Pop Health Podcast
Real conversations about what’s working and what’s next.
The Pop Health Podcast brings you smart, accessible discussions with leaders on the front lines of health care transformation. Hosted by the Coral team, each episode dives into timely topics across policy, care delivery, drug pricing, and payment innovation. These episodes are built to inform, challenge, and inspire action.
What This Year's Proposed Physician Fee Schedule Means for ACOs
This year's proposed physician fee schedule includes a wide range of changes that could affect accountable care organizations, clinicians, and Medicare beneficiaries—from updates to financial methodology and quality measurement to new ideas for prospective payment and specialty care.
In this episode, Coral's Joy Chen and Maria Alexander speak with Jake Quinton, Chief Medical Officer for the Center for Medicare about which proposals matter most, what they signal about CMS’s longer-term vision for accountable care, and where CMS is seeking practical feedback from organizations working on the ground.
What the LEAD Model Means for Specialty Care and ACOs
Specialty care has long been one of the harder pieces of accountable care to operationalize. In this episode, Coral’s Joy Chen speaks with Theresa Dreyer, CEO of the Health Care Transformation Task Force, about what CMS’s Long-term Enhanced ACO Design, or LEAD, Model could mean for ACOs and specialty groups. They discuss why specialty engagement has been challenging across payer lines, how LEAD creates more formal pathways for ACO-specialist arrangements, what different types of specialty groups may need to consider, and what it will take for these models to move from payment design to practical changes in care delivery.
Making Specialty Care Work in Value-Based Models
As accountable care models continue to evolve, organizations are increasingly being asked to engage specialists in more meaningful and coordinated ways. In this episode, Coral Health Advisor’s Joy Chen sits down with Aisha Pittman, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs at NAACOS; Dr. Erin Hurlburt, Chief Medical Officer of Population Health Services at Lumeris; and Dr. Gene Quinn, Chief Executive Officer of Envoy Integrated Health, to discuss the growing role of specialty care in value-based care and accountable care models. The conversation explores challenges and opportunities related to incentives, care accountability, data sharing, network design, and specialist alignment, along with insights from NAACOS’ new Specialty Engagement in Accountable Care Toolkit.
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 portfolio. Together, they explore more about the mission and vision for LEAD, how the model came to fruition, the Center’s rationale for key design features, and what potential applicants may want to know before they apply.
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 explore how LEAD builds on MSSP and ACO REACH, what’s actually new (and what’s familiar), and how ACOs should start thinking about readiness, risk, and strategy ahead of a potential 2027 launch.
Season 1 | Episode 16 | 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.