The Commonwealth Fund -- Health Policy, Health Reform, and Performance Improvement

Fork in the Road Alternative Paths to Health Insurance

Fork in the Road: Choosing a Path to a High Performance U.S. Health System

A comprehensive approach to health insurance, provider payment, and care delivery system reforms has the potential to slow health care cost increases while achieving near-universal coverage. Yet, this new Commonwealth Fund analysis finds that the potential savings for families, businesses, and the federal government vary markedly depending on the health reform plan. This new report is the first to compare three different scenarios: one that includes a public health insurance plan option in which health care providers would be paid at rates that fall midway between current Medicare rates and private plan rates, among other payment reforms; one that includes a public plan option that links payments more closely to Medicare rates; and one that includes no public plan, instead relying exclusively on private plans.

Health Reform That Puts People First

June 11, 2009 - This report focuses on those who would benefit from such health reforms, including the estimated 116 million working-age adults, or two-thirds of all adults, who report that they are uninsured or underinsured, have medical bill or debt problems, or experience difficulties obtaining needed care.

Comparing Options for Financing Health Reform

June 24, 2009 - To illustrate how the potential impact of such reforms depends heavily on the details and structure of the reforms, the authors of this Policy Points brief examine estimates from three sources, all of which indicate that early investments in reform could yield significant reductions in total health care spending over time through gains in the quality and efficiency of care.

Welcome to Purchasing High Performance

June 18, 2009 - Purchasing High Performance is a new quarterly bulletin for employers and others interested in promoting value in health care. The newsletter is produced in partnership with the National Business Coalition on Health.

Organizing for Higher Performance: Case Studies of Organized Delivery Systems

July 2, 2009 - Fifteen case studies illustrate how diverse types of organized health care delivery systems promote higher performance through information continuity, patient engagement, care coordination, team-oriented care delivery, continuous innovation and learning, and convenient access to care.

The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation that aims to promote a high performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable. Read the 2008 Annual Report for highlights of the Fund's activities.

Options for Financing Health Reform: Comparing the Impact of Selected Policy Options

To illustrate how the potential impact of such reforms depends heavily on the details and structure of the reforms, the authors of this Policy Points brief examine estimates from three sources, all of which indicate that early investments in reform could yield significant reductions in total health care spending over time through gains in the quality and efficiency of care.

The Path to a High Performance U.S. Health System: A 2020 Vision and the Policies to Pave the Way

A comprehensive set of insurance, payment, and system reforms could guarantee affordable health insurance coverage, improve health outcomes, and slow the growth of health spending by $3 trillion by the end of the next decade, according to this new report from The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System.

Quality Matters: Greening Health Care

This issue examines the links between sustainabilitiy and health--for patients, health care staff, and the broader community.

Reducing Rehospitalizations: New Initiative Addresses Readmissions as a Community Problem

Being discharged from the hospital is something most patients eagerly anticipate, but many patients find themselves back in the hospital far too soon. A new Commonwealth Fund-supported initiative administered by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement called STAAR--State Action on Avoidable Rehospitalization--is a multi-state, multi-stakeholder collaborative that aims to reduce rehospitalization rates by 30 percent.

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Cooperative Health Care: The Way Forward?

As part of the health reform debate, Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) has proposed forming nonprofit cooperatives to provide health insurance coverage at low cost. While the details are still being fleshed out, an examination of the history of cooperative health care—which has often also featured an integrated care delivery system—reveals some important lessons that apply to the current policy discussion.

A Health Care Quality Improvement Resource

WhyNotTheBest.org is a new resource from The Commonwealth Fund, offering easily accessible, comparative information on health care performance for providers, researchers, and other professionals.

Patients' Voices: A Commonwealth Fund/Consumers Union Event

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