Karen Davis Looks Back on The Commonwealth Fund's Role in the First Year of Health Reform
<p>The need for the comprehensive health reform law enacted last year is irrefutable. The Affordable Act, with its promise of better access to health insurance coverage, financial relief, and health security for millions of Americans, is already yielding tangible benefits for millions of Americans: young adults are gaining health coverage at a rapid pace, seniors no longer contend with a hole in their Medicare prescription drug coverage, financial barriers to preventive care have been removed, and insurance tax credits are now available to small businesses. </p><p>In her <a href="/publications/publication/2011/dec/2011-annual-report-presidents-message-health-reforms-first-year">annual message for 2011</a>, Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis looks back at how the Fund has worked over the past year to explain health reform and track and report on its impact, inform and support the law’s implementation, and help lay the groundwork for further change. </p>
<p>"We fully anticipate arriving at a turning point within the not-too-distant future," Davis writes, "when a half-century of rising uninsured is reversed, and when life expectancy in the U.S.—a nation that devotes so many resources to health care—no longer lags that of most other industrialized nations." <br />
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<a href="/publications/publication/2011/dec/2011-annual-report-presidents-message-health-reforms-first-year">Read her essay</a>. </p>