Beyond Coverage: How Health Reform Will Transform the Health System
<p>Today marks a major milestone in the effort to create a high-performing health care system in the United States. On this six-month anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, major changes begin to roll out, such as the requirement that health insurance plans allow young adults to join or stay on their parents' health plan until age 26, and a ban on the insurance company practice of rescinding coverage of enrollees when they get sick. Additional health care reforms in the coming months and years will include important changes designed to improve how care is organized, delivered, and paid for. </p>
<p>The newly updated Commonwealth Fund report <a href="/publications/fund-reports/2010/sep/starting-path-high-performance-health-system-analysis-payment">Starting on the Path to a High Performance Health System: Analysis of the Payment and System Reform Provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010</a>, analyzes the new law's provisions that will affect health care providers' financial incentives, the organization and delivery of health services, investment in prevention and population health, and the capacity to achieve the best health care and health outcomes for all Americans. Major initiatives discussed include the establishment of health insurance exchanges and new market rules, creation of an Independent Payment Advisory Board and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, and introduction of payment policies designed to reward hospitals and physicians for value rather than volume. <br /><br />Recent analysis shows that these provisions have the potential to reduce administrative expenses and lead to significant modernization of the health care system, lowering the rate of cost growth and returning total national savings of $590 billion or more in the coming decade. <br /><br />Visit the Fund's new <a href="~/link.aspx?_id=9B4EC3E4A71F457280D4CB62F713DCFC&_z=z">Health Reform Resource Center</a> to view a timeline of the Affordable Care Act's major provisions and use our "Find Health Reform Provisions" tool to obtain clear, detailed summaries of specific provisions by year, category, and/or stakeholder group. Visitors can also read the Fund's new <em>Realizing Health Reform's Potential </em><a href="~/link.aspx?_id=F4EDA1AE78A944BEA80198B614439375&_z=z">issue brief series</a>, which examines how the Affordable Care Act will benefit different groups, improve health insurance coverage, and change the way care is delivered. </p>
<p>Also go to the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karen-davis/a-new-era-in-health-care-_b_7… Post</a> today to read a blog post by Fund President Karen Davis commemorating the six-month anniversary of health reform's passage.</p>