Commonwealth Fund News and Research

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KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Live from AHCJ: Shock and awe in federal health policy

Cuts to health programs made by the second Trump administration in its first 100 days are already having an impact at the state and local level.

2 Jun 2025

Loss of automatic reenrollment leads to drop in health insurance coverage

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, University of South Carolina and Emory University have published findings in JAMA Health Forum from a recent study on coverage retention and plan switching among Americans who obtain their health insurance through HealthCare.gov.

23 May 2025

Deportation fears add to mental health problems confronting Colorado resort town workers

When Adolfo Román García-Ramírez walks home in the evening from his shift at a grocery store in this central Colorado mountain town, sometimes he thinks back on his childhood in Nicaragua.

15 Apr 2025

Tribal health leaders say Medicaid cuts would decimate health programs

As Congress mulls potentially massive cuts to federal Medicaid funding, health centers that serve Native American communities, such as the Oneida Community Health Center near Green Bay, Wisconsin, are bracing for catastrophe.

19 Mar 2025

Telemedicine adoption leads to fewer low-value medical tests

Low-value care-medical tests and procedures that provide little to no benefit to patients-contributes to excess medical spending and both direct and cascading harms to patients.

24 Feb 2025

UCLA study finds no significant benefit of paxlovid for vaccinated older adults

Paxlovid does not significantly reduce COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality among vaccinated older adults, according to new UCLA-led research.

21 Feb 2025

Study reveals dramatic rise in ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine prescriptions during COVID-19

U.S. outpatient prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin increased 2- to 10-fold above pre-pandemic rates, respectively, to treat COVID-19, despite strong evidence disproving their effectiveness, new UCLA-led research shows.

21 Feb 2025

Study reveals rising affiliation of primary care providers with hospitals and private equity

A study by researchers at the Brown University School of Public Health shows that nearly half of all primary care providers (PCPs) in the United States are affiliated with hospitals, while the number of PCPs affiliated with private equity firms is growing and concentrated in certain regional markets.

28 Jan 2025

Urgent need to shift focus from fossil fuels to health

As multiple health threats from climate change break dangerous new records, the 2024 Report of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change calls for the trillions of dollars spent funding fossil fuels to be redirected and used to drive a rapid and fair transition to a net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) economy, instead of harming the health of billions of people across the world.

30 Oct 2024

Vance wrongly blames rural hospital closures on immigrants in the country illegally

During a recent presidential campaign rally in Wisconsin, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) was asked how a Trump administration would protect rural health care access in the face of hospital closures, such as two this year in Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls.

29 Oct 2024

Low-income Medicare Advantage beneficiaries face barriers to dental, vision and hearing care

Lower-income adults with Medicare Advantage plans are more likely to have difficulty paying for dental, vision, and hearing services than higher-income beneficiaries - despite enrolling in plans that cover these benefits, according to a new study published in Health Affairs.

7 Oct 2024

U.S. health system underperforms despite massive spending, while Australia and the Netherlands excel

A recent Commonwealth Fund report compares health systems across 10 countries, revealing that the U.S. ranks last overall despite high healthcare spending, with significant gaps in health outcomes, equity, and access to care.

22 Sep 2024

California bill would require state review of private equity deals in health care

A bill pending in California's legislature to ratchet up oversight of private equity investments in health care is receiving enthusiastic backing from consumer advocates, labor unions, and the California Medical Association, but drawing heavy fire from hospitals concerned about losing a potential funding source.

13 Aug 2024

Maternity care in rural areas is in crisis. Can more doulas help?

When Bristeria Clark went into labor with her son in 2015, her contractions were steady at first. Then, they stalled.

29 Jul 2024

Novel Co-STAR cells show promise in targeting and eradicating cancer

Using genetic engineering techniques, investigators at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Ludwig Center, the Lustgarten Laboratory and Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy have designed a novel type of cell to recognize and fight cancer.

11 Jul 2024

Majority of people prefer hospital-level care at home

Hospital-level care provided in a patient's own home is appealing to a majority of people for its convenience, comfort and effectiveness, according to a USC Schaeffer Center study.

8 Jul 2024

Lack of affordability tops older Americans’ list of health care worries

What weighs most heavily on older adults' minds when it comes to health care?

3 Jul 2024

Study reveals coverage gaps and health access challenges post-Medicaid unwinding

In a survey of low-income adults across Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Texas, one in eight respondents who were enrolled in Medicaid at some point since March 2020 reported no longer having Medicaid coverage by late 2023, with nearly half of that pool reporting being currently uninsured, according to a study by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

29 Jun 2024

California’s expanded health coverage for immigrants collides with Medicaid reviews

Medi-Cal health coverage kicked in for Antonio Abundis just when the custodian needed it most.

22 Mar 2024

Biden is right. The US generally pays double that of other countries for Rx drugs.

It's well documented that Americans pay high prices for health care. But do they pay double or more for prescriptions compared with the rest of the world? President Joe Biden said they did.

6 Mar 2024