December 10, 2004 - A new report from The Commonwealth Fund analyzes how private Medicare Advantage plans used increased funding enacted as part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003.
March 13, 2002 - African Americans are less likely than whites to receive recommended clinical care in four key quality areas, according to a new study of Medicare managed care enrollees.
July 21, 2000 - Americans ages 50 to 70—those nearing the age of Medicare eligibility and those who recently enrolled in the program—place high value on Medicare, according to a study released today by The Commonwealth Fund.
May 6, 2005 - Forty years after its creation, the federal Medicare program has succeeded in ensuring access to needed care and improving the provision of preventive services to millions of elderly and disabled beneficiaries, and Medicare patients are more satisfied with their care than privately insured adults.
June 28, 2005 - Concerned about their future financial and health security, a substantial majority of older Americans would favor setting aside a portion of their earnings in a special account to save for future medical expenses not covered by Medicare, according to a new Commonwealth Fund survey report.
October 5, 2009 - The costs of universal coverage are partly offset by later savings in Medicare. New Commonwealth Fund-supported research found that individuals who lacked health insurance at some point between the ages of 51 and 64 cost Medicare more than those who had continuous coverage in the years prior to Medicare eligibility.
May 12, 2009 - Elderly Medicare beneficiaries are more satisfied with their health care, and experience fewer problems accessing and paying for care, than Americans with employer-sponsored insurance (ESI), according to a study by Commonwealth Fund researchers published today on the Health Affairs Web site.
April 8, 2003 - A new report from The Commonwealth Fund reveals that enactment of a Medicare drug benefit could save states up to $6.8 billion annually, and could even help many states avoid cuts in Medicaid services.
November 2, 2009 - A vast majority of leaders in health care and health policy believe Medicare has been successful in providing access to care and stable coverage to the elderly and disabled individuals; however only a small percentage think the program has realized its potential to achieve other important goals, like using its leverage as the country's largest purchaser of services to control costs and promote a high performance health system.
December 10, 2004 - Private Medicare health plans—known as Medicare Advantage (MA) plans—will be paid 7.8 percent more per enrollee on average compared with average costs for fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries in 2005, according to a new issue brief from The Commonwealth Fund.
May 20, 2004 - In 2004, private Medicare plans will be paid 8.4 percent more per enrollee on average than fee-for-service costs, according to a new Fund study. These extra payments to Medicare Advantage plans average $552 per enrollee, or a total of $2.75 billion. While the objective of higher payment rates to private plans in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 is to save money in the long term, the payments will add to Medicare's costs in 2004.
May 4, 2009 - Private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans will be paid $11.4 billion more in 2009 than what the same beneficiaries would have cost in the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program, according to a new report released today by The Commonwealth Fund. This new analysis, The Continuing Costs of Privatization: Extra Payments to Medicare Advantage Plans Jump to $11.4 Billion in 2009, estimates that since MA was enacted in 2004, $43 billion in extra payments have been made.
September 4, 2008 - Private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans will be paid an average 12.4 percent more per enrollee in 2008 compared to what the same enrollee would have cost in the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund.
October 21, 2008 - Private fee-for-service (PFFS) Medicare Advantage plans will be paid an average 16.6 percent more in 2008 compared to what the same enrollees would have cost in the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund.
August 17, 2012 - A nationwide survey of nearly 1,700 hospitals examining their readiness to form accountable care organizations (ACOs) found that 13 percent are participating in, or planning to participate in, ACOs in the next year, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund.