June 24, 2009 -
A comprehensive approach to health insurance, provider payment, and care delivery system reforms has the potential to slow health care cost increases while achieving near-universal coverage. The potential savings for families, businesses, and the federal government vary markedly, however, depending on whether or not a public insurance plan option is included and how such a plan is structured, according to a new analysis from The Commonwealth Fund.
June 11, 2009 -
The Commonwealth Fund and Consumers Union will come together today for an event in Washington, D.C. to highlight the need for health reform that will provide security and stability for millions of people struggling to get the health care they need and describe how a patient-centered health care system would make a difference for them.
June 2, 2009 -
The 161 million Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance are facing substantial increases in out-of-pocket (OOP) costs, according to a study published today on the Health Affairs Web site. URL here
The study, authored by researchers from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) and Watson Wyatt Worldwide and funded by The Commonwealth Fund, examines trends in the comprehensiveness of employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) from 2004 to 2007. It finds rising rates of underinsurance and unaffordability, particularly for poorer and sicker people.
May 28, 2009 -
Even in the face of economic hard times, Massachusetts has sustained gains in insurance coverage and access to care stemming from its landmark 2006 health reform and coverage expansion. However, some of the early gains in reducing barriers to care and improving the affordability of care had eroded by the fall of 2008, roughly two years after the Bay State began implementing the legislation signed into law by Gov. Mitt Romney in April 2006.
May 21, 2009 -
As the nation debates health reform options, the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) is launching Transforming Care for Dual Eligibles, a state initiative to test innovative care models for people who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid ("dual eligibles").
The Commonwealth Fund in the Media
June 26, 2009 -
Karen Davis reports on President Obama's White House Town Hall, "Questions for the President: Prescription for America."
January 30, 2009 -
A Fund issue brief, The Building Blocks of Health Reform, referenced in a New York Times Op-Ed column by Paul Krugman on January 30, outlines how to ensure near-universal health coverage and help lower overall health spending, all with minimal disruptions to Americans who are satisfied with their current coverage.
August 14, 2008 -
One of the biggest health care challenges facing Congress is avoiding cutting Medicare's physician fees while controlling costs for the program. In an op-ed published today in the Boston Globe, Commonwealth Fund board member Robert Pozen and Commonwealth Fund senior vice president Cathy Schoen suggest a practical way to save Medicare billions of dollars--by preventing avoidable hospital readmissions.
June 24, 2008 -
A June 24 New York Times editorial, Our Pen and Paper Doctors cited a 2006 Commonwealth Fund survey that found nearly all doctors in the Netherlands and the vast majority in Australia, New Zealand and Britain were using electronic medical records. By comparison, only 28 percent of U.S. doctors and 23 percent of Canadian doctors said they used electronic medical records (EMRs).
June 12, 2008 -
A June 12, 2008 New York Times editorial focused on a Commonwealth Fund study published in Health Affairs that found an estimated 25 million adults in the United States are underinsured. Also see a NewsHour analysis on the study, featuring an interview with lead author Cathy Schoen.