The Kaiser Family Foundation will host a web conversation on trends in Medicare prescription drug spending, proposals to reduce costs, and a forecast of what beneficiaries can expect in the coming years.

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics will release data on health insurance coverage.

The University of Maryland hosts a panel discussion on how community-based interventions can help address health promotion and disease prevention with vulnerable populations, as well as the role of public-private partnerships in tackling health disparities.

American Enterprise Institute discussion on specialty drug costs, with Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Peter Bach, ICER president Steven Pearson, AEI’s Scott Gottleib and others.

Panelists, including several American Enterprise Institute fellows as well as representatives from Amgen and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, will discuss who should finance these important advancements and how.

The Urban Institute holds a luncheon panel to discuss “Reducing Poverty and Increasing Opportunity: Envisioning the Next 20 Years.”  

The U.S. Census Bureau releases its annual statistics on income, poverty and health insurance coverage. The release covers data from 2015 and compares it to previous years, offering some insights to trends over time.

This will be a reporters-only web briefing to release the Kaiser Family Foundation and the American Hospital Association’s Health Research & Educational Trust benchmark 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey.

The 18th annual Kaiser/HRET survey provides a detailed look at the current state of employer-based coverage and trends in private health insurance for both large and small firms, including average premiums for workers and employers and their rate of increase; the share of firms of different sizes offering health benefits; average deductibles, drug co-payments and other cost-sharing; and the use of financial incentives tied to wellness programs.

The U.S. Census Bureau releases data from its 2015 American Community Survey, including more detailed look at local-level income, poverty and health insurance coverage statistics. 

Premier Inc, a health care improvement company that partners with providers, hosts an online briefing to discuss its nine recommendations for enhancing the Affordable Care Act. 

The Alliance of Community Health Plans will have an online discussion about how not-for-profit health plans are implementing innovative approaches to address food insecurity in their communities.

This hour-long webinar will examine changes taking place in Washington State to try and achieve health equity, including among tribes.

What do we want from electronic health records? Well, it all depends on who you ask. If you ask health care providers — doctors, nurses, and other providers — be prepared: they often have long lists of frustrations with the very tools that promised to make taking care of patients a lot more reliable, safe, and efficient. Patients often have a difficult time navigating new online portals, too. That’s not to say EHRs haven’t made many things better, and there’s certainly no going back. But what about fixing those daily headaches and workarounds with EHRs we’re now hearing so much about, and designing or redesigning the technology so it better matches what health care practitioners and patients need? Is the vendor community listening? We’re going to find out.

The workshop will feature discussions on the evidence on pain research, care, and education; trends in consequences of prescription opioids; and interventions to reduce opioid-related harms. There also will be a public comment session.

In collaboration with the New England AIDS Education & Training Center, the New England Association on HIV over Fifty, this conference will feature talks onHIV/HCV co-infections, unique care concerns for aging populations, and current pharmacological advancements in the field. 

The Bipartisan Policy Center holds a forum in South Portland, Maine to discuss the connection between health and housing in the northeastern U.S. state.

The National Academy of Medicine’s Vital Directions for Health and Health Care Initiative commissioned expert papers on 19 priority focus areas for U.S. health policy by more than 100 leading researchers, scientists, and policy makers from across the United States. The purpose of the initiative is to compile expert information and viewpoints to inform debate and decision making around new directions for health and health care in the United States.

The papers will be discussed at a Sept. 26 public symposium in Washington, D.C., which will inform the steering committee’s final publication, expected later this year.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will hold a public workshop on Sept. 27 to assess how far the U.S. has come in tackling the obesity epidemic, identify the levers that will drive significant progress in obesity prevention and treatment, and discuss how gaps in the field can be filled. 

Speakers include Jeffrey Koplan, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, current U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. 

Most patients will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, according to the AHRQ-sponsored report, Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, published by the National Academies of Medicine in September 2015. These errors occur in all settings of care, contribute to about 10 percent of patient deaths, and are the primary reason for medical liability claims. Substantial effort is needed to identify research priorities, including how to measure and reduce diagnostic errors, and ensure this information is integrated into practice, where it will translate meaningful benefits for patients. This interactive meeting will explore the state of the science of diagnosis in health care and discuss ways AHRQ and other stakeholders can contribute to a collaborative approach to improving diagnostic performance, as well as identify the research and evidence, tools and training, and data and measures that are needed to improve diagnostic performance.