July 22, 2009 - This Commonwealth Fund issue brief looks at Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, through which most prescription drugs are subsidized.
Issue Brief
July 22, 2009 - This Commonwealth Fund issue brief outlines the French National Authority for Health, which was established to assist France's public institutions in optimizing the basket of reimbursable goods and services and to help health care professionals continuously improve their clinical practice.
Issue Brief
July 21, 2009 - The individual health insurance market is not a viable option for the majority of uninsured adults, according to this new Commonwealth Fund analysis. Seventy-three percent of people who tried to buy insurance on their own in the last three years did not purchase a policy, primarily because premiums were too high.
Issue Brief
July 17, 2009 - National health reform efforts are seeking to expand insurance coverage, improve quality of care, and "bend the health care cost curve." This publication highlights data from a Commonwealth Fund report that analyzed alternative approaches to defining the role of a public plan and presented estimates of the potential impacts on health spending compared with projected trends.
Policy Points
July 17, 2009 - Three-quarters of key decision-makers from a diverse group of California-based health care organizations believe that cost-effectiveness criteria should be used when making insurance coverage decisions, according to this Commonwealth Fund-supported study. However, payers and the legal and policy communities would need to explore ways of reducing the litigation risk associated with cost-effectiveness analysis, the authors say.
In the Literature
July 16, 2009 - The United States leads all industrialized countries in the share of national health care expenditures devoted to insurance administration. This issue brief examines the sources of insurance administrative costs in this country, and describes how a private–public approach to health care reform could substantially lower such costs.
Issue Brief
July 10, 2009 - Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) leaders are assessing and improving the quality of care provided to children and adolescents, but many states are finding the resources available to them are inadequate for the job. This report identifies states' priorities for measuring and improving child and adolescent health outcomes.
Fund Report
July 2, 2009 - This Fund report examines policy options that could slow growth in health spending, improve health outcomes, and provide additional revenues to finance comprehensive reform.
Fund Report
July 2, 2009 - In 2007, NorthShore University Health System achieved 97 percent compliance with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) process-of-care measures, a 12-point increase in one year. The measures relate to achievement of recommended treatment in: heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, and surgical care.
Case Study
July 2, 2009 - In just a few years, the United Hospital Center (UHC) rose from being one of the lower-performing U.S. hospitals on process-of-care measures to being one of the top performers. This case study focuses on UHC's achievement in providing recommended treatment related to surgical care.
Case Study
July 2, 2009 - Fifteen case studies illustrate how diverse types of organized health care delivery systems promote higher performance through information continuity, patient engagement, care coordination, team-oriented care delivery, continuous innovation and learning, and convenient access to care.
Case Study
July 2, 2009 - Group Health Cooperative (GHC) is a nonprofit, consumer-governed health care organization serving 580,000 members in Washington State and Idaho through an integrated multispecialty group practice and a network of community providers.
Case Study
June 24, 2009 - To illustrate how the potential impact of such reforms depends heavily on the details and structure of the reforms, the authors of this Policy Points brief examine estimates from three sources, all of which indicate that early investments in reform could yield significant reductions in total health care spending over time through gains in the quality and efficiency of care.
Policy Points
June 24, 2009 - A comprehensive approach to health insurance, provider payment, and care delivery system reforms has the potential to slow health care cost increases while achieving near-universal coverage. Yet, this new Commonwealth Fund analysis finds that the potential savings for families, businesses, and the federal government vary markedly, depending on whether or not a public insurance plan option is included and how such a plan is structured.
Fund Report
June 23, 2009 - Since 2006 more than 30 states have initiated projects to advance medical homes in Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programs (CHIP), and several states also are driving state-wide transformation. This National Academy of State Health Policy/Commonwealth Fund report provides state policymakers with examples of promising practices and lessons learned.
Fund Report