By David Blumenthal MD & David Squires – When it comes to historic changes in the U.S. health care system, few years could compete with 2014, but 2015 gave it a run for its money. With 2016 knocking at the door, it’s time to take a look back and round up the biggest health care events of the year.
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By Donald Moulds PhD – Six years ago, as a new president was taking office and the prospect of significant health care reform was moving from pipe dream to possibility, the city of McAllen, Texas, was thrust into the national spotlight.
By Sara R. Collins & David Blumenthal MD – New estimates released this week by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) show that annual growth in U.S. health care spending increased to 5.3 percent in 2014, up from 2.9 percent in 2013, after five consecutive years of historically low growth.
By Eric C. Schneider MD – Proposed mergers among four of the nation’s largest health insurance companies have drawn media and policy attention. Critics see higher premiums ahead as insurers no longer have to compete with one another. Advocates believe mergers can neutralize the price increases generated by a less visible merger.
By Justin Giovannelli, JoAnn Volk, Kevin Lucia, Ashley Williams & Kayla Connor – The promise of the Affordable Care Act was not just to broaden access to health insurance, but also to enable more Americans to have coverage they could count on if they became sick.
By Elizabeth H. Bradley, Amanda Brewster & Leslie Curry – Many people, particularly older patients, are readmitted soon after being discharged from the hospital. These unexpected return visits are expensive and challenging for patients and their families, and costly for Medicare. Nearly 20 percent of Medicare beneficiaries experience an unplanned hospital readmission, with an estimated cost to the American public of about $26 billion per year.
Scaling Telehealth Programs: Lessons from Early Adopters The Commonwealth Fund is a non-profit organization established in 1918 to promote a high-performing health care system that…
Latest Research by The Commonwealth Fund Released The Commonwealth Fund is a non-profit organization established in 1918 to promote the common good. It was one…