Our Scorecard ranks every state’s health care system based on how well it provides high-quality, accessible, and equitable health care. Read the report to see health care rankings by state.
Administration Push for Alternative Coverage Options Will Mean Higher Marketplace Premiums and Fewer Consumer Protections
The Trump administration’s proposed regulations encouraging the sale of inexpensive, bare-bones health plans that do not comply with Affordable Care Act (ACA) benefit requirements or consumer protections could siphon healthy enrollees from the insurance marketplaces, leaving them with a smaller, sicker group of enrollees. And this could mean higher premiums and fewer plan options for people remaining in the individual market. A new Commonwealth Fund report by Kevin Lucia and colleagues at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute examines these “alternative coverage arrangements” — including short-term plans, association health plans, and health care sharing ministries — and the actions states have taken to regulate them.
Blumenthal: Apple’s Health Care Pact ‘Might Actually Disrupt the Industry’
Apple’s recent announcement that 13 prestigious U.S. health care systems have agreed to allow the company to download their patients’ electronic health data, with permission, onto its devices may not have gotten the attention it deserves. David Blumenthal, M.D., and Aneesh Chopra write in Harvard Business Review that the new pact has the potential to “liberate health care data for game-changing new uses, including empowering patients as never before.”
Health Insurers’ 2016 Financial Performance in the Individual Market
In the first two years of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) market reforms, health insurers struggled to find their footing. However, in a new post, Virginia Commonwealth University’s Michael J. McCue and Wake Forest University’s Mark A. Hall say that, in 2016 and 2017, participating health insurers were on a path toward financial recovery, at least prior to the full impact of the Trump administration’s new policies.
After eight years of relentless attacks, the ACA is still the law of the land. According to Commonwealth Fund President David Blumenthal, M.D., the law’s resilience reflects the fundamental decency of the American people, who refused to allow health coverage to be taken away from their neighbors.
States That Run Their Own Marketplaces Have Responded Better to ACA Threats
States that have retained local control over their health insurance marketplaces appear better able to respond to threats to their stability, including recent actions by the Trump administration and its congressional allies to undermine the ACA, a new Commonwealth Fund report by Georgetown researchers Justin Giovannelli and Emily Curran finds.
Medicaid Work Demonstrations: What's at Stake for Older Adults?
To date, 12 states have proposed conducting demonstrations that add work requirements to Medicaid. The federal government has approved three of them. In a new To the Point post, George Washington University’s Sara Rosenbaum and colleagues examine how these requirements would affect low-income older adults — many of whom are in poor health or have one or more chronic conditions.
Why Enrollment in Private Medicare Plans Has Grown Despite Reduced Growth in Plan Payments
Enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans has grown significantly since 2009, defying some predictions that the opposite would happen after Medicare began reining in payment rates for plans. According to a new Commonwealth Fund analysis by Stuart Guterman, Laura Skopec, and Stephen Zuckerman, Medicare Advantage plans responded to the lower growth in payments between 2009 and 2014 by controlling costs.
The 340B Drug Discount Program: Why More Transparency Will Help Low-Income Communities
The federal 340B Drug Pricing Program is currently a focus of oversight efforts by Congress. In a new post, the University of Chicago’s Rena M. Conti explains why greater transparency is needed for the program, which requires drug manufacturers to provide discounted outpatient drugs to qualified health care facilities serving low-income patients.
High U.S. Health Care Spending: It's Still About the Prices
When the Commonwealth Fund released its most-recent health care rankings last summer, the United States was last among 11 high-income countries. Despite spending the most by far on health care, the U.S. is outperformed by other nations on a host of measures. A new analysis in JAMA by Irene Papanicolas, Ashish Jha, M.D., and colleagues concludes that the spending disparity can be attributed largely to higher U.S. prices — particularly for doctors and pharmaceuticals — as well as higher administrative costs.
Listening to Low-Income Patients: Mental Health Stigma Is a Barrier to Care
Mental and emotional health issues are common among low-income people, who are more likely to suffer stress from financial difficulties or safety concerns in their home or community. For the latest installment of our Listening to Low-Income Patients series, the Commonwealth Fund’s Shanoor Seervai and Corinne Lewis report that poor adults are often reluctant to seek care because of the stigma associated with mental illness in their communities.
Sick and Struggling: High-Need Patients with Financial Difficulties
People with multiple physical or cognitive limitations are almost twice as likely to struggle financially as those without them. And financial difficulties prevent many from getting the care they need when they need it, according to a recent survey of high-need patients by the Commonwealth Fund’s Corinne Lewis, Arnav Shah, Melinda Abrams, and Tanya Shah.
What Can the U.S. and England Learn from Each Other's Health Care Reforms?
Both the U.S. and England are working to better integrate health services, improve population health, and manage health care costs. Despite the differences in their health systems, the two nations can still learn a lot from each other’s reforms, say Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow Adam D. M. Briggs, Hugh Alderwick, Stephen M. Shortell, and Elliott S. Fisher, M.D., in a new JAMA Viewpoint and post for To the Point.
While many U.S. hospitals have concentrated on improving care transitions from hospital to home, far fewer have focused on the transition from hospitals to postacute care settings, including skilled nursing facilities. The current issue of Transforming Care looks at increasing collaboration among physicians, hospitals, and postacute providers to reduce variation and spending.
A new guidebook offers examples of how health plans and providers are investing in efforts to help patients with basic needs such as stable housing and nutritious food. Created by the KPMG Government Institute with support from the Commonwealth Fund, the guidebook also offers practical strategies to help health care organizations make the business case for investing in social services.
Join a Webinar: State Strategies for Supporting Sustainable Investments in Social Interventions
It is now widely recognized that social factors such as unstable housing and lack of healthy food have a substantial impact on health outcomes and spending, particularly for lower-income populations. Much less clear is what states, insurers, and providers should do about it.
A webinar on April 9, at 2 p.m., E.T., sponsored by Manatt Health Strategies and the Commonwealth Fund, will review emerging best practices for integrating sustainable social support investments into Medicaid managed care. Hear national experts and state leaders on the frontlines of the effort discuss the array of tools available to states.
This webinar is based on findings from Manatt’s recent report with Milliman for the Commonwealth Fund, Enabling Sustainable Investment in Social Interventions: A Review of Medicaid Managed Care Rate-Setting Tools.
