“Medicare for All” Just One Way to Achieve Universal Coverage
Democratic primary hopeful and former vice president Joe Biden last week introduced his health care plan, an expansion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It’s already the subject of much debate, but it has served one important purpose — reminding us that Medicare for All isn’t the only way to get to universal health coverage.
In an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, the Commonwealth Fund’s David Blumenthal, M.D., and Sara Collins examine approaches other countries use to insure all their citizens while spending far less on health care per person than we do in the U.S. They point to successful strategies used abroad and in some states like California — for instance, requiring that all private health insurance plans offer a standard benefit to reduce inefficiencies or capping out-of-pocket costs at a percentage of income.
As the 2020 health care debate continues, the authors point out that universal coverage can be achieved through a mix of approaches — as it has been in other countries — and does not necessarily require having a single public plan.
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Blumenthal on What It Takes to Pass Major Health Reform
In his new opinion piece for The Hill, Commonwealth Fund President David Blumenthal, M.D., draws from history to lay out the necessary political conditions for passing major health reform programs — among them, a Democratic supermajority and a committed, charismatic president who understands the mechanics of Congress. Blumenthal says the 2020 presidential candidates would do well to understand the historical battlefield on which they will be fighting.
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| | Health care “rationing” doesn’t only occur abroad: the U.S. rations through its comparatively limited access to comprehensive insurance coverage and affordable care, with one of three U.S. patients skipping needed care or treatments because of cost.
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A Return-on-Investment Calculator for Investing in Patients’ Social Needs
Patients with complex, costly health conditions often need more than just medical care to get better. Some require supportive housing or transportation to doctor’s visits; others need medically tailored meals. To help health care organizations estimate the risks and rewards of investing in health-related social needs, the Commonwealth Fund has introduced a new return-on-investment calculator. Fund staff explain on more on To the Point.
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STAT: How to Stop Black Women from Dying in Pregnancy and Childbirth
Black women in the United States are dying in pregnancy and childbirth at alarming rates — more than three times those seen for white women. In a STAT News commentary, obstetrician–gynecologist and Commonwealth Fund vice president Laurie Zephyrin, M.D., discusses what the nation needs to do to make things right.
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Can the Private Sector Fix Health Care?
The next innovations in health care may not be coming from big insurers or health plans, but rather from national retail chains like Walmart or even financial services firms. In a To the Point post, Commonwealth Fund President David Blumenthal, M.D., and Robert Galvin, M.D., CEO of Equity Healthcare at the Blackstone Group and former chief medical officer at General Electric, examine private-sector efforts to improve quality and reduce costs in health care.
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Oral Arguments in ACA Case Reveal “Frightening Degree of Irresponsibility”
In his latest post for To the Point, health law expert Timothy S. Jost breaks down the oral arguments in the appeal of Texas v. U.S., the case in which a district court judge ruled invalid the entirety of the ACA. Jost believes the judges hearing the appeal may not fully understand what would happen to the U.S. health care system if the ACA’s deeply entrenched health care reforms were wiped from the books.
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Map: How States Are Using Innovation Waivers
Under the ACA, states can pursue “innovation waivers” to modify key parts of the law, so long as they stay true to its goals and consumer protections. Our interactive map shows how states are using these waivers to take the law in different directions.
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What a Federal Appeals Court’s Ruling Means for Women’s Access to Contraception
A federal appeals court recently blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to make it harder for women in the U.S. to get contraception. The Commonwealth Fund’s Shanoor Seervai, Roosa Tikkanen, and Sara Collins discuss the implications for women’s health and the administration’s goal of limiting the ACA’s requirement that employers provide contraception to their employees as a free preventive service.
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Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills: States Are Leading the Way
With the steady stream of news stories detailing the woes of consumers facing unexpected bills from out-of-network providers, Congress has held bipartisan hearings and started marking up legislation. As Georgetown University’s Jack Hoadley, Kevin Lucia, and Maanasa Kona report, 27 states have already put in place at least some protection against surprise billing.
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Rationing Health Care: We Do It, Too
Some claim that other nations are able to provide universal health insurance coverage only by “rationing” care, as evidenced by long wait times for procedures like MRIs and hip replacements or limited access to new drugs. But as the Commonwealth Fund’s Roosa Tikkanen and Robin Osborn note on To the Point, Americans experience similar wait times for same- or next-day appointments when they’re sick as people in some other wealthy countries do. And Americans are far more likely to skip needed care or treatments because of the cost.
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State Drug Importation Can Ensure Consumer Safety
“The issues that kept wholesale drug importation from occurring might have been relevant two decades ago, but raising those issues today…is nothing more than scare tactics,” writes health policy analyst and policymaker Jane Horvath in a STAT opinion piece. Horvath, a Commonwealth Fund grantee who developed a wholesale importation model law for states, argues that the existing global pharmaceutical supply chain can be safely used to expand affordable access to needed drugs, “at least until we have an effective national approach to drug affordability.”
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Elizabeth Fowler Joined Commonwealth Fund; Melinda Abrams Promoted
Liz Fowler, a leading health policy expert in both the public and private sectors, joined the Commonwealth Fund as Executive Vice President for Programs on July 23. At the same time, Melinda Abrams was promoted to Senior Vice President, overseeing the Fund’s programs on health care delivery system reform and international health policy.
Fowler most recently served as Vice President for Global Health Policy at Johnson & Johnson, where she focused on health care delivery system and payment reform in the U.S. and on health systems in emerging markets. Earlier she was a special assistant to President Barack Obama on health care and economic policy at the National Economic Council.
Abrams, who has been with the Commonwealth Fund since 1997, has contributed to or led key initiatives such as the Task Force on Academic Health Centers, the Child Development and Preventive Care Program, and the Patient-Centered Coordinated Care program.
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Seeking New Vice President of International Health Policy and Practice Innovations
The Commonwealth Fund is recruiting for someone to lead our International Health Policy and Practice Innovations program. The new vice president will be responsible for the Commonwealth Fund’s international benchmarking activities, its international research and policy analysis, and the educational exchanges it conducts with key partners worldwide. Successful candidates for this New York City–based position will have a master’s degree and at least 10 years’ experience in health research or policy, or a Ph.D. and equivalent work experience in health policy research.
The full job description is available on the Commonwealth Fund’s website.
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