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.
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.
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, and Trevor Abeyta to unpack what the latest federal models reveal about where policy and accountability are heading in 2026 and beyond. They discuss what RHTP signals about rural transformation, how ASM expands mandatory accountability into specialty care, what ACCESS shows about the future of digital chronic care, how LEAD reflects a shift toward longer-term accountable care, and why MAHA ELEVATE represents a new bet on prevention. Together, they reflect on what this mix of mandatory and voluntary models and fast experimentation with long horizons means for organizations preparing for the next phase of health care transformation.
Season 1 | Episode 15 | 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-bearing entities to improve patient outcomes and experience and manage total cost of care.
Season 1 | Episode 14 | 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 key reforms and what they mean for the field. We break down what’s changing, why it matters, and what it could mean for ACOs and the future of value-based care.
Season 1 | Episode 10 | THE ACO AGenda
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 considering a move from REACH to MSSP.