Pop Health Podcast
Join hosts Melissa Cohen and Meg Koepke from Coral Health Advisors as they discuss all things population health, value-based care, and making health care work better for us all.
Episodes
27 episodes
Reimagining Post-Acute Care: Why the Future of Recovery Happens at Home
In this episode of The Pop Health Podcast, Brian Lobley, CEO of tango, sits down with Coral Founder Meg Koepke to discuss how post-acute care is evolving and why the home is becoming the preferred setting for recovery after hospitalization. Bri...
From Concept to Model: The Making of LEAD
In this episode of the Pop Health Podcast, Coral's Maria Alexander and Joy Chen welcome Meredith Yinger, Model Lead for the Innovation Center’s LEAD (Long-term Enhanced ACO Design) Model and Emily Bezold, Senior Advisor to the Center’s ACO port...
Primary Care Population-Based Payment and Value Based Payment State Lessons
In this episode of the Pop Health Podcast, Coral's Trevor Abeyta is joined by Araceli Santistevan, Payment Reform Unit Supervisor at the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing, and Andy Wilson, Managing Director for Analytics a...
What the LEAD Model Means for ACOs and the Future of Value-Based Care
In this episode, Melissa Cohen, Founder of Coral Health Advisors, is joined by Maria Alexander, EVP & Partner, and Joy Chen, Director, to unpack CMMI’s newest accountable care model — LEAD (Long-term Enhanced ACO Design). Together, they exp...
New Model Mania: Unpacking CMS's RHTP, ASM, LEAD, ACCESS, and ELEVATE
As 2025 comes to a close, CMS signals are becoming clearer across rural health, specialty care, chronic care, prevention, and accountable care. In this end-of-year episode, Coral Founder Meg Koepke is joined by Maria Alexander, Kate Freeman, an...
Rural Health Transformation: How States Can Align Stakeholders for Lasting Change
The Rural Health Transformation Program represents a $50 billion investment in the future of rural health care. In this episode, Coral Directors Kate Freeman and Trevor Abeyta are joined by Caitlin Westerson, Senior Director for State Policy an...
Beyond the Hype: What GLP-1s Mean for Policy and Employers
GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy have quickly moved from niche treatments to the center of high-stakes conversations across payers about cost, access, and coverage. In this episode, Coral Partner Alison Falb talks with Laura Rudder Huf...
Navigating Drug Pricing, Policy, and Access with Coral Partner Alison Falb
In this episode, Coral’s Founder Meg Koepke talks with Alison Falb about her journey from CMS to FDA to Coral. We explore current policy trends and challenges in Life Sciences –what they mean for organizations navigating drug pricing reforms, c...
Designing Maternity APMs That Work: Lessons from the Field
In this episode, Coral’s Kate Freeman and Trevor Abeyta talk with Megan Burns and Carol Sakala about CMS’s Transforming Maternal Health (TMaH) model, lessons from value-based maternity care, and strategies states can use to improve maternal hea...
PFS 2026 & ASM: What ACOs and Specialists Need to Know
In this episode, Melissa Cohen is joined by Coral Health Advisors’ Alison Falb and Joy Chen to break down key updates for ACOs in the CY 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule and explore the new mandatory Ambulatory Specialty Model...
Caring for Patients Across Care Settings
In this episode, Partner and EVP with Coral Maria Alexander talks with Dr. Michael Zaplin and David Taback of Inpatient Physician Management Services (iPMGMT) – a hospitalist and SNFist network – about how they partner with ACOs and risk-bearin...
Unpacking CMS Reforms to ACO REACH for 2026
CMS rolled out major updates to the ACO REACH Model for Performance Year 2026, with new policies affecting benchmarks, risk scores, and quality incentives. Joining us is guest expert Noah Champagne from Milliman, who will share insights on the ...
Coral Commentary: Breaking Down CMS’ New Direction
In this special episode, Coral’s Meg Koepke and Melissa Cohen break down the newly released CMS Innovation Center strategy, exploring what we heard and what it could mean for the future of health care transformation.
Caregiving in the United States – Challenges and Opportunities
In this episode, Coral’s Director, Kate Freeman sits down with Hope Glassberg and Shira Hollander to unpack the challenges, promising prospects, and public policy that could support caregivers.
Advancing Value-Based Care: Progress, Gaps, and Policy Signals
In this episode, we’re joined by Emily Brower, President and CEO of the National Association of ACOs, and Mara McDermott, CEO of Accountable for Health, for a deep dive into the current state of value-based care. Emily and Mara reflect on recen...
From Policy to Practice: Making the TEAM Model Work
In this episode, we explore the new Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM) with Rob Mechanic and Jennifer Perloff from the Institute for Accountable Care. They discuss the model’s implications for value-based care, the Institute’s ana...
The ACO Agenda: Preparing for Policy Changes and Operational Success
In our first episode of the new year, we explore what ACOs can anticipate in 2025. Featuring insights from Milliman experts Noah Champagne and Cory Gusland, we cover changes to the ACO REACH financial methodology and considerations for ACOs con...
Auld Lang Syne ‘24
The Pop Health Podcast talks final Physician Fee Schedule Rule, what to watch for in new MA policy, and more as the cast out 2024 and look forward to 2025.
Examining Dementia Care & the new GUIDE Model with AvvaCare
The Pop Health Podcast meets with Vinay Aggarwal and Aditya Thaduri from AvvaCare about their solution and support for dementia care after a brief discussion of what to expect when you’re expecting the final PFS rule.Notes:GUIDE M...
Mandatory Models, MIPS, and More
The Population Health Podcast talks with Jeff Davis from McDermott+ about the recent mandatory models, the future of MACRA, the need for PTAC reform and more.Notes:Subscribe to Regs & Eggs here:
What's On the Horizon for Medicare Payment Reform
Maria Alexander from the Population Health Podcast talks with Aisha Pittman, of NAACOS and the Alliance for Value Based Patient Care, about current congressional interest in Medicare physician payment, quality reporting and incentives, and acco...
Empowering CBOs with Data
The Pop Health Podcast sits down with Renee Hungerford and Scott Dillingham to discuss the partnership between Community Action of Orleans and Genesee and Continual Care Solutions to build a comprehensive data ecosystem for CBOs and the implica...
Physician Education in Value-based Care
The Pop Health Podcast meets with Carol Vargo of the American Medical Association to discuss the needs and resources to help physician and their colleagues understand and participate in value-based care. For resources mention...