The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the U.S. health care system to its limit and amplified persistent gaps among states as they grappled with the coronavirus and its emerging variants, according to the Commonwealth Fund’s 2022 Scorecard on State Health System Performance. For the first time, the scorecard, which ranks states’ health care systems based on how […]
The Commonwealth Fund
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Eleven-Country Survey Shows Income Inequality in the U.S. and Lack of Access to Primary Care Could Threaten COVID-19 Recovery
December 10, 2020 – As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the globe, new findings from the 2020 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey show that Americans with lower income face more severe health and financial hardships compared to their counterparts in other wealthy countries. The survey, published today in Health Affairs, compared the health […]
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How Health Care Works Around the World: New and Updated Profiles of Health Care Systems
June 10, 2020 – Why have some nations seemed better equipped than others to address the health needs of their people during the COVID-19 pandemic? Understanding the key features of health care systems that better position them to ensure access to care, promote equity and coordination in the delivery of services, and mobilize an effective […]
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Sara Rosenbaum: “Public Charge” Rule Affecting Immigrants Has Major Implications for Medicaid and Entire Communities
Aug. 15, 2019 – Updated since original posting in October 2018. Sarah Rosenbaum is Harold and Jane Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy, Milken Institute of Public Health at the George Washington University. Earlier this week, the Trump administration published its long-anticipated final “public charge” rule, a policy change carrying enormous implications for communities across […]
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Underinsured Rate Rose From 2014-2018, With Greatest Growth Among People in Employer Health Plans
February 8, 2019 – People who are “underinsured” have high health plan deductibles and out-ofpocket medical expenses relative to their income and are more likely to struggle paying medical bills or to skip care because of cost. Among adults who were insured all year, 29 percent were underinsured in 2018, up from 23 percent in […]
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U.S. Health Care Exacerbating Struggles of Americans with Serious Illnesses, with Many Facing Financial Ruin
NEW YORK, NY, Oct. 17, 2018 – Americans who become seriously ill don’t just struggle with their disease. Often, they feel confused and helpless (62%), face the risk of financial ruin (53%), and experience serious problems with their care (61%). Those are among the key findings of a new survey released today by the Commonwealth […]
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State Health Care Scorecard Finds Surge in ‘Deaths of Despair’; Premature Deaths Also on the Rise
May 7, 2018 – Key Findings from Commonwealth Fund’s 2018 Scorecard on State Health System Performance released: ‘Deaths of despair’ surge. The combined death rate from suicide, alcohol, opioids, and other drugs increased by 50 percent from 2005 to 2016. Rates rose across all states and were up at least twofold in Delaware, Ohio, New […]
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New 11-Country Study: U.S. Health Care System Has Widest Gap Between People With Higher and Lower Incomes
NEW YORK, NY, July 14, 2017 – Your level of income defines the health care you receive far more in the United States than in other wealthy nations, according to the Commonwealth Fund’s new 11-country report. The study, the only to include survey data to measure and compare patient and physician experiences across wealthy nations, […]
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Senate Health Bill Could Cause Loss of Nearly 1.5 Million Jobs By 2026
NEW YORK, NY, June 6, 2017 – If it becomes law, the draft Better Care Reconcilliation Act (BCRA) proposed by the U.S. Senate could cause an estimated 1.45 million jobs to disappear by 2026 and trigger an economic downturn in all but one state, according to a report published today by Leighton Ku and colleagues […]
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ACA Repeal Would Devastate Rural Communities
June 27, 2017 – As elected representatives know better than most of us, many local communities are suffering. They are in the throes of an opioid abuse epidemic—the most severe public health emergency in a generation. Early death rates among middle-aged whites are on the rise for the first time in modern history. Further, good jobs […]
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Sabrina Corlette and Kevin Lucia: Selling Health Insurance Across State Lines Unlikely to Lower Costs or Improve Choice
April 5, 2017 – In the wake of the failure of the legislative effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the fate of another of the president’s health care priorities is unclear. In his first congressional address, President Trump articulated five principles for health care reform. His fifth and last called for […]
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New State Health Care Scorecard Finds Improvements in Access, Quality Nationwide Following ACA’s Major Coverage Expansions
NEW YORK, NY, March 16, 2017 – Two years after the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) major coverage expansions, fewer Americans lacked health insurance in every state and people benefitted from better quality and safer health care, according to the Commonwealth Fund’s new state health system scorecard. States that expanded Medicaid, such as Arkansas, California, Kentucky, […]