Celebrating Two Years of Progress
<p>Today, the second anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act, serves as a prime opportunity to reflect on progress made in addressing fundamental flaws in the U.S. health system.</p><p>In a <a href="/blog/2012/celebrating-two-years-progress">new blog post</a>, Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis offers a few reminders of why the United States so urgently needs the health reform law. One is the increase in the number of uninsured Americans from 37 million in 2000 to 50 million in 2010. A second is the rise in health expenditures from $1.4 trillion in 2000 to $2.6 trillion in 2010. </p>
<p>While the law's major provisions will not go into effect until 2014, Davis says we are already seeing significant improvements: some 2.5 million additional young people and nearly 50,000 previously uninsured Americans with preexisting conditions now have health coverage; health care spending is growing at the slowest rate in 50 years; and major initiatives are being piloted by the year-old Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. </p>
<p>"We are on the cusp of addressing some of our nation’s most costly and burdensome problems," Davis says. "Year three of health reform will continue to move the United States to a high-performing health care system in which all Americans have access to affordable, high-quality care." </p>
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