With Medicaid expansion taking hold in more states, more people leaving prison or jail are now able to get health coverage. In a new Commonwealth Fund report, experts with Manatt Health explore Medicaid’s role in ensuring that people released from jail or prison have access to comprehensive primary care.

Federal courts in California and Pennsylvania have moved to temporarily block the Trump administration's attempt to roll back the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement that employer-based health insurance cover contraception as a free preventive service. In a new To the Point post, the Commonwealth Fund's Shanoor Seervai and Roosa Tikkanen explain the new rules could worsen women’s access to coverage and health outcomes.

In 2018, the Trump administration issued regulations and guidance that undermine many of the ACA’s key safeguards and benefits. On To the Point, legal expert Timothy S. Jost writes that the year also brought a barrage of litigation by states, cities, advocates, and health plans challenging these administrative initiatives, as well as a lawsuit intended to invalidate the entire ACA. Jost also weighs in on what we can expect in 2019.

How stable are the health insurance marketplaces? Did the repeal of the penalty for not having insurance have an impact on enrollment? On this episode of The Dose, host Shanoor Seervai talks to the Commonwealth Fund's Sara Collins about the state of the health care marketplaces.

Many Americans worry about receiving surprise medical bills after they see health care providers outside their plan's network or get emergency care. As Jack Hoadley, Kevin Lucia, and Maanasa Kona of Georgetown University explain, there is no federal law regulating the balance-bill charges submitted by out-of-network providers. And after reviewing state laws that guard against balance billing, the researchers found only nine states meet standards for comprehensive protection against this practice.

In a new post, Damon Francis, M.D., chief clinical officer of Health Leads, points out that many questions remain about the best way to integrate social services into health care delivery. To guide the health care community, a group of health system leaders has developed the Essential Needs Roadmap, a curated library of tools, best practices, implementation guidance, and other content.

The recent Health Care in America survey from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the New York Times, and the Commonwealth Fund found more than half of U.S. adults who've had a serious medical condition, two or more hospital stays, and visits with three or more doctors within the past three years reported anxiety, depression, or emotional or psychological problems resulting from their illness. In a new post, the Commonwealth Fund's Corinne Lewis, Mekdes Tsega, and Eric C. Schneider, M.D., examine these challenges and what providers can do to help.

The Better Care Playbook now includes a new resource bringing together knowledge on the impact traumatic experiences can have on health and examples and resources from the growing field of trauma-informed care.