Journal profile · Health Care Sciences & Services
Health Affairs
ISSN 0278-2715 · eISSN 2694-233X · Project Hope · UNITED STATES · Bimonthly · Founded 1981
Health Affairs: CAS Zone 1 · Medicine (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal); impact factor 5.82; hybrid open access; review 3–6 weeks (community reports); community-reported acceptance: fairly hard; 227 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Health Affairs is published by Project Hope and is in Zone 1 of Medicine in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition, Top journal). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Healthcare Policy and Management, Primary Care and Health Outcomes and Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life, together about 52.5% of its articles. Its main subfields are General Health Professions and Economics and Econometrics. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Health Affairs Publishing delivers rigorous, nonpartisan research and analysis to improve health and health care. For over 40 years, we've turned complex health policy research into clear insights that guide decision makers toward effective solutions.
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): Health Care Sciences & Services
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Healthcare Policy and ManagementEconomics, Econometrics and Finance30.3%
- Primary Care and Health OutcomesHealth Professions14%
- Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of LifeEconomics, Econometrics and Finance8.1%
- Global Health Care IssuesHealth Professions7.5%
- Pharmaceutical Economics and PolicyEconomics, Econometrics and Finance3.5%
- Healthcare cost, quality, practicesHealth Professions3.4%
- Patient Satisfaction in HealthcareHealth Professions2.8%
- Global Health Workforce IssuesHealth Professions2.7%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Medicine Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Medicine Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Medicine Zone 1
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Medicine | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Health Care Sciences & Services | Zone 1 |
| Minor | Health Policy & Services | Zone 1 |
Top journal: yesReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIESSCIScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 5.82LetPub ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 12.1LetPub ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 3.96LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 2.99LetPub ·
- h-index
- 156LetPub ·
- h-index
- 281OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 5,866OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 5.1OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 6%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 26.05%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 157LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 11,886 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 159 | 40 | 111 |
| 2025 | 227 | 96 | 959 |
| 2024 | 239 | 114 | 2,116 |
| 2023 | 235 | 104 | 3,663 |
| 2022 | 255 | 114 | 7,809 |
| 2021 | 298 | 95 | 8,775 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
- Average review time (community reports)
- 3–6 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly hardLetPub ·
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
No source has fee information yet; check the journal's website.
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Article types accepted6
- briefHousing Brief August 13, 2026Length not stated
- briefsHousing briefs August 13, 2026Length not stated
- entrypointImmigrant HealthEntryPointSeptember 2026Length not stated
- forefrontCOVID-19 forefront May 28, 2020Length not stated
- podcastDual EligiblespodcastSeptember 18, 2026Length not stated
- research articleHealth Care FinanceResearch ArticleSeptember 2026Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAuthorship
- Authorship
Editorial policies and author information available via Publish With Us page. Model summary
Publish With Us Get information about the content you can submit to Health Affairs Publishing, the review and editing processes, preparing new and revised submissions, editorial policies, information for reviewers, and other important information for authors.
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Project Hope
- Country or region
- UNITED STATES
- Language
- English
- Frequency
- Bimonthly
- Founded
- 1981
- ISSN
- 0278-2715
- Electronic ISSN
- 2694-233X
- Society / sponsor
- AcademyHealth
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗LetPub
- Submission system ↗LetPub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Health Affairs
What CAS zone is Health Affairs in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Health Affairs is in Zone 1 of Medicine, and in Zone 1 of the minor category Health Care Sciences & Services / Health Policy & Services; it is a Top journal. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 1 of Medicine. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Health Affairs?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.82; CiteScore 12.1, h-index 281.
How long does peer review take at Health Affairs?
Authors report an average review time of 3–6 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly hard”. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
Which databases index Health Affairs?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Health Affairs is indexed in SCIE, SSCI and Scopus.
Is Health Affairs open access, and what is the APC?
Health Affairs is a hybrid journal. Fee information is not available yet; check the journal's website.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, OpenAlex, Publisher website; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-25). Last updated: .