We Can’t Rely on Insurance to Cover a COVID-19 Vaccine
When a COVID-19 vaccine is finally available, existing public and private insurance coverage won’t be enough to sustain a national immunization strategy, say health law expert Sara Rosenbaum and colleagues on To the Point. While Congress has taken steps to close vaccine coverage loopholes, many types of health plans would remain exempt from these rules.
READ MORE |
Why Waiting for a Vaccine Is a Mistake
We are “willfully ignoring” the best ways to control the coronavirus pandemic, writes the Commonwealth Fund’s Eric Schneider, M.D., in an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times. He says we need a national program to test, trace, and isolate people who are infected, and a broad commitment to wearing masks, physical distancing, and avoiding indoor crowding.
READ MORE |
Telemental Health Beyond the Pandemic
With record unemployment and increased social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for mental health services is high. Researchers describe the barriers that have held back adoption of telemental health in the past, and how supporting it post-pandemic “is essential to ensure that the progress made in the accessibility of mental health services is not lost.”
READ MORE |
Is Structural Racism Responsible for African Americans Having Higher COVID-19 Rates?
Can higher COVID-19 rates of infection and death for Black Americans be explained by structural racism? These and other questions are answered in Corona Question Corner. Submit your questions to [email protected].
READ MORE |
|
|
|
Other Recent Publications | |
Rollback of Civil Rights Protections in the ACA
The Trump administration issued a final rule eliminating health protections for transgender individuals and dropping requirements to make language assistance available under the Affordable Care Act. Legal expert Timothy Jost writes that the rule reflects the administration’s “lack of concern for transgender individuals, non-English speakers, and civil rights in general — other than religious freedom.”
READ MORE |
Ending Protections for Transgender People Will Have Serious Health Consequences
While a new Trump administration rule undoes Obama-era regulations that offered protections for gender identity in health care, the rule will face legal challenges, say the Commonwealth Fund’s Corinne Lewis, Yaphet Getachew, and Mekdes Tsega. And these challenges will now be bolstered by the Supreme Court’s recent decision to protect gay and transgender workers from employment discrimination.
READ MORE |
Could Ending Cash Bail Improve the Health of Black Americans?
Cash bail, which requires people to pay to be released from detention while awaiting trial, disproportionally affects Black and Hispanic people. And it could threaten their health during the coronavirus pandemic, write the Commonwealth Fund’s Arnav Shah and Shanoor Seervai on To the Point. Ending the cash bail system, they say, could reduce people’s risk of getting infected and address structural racism — while also freeing up funds for health care, education, housing, and other social services in the longer term.
READ MORE |
How Did a Bundled Payment Initiative Affect Health Care Spending and Quality After Three Years?
For a new BMJ study, researchers evaluated whether longer-term participation in Medicare’s Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative was associated with changes in spending, mortality, or health service use. The initiative held hospitals financially accountable for all spending during an episode of care from admission to 90 days postdischarge.
READ MORE |
|
|
|
Affordable, quality health care. For everyone. |
|
Subscribe | Privacy policy | Unsubscribe |
Add [email protected] to your address book [ vCard ]
2020 © The Commonwealth Fund
THE COMMONWEALTH FUND | One E 75th St, New York, NY 10021 United States | Phone: 212.606.3800 | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
