February 22, 2006 - New research published in the March American Journal of Public Health shows how health care providers' ability to effectively address disparities in health care could be enhanced by changing the way they collect information about their patients' race and ethnicity.
February 1, 2006 - Family out-of-pocket health care costs rose at a much higher rate than income between 1996 and 2002, according to new research released today by The Commonwealth Fund. As a result, by 2002, nearly one of six (15%) families experienced high out-of-pocket costs relative to their incomes.
January 26, 2006 - Recognizing the need to improve the affordability and availability of health care is an important step toward a health care system that works for all Americans. However, the proposals the President has indicated he will put forward do not go far enough to reverse the alarming trends we have seen in recent years.
January 20, 2006 - Over 60 percent of adults ages 50 to 64 who are working or have a working spouse have been diagnosed with at least one chronic health condition, such as arthritis, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, or hypertension, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund.
January 12, 2006 - A major Massachusetts research study has demonstrated the feasibility and value of measuring the quality of care provided by individual physicians and their office practices by asking their patients. With information obtained From a relatively small number of patients of individual physicians, the researchers found highly reliable and stable information about both the quality of doctor-patient interactions and about the functioning of the doctor's office.
December 29, 2005 - Financing the nation's long-term care needs should be a responsibility shared equally by government and individuals, agrees a majority of respondents (61%) to the latest Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders survey. A wide majority—80 percent—of the 246 respondents to the online survey also favors adding a long-term care benefit to Medicare, financed by a premium, to address the growing cost of such services.
December 8, 2005 - Americans enrolled in a relatively new type of health coverage designed to make them more cost conscious are less satisfied with their health plan than those with comprehensive health insurance and are less likely to recommend the new plans to a friend or colleague, a groundbreaking nationwide survey reported today.
December 1, 2005 - Just one of five of the estimated 34 million "nonstandard" workers in the U.S. workerforce has health insurance through his or her employer, compared with three-quarters of regular full-time employees, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report by researchers at the Iowa Policy Project.
November 3, 2005 - One-third of patients with health problems in the U.S. report experiencing medical, medication, or test errors, the highest rate of any nation in a new Commonwealth Fund international survey.
October 11, 2005 - The first study to assess the effects of a pay-for-performance program in a large health plan found significant quality improvement in a physician group with a quality incentive program (QIP) for one of the three clinical measures studied, compared with a physician group without a QIP.
October 6, 2005 - As states struggle with mounting Medicaid budgets and greater than ever need among their populations, the overwhelming majority of respondents to the latest Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders survey say that Medicaid is important to achieving many goals of the U.S. health care system, particularly in improving access to health care for those with low incomes.
October 4, 2005 - Adding a comprehensive Medicare Extra, or Part E, plan to Medicare would eliminate the need for beneficiaries to purchase a private drug plan and Medigap supplemental coverage, and help to quell the confusion and dissatisfaction surrounding the new Medicare Part D drug benefit, according to a new study released today as a Health Affairs Web exclusive.
October 3, 2005 - The United States health system is fraught with waste and inefficiency, and in dire need of reform, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System, released today at a Capitol Hill briefing co-sponsored by the Fund and the Alliance for Health Reform.
September 22, 2005 - Policymakers should be cautious about embracing the individual market and health savings accounts as a way to improve satisfaction with the health care system, according to a new Commonwealth Fund study authored by Jeanne Lambrew of George Washington University.
September 14, 2005 - Two Commonwealth Fund–supported studies in the September/October issue of Health Affairs examine the potential benefits and challenges for solo and small-group physician practices in adopting electronic health records (EHRs), and highlight the greater difficulties smaller practices face in implementing health information technology (HIT), compared with larger health care institutions.