A new Commonwealth Fund issue brief finds that the Affordable Care Act will help more than 18 million men and women ages 50 to 64 gain access to affordable health insurance with comprehensive benefits and strong financial protections. Beginning in 2014, 3.3 million of those currently uninsured and with incomes under $29,000 for a family of four will gain Medicaid coverage; 3.5 million with incomes up to $88,000 for a family of four can purchase subsidized private coverage through the new health insurance exchanges; and 1.4 million in higher income brackets will gain new coverage with consumer protections.
In addition, an estimated 9.7 million older adults who have health insurance—but pay such high out-of-pocket costs relative to their income that they are effectively underinsured—will gain improved coverage through the new essential-benefit standards, limits on out-of-pocket spending, and elimination of lifetime benefit limits.
Join a webinar cosponsored by AARP and Women in Government on Thursday, Jan. 6, at 2 p.m., E.T. Sara Collins and coauthor Michelle M. Doty, Ph.D., Commonwealth Fund assistant vice president and director of survey research, will be joined by Richard G. Frank, Ph.D., U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Disability, Aging, and Long-Term Care Policy, and John Rother, J.D., Executive Vice President of Policy, Strategy, and International Affairs at AARP, for a discussion of the unique problems facing men and women between 50 and 64 and how the Affordable Care Act will benefit them. To register, go to https://cc.readytalk.com/r/afbjui0r2gan.
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Federal and state governments play a significant role in strengthening the delivery of primary care; current efforts, however, have disproportionally been focused on large or multispecialty practices. A new report examines the roles states are playing in helping to reorganize the delivery of primary and chronic care, particularly in small practices. The authors highlight initiatives in Colorado, Michigan, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. Read more »
A series of Commonwealth Fund–sponsored articles about international health system issues offers lessons for the U.S. The articles address:
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In a new blog post, The Commonwealth Fund's Rachel Nuzum, assistant vice president for federal health policy, reports on this week's briefing, sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and The Commonwealth Fund, on how the Affordable Care Act supports and strengthens primary care and how innovations in primary care can serve as a foundation to improve the performance of the health system and control costs. Visit the Alliance for Health Reform site to view a webcast of the event and the speaker presentations. Read more »
In a recent blog post, Jean P. Hall, Ph.D., associate research professor at the University of Kansas, reports on the progress of the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, a temporary national program created through the Affordable Care Act to provide coverage for uninsured individuals with pre-existing conditions, many of whom have been unable to obtain other insurance. Read more »