Earth Day was the perfect occasion for the Hopkins Business of Health Initiative (HBHI) to host a first-of-its-kind conversation with HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra about addressing healthcare’s climate footprint in the context of environmental justice.

The Hopkins Business of Health Initiative (HBHI) had its Washington DC debut at a September 22 Open House at Johns Hopkins University’s (JHU) beautifully renovated 555 Pennsylvania Avenue building. The location was a testament to JHU’s commitment to engaging in debates of national and global policy. The event introduced HBHI and JHU to the community of national leaders working specifically on health policy in the nation’s capital, welcoming them to HBHI’s new “spiritual home.”