COVID-19 Highlights Problems with Our Generic Drug Supply Chain
COVID-19 has placed enormous strain on the nation’s drug supply chain, leading to shortages — particularly of generic drugs — and empty pharmacy counters. On To the Point, the Commonwealth Fund’s Lovisa Gustafsson says that by building redundancy into the generic drug supply system, we would be better prepared for the next emergency.
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How States Can Prevent Surprise Bills for COVID-19 Care
New federal laws may provide some protection from surprise medical bills during the pandemic, but states are taking action to fill remaining gaps, say Georgetown University researchers. More than half of states already have, or will soon have, some form of protection in place. Six have used emergency powers to add or strengthen consumer protections against surprise bills.
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Ensuring Medicaid Coverage During Tough Economic Times
In March, Congress temporarily increased the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP), the share of Medicaid costs the federal government will cover. For the next COVID-19-related stimulus package, health policy experts Cindy Mann and Elizabeth Dervan call for an additional increase to the FMAP and linking the duration of the increase to economic circumstances. They also say an automatic adjustment of the percentage based on economic need should be a permanent feature of Medicaid financing.
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COVID-19 Has Accelerated Innovation for Some Primary Care Providers
The pandemic has presented some primary care providers with an opportunity to innovate. Commonwealth Fund researchers took a look at three practices that have benefited from investments made prior to the pandemic in remote monitoring tools, telehealth, and texting platforms to identify high-risk patients. In part, this greater flexibility to innovate stems from reduced dependence on fee-for-service revenue.
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Protecting Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease During a Pandemic
What can we do to avoid putting people with kidney disease at even greater risk during the COVID-19 crisis? In Transforming Care, we share some of the strategies kidney care providers use to protect their patients and help those being treated for COVID-19 who are sustaining kidney damage from the virus.
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International Health News Brief: Special Issue on COVID-19
A special issue of International Health News Brief focuses on innovative approaches countries are taking in response to the coronavirus pandemic: expanding health system capacity, addressing social determinants of health, supporting the development of vaccines and treatments, and collecting population data to inform exit strategies.
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COVID-19: What Can the U.S. Learn from Other Countries?
Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellows from Canada, France, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom have collected innovative approaches from their home countries to fighting COVID-19. Although more research is needed on their effectiveness, there’s a lot the U.S. can learn from them in our own battle against the pandemic.
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How Germany’s Approach to COVID-19 Sets the Country Apart
As the pressure mounts to reopen economies across the globe, other countries might want to look to Germany, which last week became one of the first to start easing COVID-19 restrictions. Michael Laxy, a health economics researcher and former Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow, talks about the German approach on The Dose podcast.
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A National Strategy in a Time of Crisis: Lessons from Norway
Early action and a unified approach have contributed to Norway’s successes in dealing with the coronavirus — in addition to the nation’s single-payer universal health coverage. Harkness Fellow Christer Mjåset, M.D., outlines in NEJM Catalyst how Norway has responded, and how others may benefit from that experience.
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Lessons on Relaxing Social Distancing Measures
Based on a study of 15 countries similar to or ahead of the U.S. on their respective pandemic curves, the Bipartisan Policy Center is offering recommendations for federal and state policymakers as well as the private sector on safely lifting social distancing interventions. The study draws on data from the Health System Response Monitor, the Commonwealth Fund, and an advisory group of former government officials, public health experts, and academics.
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International Approaches to Fighting Loneliness
The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated social isolation and loneliness around the world — and the consequences for health are serious. Several nations are pursuing a number of low- and high-tech approaches that could be models for the U.S.
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Is Expanding Medicaid a Good Deal for States?
Concerns over costs and budget constraints are the biggest reasons cited by the 14 remaining states for not expanding Medicaid under the ACA, but covering more adults through Medicaid can actually benefit states’ bottom line. Economist Bryce Ward looks at the financial impact of Medicaid expansion, identifying savings states have achieved within their Medicaid programs and elsewhere in their budgets.
In a related post on To the Point, the Commonwealth Fund’s Akeiisa Coleman notes that while states’ share of Medicaid spending will increase in 2020, much of the cost of Medicaid expansion can be offset by savings within the program and beyond.
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The cost of Medicaid expansion to states is different from the “sticker price”; in some cases, the net cost is negative.
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Supreme Court Tells Government to “Honor Its Obligations” to ACA Insurers
The Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government improperly refused to pay more than $12 billion owed to insurers in the individual and small-group markets under an ACA program designed to stabilize premiums and mitigate risk during the law’s early years. Timothy Jost explains how the government’s failure to honor its obligations under the risk-corridor program hurt insurance markets and played a decisive role in the failure of many small plans.
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Price Regulations for Health Care Would Affect States Unevenly
A Commonwealth Fund–supported study in Health Affairs finds that if private providers charged the same prices as Medicare, average hospital revenue would fall about 35 percent. “Careful crafting of legislation and regulations is crucial to balance the need for policy action with the potentially unintended consequences of large price reductions,” the authors say.
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Georgia’s Waiver Proposal Could Jeopardize Coverage Access
Georgia has requested federal approval to waive key provisions of the ACA, seeking to eliminate the law’s insurance marketplace and instead require residents to sign up for coverage via a broker or directly with an insurer. Not only would the change make it harder for consumers to compare plan options, a new analysis by Georgetown University shows, it could jeopardize people’s ability to get affordable, comprehensive health insurance.
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