A new Commonwealth Fund scorecard that measures health system performance in all 50 states and the District of Columbia shows that the combined death rate from suicide, alcohol, opioids, and other drugs increased by 50 percent nationwide between 2005 and 2016. Mortality rates for treatable medical conditions also rose, reversing a decade-long downward national trend. Gaps in mental health care are pervasive as well.

There is some good news: Americans’ ability to get affordable health care improved, with states that expanded eligibility for Medicaid experiencing the biggest gains from 2013 to 2016.

Find out more about national trends – and how your state fared – by visiting our interactive 2018 state scorecard digital report. 

In a new interview on the AHRQ Patient Safety Network website, Commonwealth Fund President David Blumenthal, M.D., talks about progress in health information technology in the decade since passage of the HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act and reflects on his time serving as National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

Americans’ confidence in their ability to afford the health care they need continues to decline, according to findings from the Commonwealth Fund Affordable Care Act Tracking Survey. In a new To the Point post, the Commonwealth Fund’s Sara Collins, Munira Gunja, Michelle Doty, and Herman Bhupal report that people with low incomes are the least confident, with only 51 percent feeling they could afford needed care, compared with 73 percent of higher-income people.

Several states have announced they will begin requiring most residents with Medicaid coverage to work, or perform community service, to receive their benefits. What will this mean for the millions of Medicaid beneficiaries dealing with mental illness, substance abuse disorders, or both? For our new Q&A, we talked with Harvard health economist Richard Frank about the challenges of determining whether someone can work, and what happens when people with mental illness are denied critical benefits.

Primary care has long been a focus of federal efforts to improve the health of low-income communities. But in a To the Point post, George Washington University’s Sara Rosenbaum says that a strong primary care system requires sustained, targeted investment to expand access and improve quality.

Many health care delivery systems are working to address the social determinants of health, especially for patients with complex needs. To do so, they need to partner with local organizations that provide social services, such as nutritional support and transportation.

That’s why the Commonwealth Fund has launched the new ROI Calculator for Partnerships to Address the Social Determinants of Health. By assessing the financial risks and rewards under various payment arrangements and terms, this tool can help health systems and community-based organizations structure their partnerships in an equitable way.

Vermont’s public and private payers have come together in an ambitious effort to improve population health and control costs. A new Commonwealth Fund case study takes a deep dive into OneCare Vermont, a large accountable care organization (ACO) that is a key player in this effort. The ACO’s mission is to unite the physical health, mental health, and social service sectors to better serve patients with complex needs.

The Better Care Playbook — the go-to resource for providers caring for patients with high needs — now features an interactive map of complex care programs across the country. The map, developed in partnership with the Center for Health Care Strategies, can be sorted by target population, care model, and other key features. Learn more on the Playbook’s blog.

How do you perceive the state of the complex-care field? What do you consider to be the priorities for its future course of development? To answer these questions, the National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and the Center for Health Care Strategies have launched an ambitious project with Commonwealth Fund support: to develop a Blueprint for Complex Care. Please take a brief survey to share your ideas.

U.S. seniors are sicker than their counterparts in 10 other high-income countries and face greater financial barriers to health care, according to the last Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey. Tune in to our upcoming webinar to learn more about the survey findings, where we explore access to care and affordability, patient engagement and prevention, and the need for social services among adults 65 and older, including those with the highest health care needs. You’ll hear from Commonwealth Fund researchers, as well as experts from the U.K., Canada, and Sweden. 

The survey included older adults in 11 countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Results were published by Health Affairs in November 2017.

What: Webinar: Patient Experiences of Older Adults Across Countries

When: Thursday, May 17, 12:00 p.m.–1:15 p.m., E.D.T.

High prescription drug costs are a persistent problem in the United States. In a To the Point post, the Commonwealth Fund’s Shawn Bishop highlighted three Health Affairs papers in which policy experts explore ways to get pharmaceutical prices under control. By increasing competition in drug markets, applying value-based purchasing, and protecting patients from high out-of-pocket costs, they believe policymakers can begin to make affordable prescription drugs a reality. The papers were supported by the Commonwealth Fund and The Drug Pricing Lab of Memorial Sloan Kettering.