November 9, 2009 - A Commonwealth Fund–supported study in the journal Inquiry found that workers employed by small businesses are less likely than those in large ones to be offered health insurance. Administrative costs are a major reason why so many smaller firms do not offer health benefits to their employees.
In the Literature
October 23, 2009 - This report prepared by Commonwealth Fund researchers analyzes the similarities, differences, potential impacts, and costs of the three comprehensive health reform bills passed by key U.S. congressional committees. Also see interactive tables for side-by-side comparisons of the system reform and insurance provisions.
Fund Report
October 15, 2009 - In testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Energy and Commerce on October 15, 2009, Commonwealth Fund vice president Sara R. Collins discussed the growing number of Americans with such high out-of-pocket costs relative to their income that are effectively underinsured.
Testimony
October 5, 2009 - A new Commonwealth Fund-supported study from researchers at Harvard Medical School demonstrates that expanding health coverage might not cost as much as policymakers assume. Mainly due to untreated chronic conditions like hypertension and diabetes, individuals who were uninsured before becoming eligible for Medicare at 65 had significantly higher spending than did those with coverage prior to Medicare enrollment.
In the Literature
September 11, 2009 - This morning, the U.S. Bureau of the Census released the alarming news that the number of uninsured Americans hit 46.3 million in 2008, up from 45.7 million in 2007. In this testimony before the U.S. House of Representative's Joint Economic Committee, Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis highlights the good and bad news in the new data and how it underscorces the need for health reform.
Testimony
September 9, 2009 - Small business owners and employees are among those who stand to benefit the most from provisions in some of the current health reform proposals under consideration by Congress, according to this Commonwealth Fund study.
Issue Brief
August 6, 2009 - Young adults between the ages of 19 and 29 represent one of the largest and fastest-growing segments of the U.S. population without health insurance. Often dropped from their parents' policies or from public insurance programs at age 19 or on graduation day, they are left to find insurance on their own while making the often uneasy transition from high school to college or the working world.
Issue Brief
May 28, 2009 - This issue brief describes how the Connector works to promote administrative ease, eliminate paperwork, offer portability of coverage, and provide some standardization and choice of plans. Some of the structural components and functions of the Connector may be transferable to a national health reform model, say the authors.
Issue Brief
May 12, 2009 - In a national Commonwealth Fund survey, elderly Medicare beneficiaries reported greater overall satisfaction with their health coverage, better access to care, and fewer problems paying medical bills than people covered by employer-sponsored plans. These findings, published in Health Affairs, support the development of a public insurance plan similar to Medicare that would be available to the under-65 population.
In the Literature
May 11, 2009 - Rising health care costs coupled with eroding health care benefits are having a substantial effect on Americans' ability to get needed health care, with women particularly affected. Women experience cost-related access problems and medical bill problems more often than men.
Issue Brief
May 8, 2009 - This analysis finds that limiting the current exemption on employer-sponsored health insurance premiums could adversely affect individuals who are already at high risk of losing their health coverage. Evidence suggests that capping the exemption could disproportionately affect workers in small firms, older workers, and wage-earners in industries with high expected claims costs.
Issue Brief
April 23, 2009 - Young adults are disproportionately represented among people who lack health insurance, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the 45 million uninsured people under age 65, even though they comprise just 15 percent of the population.
Testimony
February 24, 2009 - In her invited testimony at a U.S. Senate hearing on health reform focused on the underinsured, Cathy Schoen, a Commonwealth Fund senior vice president and noted expert on the underinsured, made the case for redesigning health insurance so that it "provides affordable coverage for all in a manner that ensures access to health care and financial protection" as well as "a more secure foundation for payment and system reforms."
Testimony
January 9, 2009 - This Commonwealth Fund analysis of leading bills of the 110th Congress aimed at expanding and improving health insurance coverage finds several of these proposals could substantially reduce the number of uninsured Americans, and would either reduce health care spending or add only modestly to annual health care expenditures.
Fund Report
January 8, 2009 - In this essay, Columbia University's Sherry Glied, Ph.D., calls for using the upcoming reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) as means to achieve universal coverage for U.S. children.
Perspectives on Health Reform Brief