The Commonwealth Fund Connection serves as a roundup of Fund publications, charts, and multimedia added to the Commonwealth Fund Web site in the last two weeks, and also offers links to other timely content.
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What's New
In many states, Medicaid programs have contracted out the delivery of health care services to publicly traded, for-profit health plans. A new Commonwealth Fund issue brief compares these plans with non-publicly traded plans owned by groups of health care providers, health systems, community health centers, or clinics. Researchers Michael J. McCue, D.B.A., and Michael H. Bailit, M.M., found that Medicaid managed care plans that are owned by publicly traded, for-profit companies spent an average of 14 percent of premiums on administrative costs, while the non-publicly traded plans spent about 10 percent. The publicly traded plans also received lower scores for quality-of-care measures related to preventive care, treatment of chronic conditions, members' access to care, and customer service. Read more »
Recent Releases
The Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan is a temporary program implemented under the Affordable Care Act to make health insurance coverage available to uninsured individuals with preexisting conditions until 2014, when exchange-based health insurance becomes available to all. This Commonwealth Fund issue brief examines enrollment trends and early changes to plan structures and premiums, and estimates of out-of-pocket costs by utilization pattern and type of plan. Read more »
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation was created by the Affordable Care Act to identify, develop, assess, support, and spread new approaches to health care financing and delivery that can help improve quality and lower costs. This issue brief reviews the mission of the Innovation Center and provides perspectives from the research community on critical issues and challenges. Read more »
New on the Web
The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) has received a grant from The Commonwealth Fund to resurvey U.S. hospitals regarding their medication safety practices. ISMP will again partner with the Health Research and Educational Trust and the American Hospital Association on the self assessment survey, as it did in 2000 and 2004. The 2010 ISMP Medication Safety Self-Assessment will document the progress of U.S. hospitals during the last five years of intense national attention to medication safety and identify the impact of new and emerging challenges, such as staffing shortages, shrinking reimbursement systems, and the application of new technology. Read more »
Fellowships
The Commonwealth Fund's Harkness Fellowships in Health Care Policy and Practice provide a unique opportunity for mid-career professionals—academic researchers, government policymakers, clinicians, managers, and journalists—to spend up to 12 months in the United States conducting a policy-oriented research study. The fellowships are open to applicants from Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The deadline for receipt of applications is September 12, 2011. For details and the application form, please visit http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Fellowships/Harkness-Fellowships.aspx. Read more »