Commonwealth Fund News and Research

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Out-of-pocket medical expenses to decline for most consumers under federal Affordable Care Act

Out-of-pocket medical expenses will decline for most consumers who become newly insured or change their source of health insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

2 Oct 2013

Research roundup: 'Cadillac' plan taxes; 'chronic care management' for substance abusers; long-term care services

As health coverage expands to tens of millions of Americans--through Medicaid expansion in states and the new state health insurance exchanges that will soon begin selling individual health coverage--some Americans with employer-sponsored health coverage are seeing their benefits decrease.

21 Sep 2013

Wide variation among states in access to care, coverage for poor

There is wide variation in access to health care for the poor among the states, with the higher-performing states making it more likely that their poorer residents have health coverage and get preventive care, a new study finds.

19 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 18, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about the Census Bureau's latest figures on the nation's uninsured as well as Congressional Budget Office long-term deficit projections and how that news fits into events in the ongoing Capitol Hill budget battles.

18 Sep 2013

The health law could add an extra pinch at tax time for some consumers

The Wall Street Journal reports that some people who receive government help to buy coverage could find they owe Uncle Sam money at tax time. Meanwhile, a new online poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos examines the question of whether young, unisured people will buy into the health law's new insurance offerings.

11 Sep 2013

Research roundup: The financial burden of hospital acquired infections

Health care–associated infections (HAIs) account for a large proportion of the harms caused by health care and are associated with high costs. ... [Using a simulation, the researchers found that the] total annual costs for the 5 major infections were $9.8 billion (95% CI, $8.3-$11.5 billion), with surgical site infections contributing the most to overall costs (33.7% of the total), followed by ventilator-associated pneumonia (31.6%), central line–associated bloodstream infections (18.9%), C difficile infections (15.4%), and catheter-associated urinary tract infections (<1%). ... recent analyses indicate that at least 50% are preventable. ...

7 Sep 2013

Research roundup: Moving kids onto Medicaid; competitive markets

Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.

26 Aug 2013

Enrollment in exchanges key to health law success

Politico notes that enrollment in online marketplaces in California, Florida and Texas will have an outsized impact on whether the Obama administration achieves its nationwide goals for expanding coverage. Other outlets report how states will market the new insurance plans and how some Americans are confused by health insurance generally and Obamacare in particular.

23 Aug 2013

Nearly 8M young adults enrolled in parent's health plan gain coverage under Affordable Care Act

An estimated 7.8 million of the 15 million young adults who were enrolled in a parent's health plan last year likely would not have been eligible for this coverage without the health reform law's dependent coverage provision, according to a new Commonwealth Fund survey.

21 Aug 2013

Electronic communication unlikely to be widely adopted by physician practices

Patients like it and so do health organizations, but electronic communications in clinical care will likely not be widely adopted by primary care physicians unless patient workloads are reduced or they are paid for the time they spend phoning and emailing patients, both during and after office hours.

6 Aug 2013

Somerset Medical Center to merge with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

Somerset Medical Center's Board of Trustees announced today that the medical center will pursue a merger with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick.

21 Jun 2013

Medicare studies: Payment cuts don't mean insurers pay more

Medicare payment cuts to hospitals don't necessarily mean private insurers end up paying more, one study finds. Another reports that unifying Medicare's benefits into a single plan could save the program $180 billion over 10 years, while lowering seniors' out-of-pocket costs.

8 May 2013

Study: Almost half of working-age adults have inadequate health coverage

The Commonwealth Fund concluded that, while the number of uninsured adults dropped during the past two years, a large number of working-age adults had little or no coverage.

29 Apr 2013

Survey shows millions of people struggling to afford health care

Eighty-four million people―nearly half of all working-age U.S. adults―went without health insurance for a time last year or had out-of-pocket costs that were so high relative to their income they were considered underinsured, according to the Commonwealth Fund 2012 Biennial Health Insurance Survey.

29 Apr 2013

First Edition: April 26, 2013

Today's headlines include reports that some Democratic senators have concerns about the health law's roll out as well as other news about the measure's implementation.

26 Apr 2013

Reducing preventable hospital readmissions may take longer, say researchers

Achieving widespread reductions in preventable hospital readmissions among Medicare beneficiaries may take longer than many health care professionals originally anticipated, according to researchers at Penn State, the Weill Cornell Medical College and the University of Pennsylvania.

18 Apr 2013

Research roundup: Looking at CHIP to gauge effect of health law on doctors; Insurers' spending on quality improvements

In this study published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, researchers analyzed the 1997 Children's Health Insurance Program to evaluate the potential changes in physicians' work hours in response to a large expansion in coverage.

6 Apr 2013

First annual National Scorecard on Payment Reform released

Catalyst for Payment Reform, an independent, non-profit employer coalition pushing for better value in health care, today released its first annual National Scorecard on Payment Reform.

26 Mar 2013

Weill Cornell Medical College researchers call for clearer definition of population health

Accountable Care Organizations, a key feature of the Affordable Care Act, aim to control health care costs, enhance quality in health care and improve population health. But what does "improving population health" really mean? This is the question asked in a new viewpoint article by Weill Cornell Medical College researchers published in the March 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

20 Mar 2013

States select health insurance plan that will serve as essential health benefit package

Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have selected the health insurance plan in their state that will serve as the "essential health benefit" package sold by all insurers participating in the new health insurance marketplace and the individual and small-group markets beginning January 2014, according to a new Commonwealth Fund study.

14 Mar 2013