# It's Not the Prices, Stupid. Michael Chernew on US Health Expenditures Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/health-affairs-this-week-3424387/it-s-not-the-prices-stupid-michael-chernew-on-us-health-expenditures Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/health-affairs-this-week-3424387/it-s-not-the-prices-stupid-michael-chernew-on-us-health-expenditures.md Podcast: [Health Affairs This Week](https://stenobird.com/podcast/health-affairs-this-week-3424387) Published: 2026-01-16T05:00:00+00:00 Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/84b958c2 Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/84b958c2/0c78ef5d.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/health-affairs-this-week-3424387/episodes/it-s-not-the-prices-stupid-michael-chernew-on-us-health-expenditures Duration seconds: 1317 ## Resource Health Affairs ' Jeff Byers is joined by Michael Chernew from Harvard Medical School to explore the recent 2024 health care spending report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) . To kick off the new year, we are offering podcast videos of A Health Podyssey . Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch those episodes. Let us know what you think about the videos by emailing us at communications@healthaffairs.org . Join us on January 21 for an exclusive Insider virtual event exploring the latest drug policies with the University of Utah’s Joey Mattingly . Become an Insider to get access to this event. Related Articles: National Health Care Spending Increased 7.2 Percent In 2024 As Utilization Remained Elevated ( Health Affairs ) Growth In National Health Expenditures: It’s Not The Prices, Stupid ( Health Affairs Forefront ) ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/health-affairs-this-week-3424387/episodes/it-s-not-the-prices-stupid-michael-chernew-on-us-health-expenditures/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/health-affairs-this-week-3424387/it-s-not-the-prices-stupid-michael-chernew-on-us-health-expenditures.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.