October 28, 2009 - Ensuring that all Americans have access to affordable health insurance and care is one of the major goals of federal health reform, if not the major goal. But determining what is and is not "affordable" for different groups is a challenge that is reflected in the varying levels of coverage and assistance offered across the three bills before Congress.
September 30, 2009 - Most Americans remain perplexed by the different versions of health reform presented in legislation from the House of Representatives and Senate. Headlines suggest bipartisan and even Democratic party agreement is elusive. Yet, there is, in fact, significant consensus on the framework for reform across all the bills moving through Congress, says Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis.
August 18, 2009 - Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis emphasizes that without health reform that controls premium costs, which are projected to rise to 24 percent of median family income by 2020, middle-class families will be priced out of health insurance altogether.
July 08, 2009 - The elements of health reform Congress are considering are emerging as draft proposals from the key committees and as the Republican alternatives are released. What is largely missing from these proposals, however, is an overarching framework that establishes goals for a high-performance health system and includes a coordinated set of public policies and private sector actions that would ensure the U.S. reaches benchmark levels of health system performance by 2020.
June 22, 2009 - As part of the health reform debate, Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) has proposed forming nonprofit cooperatives to provide health insurance coverage at low cost. While the details are still being fleshed out, an examination of the history of cooperative health care—which has often also featured an integrated care delivery system—reveals some important lessons that apply to the current policy discussion.