Universal Coverage Is Possible Without Complete Health System Overhaul
The United States could achieve near-universal health coverage and decrease national health spending by working within our current public–private health system, according to a new analysis from the Urban Institute and the Commonwealth Fund. Researchers modeled a range of health system reforms — from improvements in the Affordable Care Act to a full-blown single-payer plan — to assess their potential effects on health care coverage, national health costs, and spending by federal and state governments, consumers, and employers.
Also see our new interactive Health Reform Calculator that tells you how overall personal health spending would change, on average, in your income group under four of the reform options.
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How Overturning the ACA’s Contraception Coverage Requirement Would Hurt Women
The Trump administration recently filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s decision halting new federal rules that would allow virtually any nongovernmental employer to request an exemption from providing contraception based on moral or religious objections. In a To the Point post, the Commonwealth Fund’s Shanoor Seervai, Roosa Tikkanen, and Sara Collins argue that an administration victory would limit women’s right to birth control and deepen the disparity in access between women in the U.S. and other countries. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires employers to provide contraception as a free preventive service.
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American Voters Want a Plan to Cut the High Cost of Care
Here’s what Commonwealth Fund President David Blumenthal, M.D., thinks we should be hearing from presidential candidates who promise to make health care more affordable to more Americans: a clear, compelling plan for managing prices; ideas for limiting patients’ out-of-pocket costs; a promise to streamline administration and limit waste; and strategies for prioritizing value and innovation in health care. Read his post on To the Point.
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Transforming Care: Supporting Women Through Pregnancy and Beyond
While maternal mortality rates are on the decline in much of the world, they are rising in the United States. And African American women are three times more likely to die of pregnancy-related causes than white women are. The new issue of Transforming Care focuses on efforts to support women through pregnancy and the postpartum period, highlighting programs for reducing racial disparities in maternal health outcomes.
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The Dose: Why Our Health Care System Treats Black Mothers Differently
Shanoor Seervai interviews Kennetha Gaines, clinical nurse manager for UCSF Health in San Francisco, on The Dose podcast. Gaines, a Pozen Commonwealth Fund Fellow in Minority Health Leadership at Yale University, speaks candidly about her personal experiences and her work to transform the way health care providers treat black women.
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The Dose: How Philadelphia’s Fire Department Handles Medical Emergencies
What would it be like to spend a day in the life of the person who runs emergency medical services for a big city? Listen to another episode of The Dose podcast to find out how Crystal Yates, EMS deputy commissioner in Philadelphia, deals with crises on a daily basis. Yates, a Pozen Commonwealth Fund Fellow in Minority Health Leadership at Yale University, has made it her mission to find innovative ways to come to the rescue of people with few resources to turn to.
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Can Importing Prescription Drugs Support Public Health?
To bring down high prescription drug prices, the Trump administration announced over the summer it would develop rules for pilot programs to import cheaper medications from Canada. As Jane Horvath and So Yeon Kang explain on To the Point, prescription drug importation could be particularly important in helping public health agencies stretch their limited resources.
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Open for Applications: Fellowship in Minority Health Policy
The Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University is accepting applications for 2020–21 through December 2, 2019. To learn more, visit https://mfdp.med.harvard.edu/cff/how-apply.
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