12/21/2009 3:26:00 PM - This Commonwealth Fund issue brief compares approaches to reducing Medicare Advantage payments and other provisions in the House and Senate bills that aim to improve the value that Medicare obtains for the dollars it spends.
Issue Brief
12/15/2009 1:55:00 PM - This study, supported by The Commonwealth Fund and the National Institute on Aging, shows that the vast majority of primary care physicians work in practices that see too few Medicare patients annually to produce statistically reliable performance assessments and that Medicare's current method of measuring ambulatory care quality may not be effective for most primary care physicians.
In the Literature
12/10/2009 1:08:00 PM -
Other
12/10/2009 10:17:00 AM - Commonwealth Fund publications, journal articles, testimony, and survey research on a topic now being discussed in Congress: allowing older adults to buy in to Medicare.
Other
11/13/2009 2:11:00 PM - In this Commonwealth Fund issue brief, experts argue that the health care system as a whole would do well to emulate top-performing providers that embrace accountability for health care quality, outcomes, and cost. And they say the Medicare program—the nation's largest payer for health care—is the logical place to start.
Issue Brief
11/2/2009 5:00:00 PM - In a commentary on The Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey, Bruce Vladeck writes that Washington finds itself caught up in the fog of hysteria, misinformation, anxiety and downright dishonesty that so often afflicts Medicare politics.
Commentary
11/2/2009 12:27:00 PM - In the latest Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders survey, experts in health care and health policy say they favor strengthening Medicare's ability to help control program costs and support broader health system reform.
Data Brief
11/2/2009 12:30:00 AM - With so much attention being given to healthcare reform, Gail Wilensky writes in this commentary on The Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey findings, it's essential to remember the importance of reforming Medicare as well.
Commentary
10/5/2009 3:39:00 PM - A new Commonwealth Fund-supported study from researchers at Harvard Medical School demonstrates that expanding health coverage might not cost as much as policymakers assume. Mainly due to untreated chronic conditions like hypertension and diabetes, individuals who were uninsured before becoming eligible for Medicare at 65 had significantly higher spending than did those with coverage prior to Medicare enrollment.
In the Literature
8/12/2009 11:37:00 AM - Private health plans that enroll Medicare beneficiaries—known as Medicare Advantage (MA) plans—are being paid $11 billion more in 2009 than it would cost to cover these beneficiaries in regular fee-for-service Medicare. The Obama Administration has proposed eliminating these extra payments to private insurers and instituting a competitive bidding system. This study questions the degree to which firms offering MA plans actually face competition.
Issue Brief
5/20/2009 12:00:00 AM - This report creates profiles of those with Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) during the three years before and after SSDI entry to illustrate changes in insurance status, health care access, and utilization.
Fund Report
5/20/2009 12:00:00 AM - At a particularly difficult point in their lives, disabled individuals must wait two years before they are eligible to begin receiving Medicare benefits--a delay that can block access to needed care and relief from financial pressures.
Perspectives on Health Reform Brief
5/12/2009 12:00:00 AM - In a national Commonwealth Fund survey, elderly Medicare beneficiaries reported greater overall satisfaction with their health coverage, better access to care, and fewer problems paying medical bills than people covered by employer-sponsored plans. These findings, published in Health Affairs, support the development of a public insurance plan similar to Medicare that would be available to the under-65 population.
In the Literature
5/4/2009 12:00:00 AM - The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 explicitly increased Medicare payments to private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. As a result, MA plans have, for the past six years, been paid more for their enrollees than they would be expected to cost in traditional fee-for-service Medicare.
Issue Brief
4/27/2009 1:00:00 PM - Nearly all respondents to the latest Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey agree that the U.S. must rein in the growth of health care spending, and most believe it is possible to hold the current percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) devoted to health care steady over the next decade. In addition, large majorities expressed support for a range of strategies to reduce costs, including many of those outlined in President Obama’s budget blueprint.
Data Brief