Pulling it Together: What Conservatives Are Winning July 12, 2010 Perspective Conservatives are out of sorts these days about the direction in which health care is headed. They think the new health reform law expands the role of government too much and spends too much at a time when they believe deficit reduction should be a higher priority. The claims about…
Coping with Fragmented Payment in the Real World April 13, 2012 Event The Alliance for Health Reform and The Commonwealth Fund sponsored this briefing which focused on three communities that have reformed and harmonized health care payments across payers to improve care: a New York health center that serves a low income population; a Colorado community that pools money from public and…
Health Care After the Supreme Court Decision: What’s Next? July 9, 2012 Event The Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation discuss the recent Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the health reform law. Panelists explore such questions as: What does the court’s ruling mean for those without health insurance? Will states that choose to participate in the Medicaid expansion…
Explaining Health Care Reform: What is Comparative Effectiveness Research? September 29, 2009 Issue Brief The brief examines current funding for comparative effectiveness research, the provisions included in the current health reform legislation, and issues related to which treatments that might be studied, whether and how to weigh costs of care, and how such findings will be used and shared with health-care practitioners and the…
Pulling it Together: An Actuarial Rorschach Test February 11, 2010 Perspective Drew Altman, Larry Levitt, Gary Claxton My colleagues have worked on this column with me and I invited them to join me as authors. As with pretty much every other discussion of health care going back to the days of Roosevelt, the great reform debate of 2009 (and now 2010)…
Medicare Advantage 2011 Data Spotlight: Plan Availability and Premiums September 30, 2010 Report This Medicare Advantage Data Spotlight provides an overview of recent changes made to the Medicare Advantage program and examines trends in plan participation, premiums and certain benefits. About 12 million people, or nearly a quarter of the Medicare population, are enrolled in Medicare Advantage, the privately administered plans that…
Pulling It Together: Repeal January 6, 2011 Perspective The House will soon vote to repeal the health reform law, the Senate won’t, and the President would veto it if they did. So what does a House vote for repeal mean? It is, of course, a campaign promise kept to the political right. It is also a signal from…
Prescription Drug Trends Fact Sheet – May 2010 Update May 2, 2010 Fact Sheet This updated fact sheet provides trend information about prescription drug expenditures and coverage, key factors that contribute to rising prescription spending, and efforts to contain rising drug costs. May 2010 Fact Sheet (.pdf)
Pulling It Together: Health IN the Economy April 29, 2008 Perspective I am writing this Pulling It Together column about this one chart and its potential interpretations and implications. Source: Key Findings: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 — April 2008, Kaiser Family Foundation, April 2008. This chart from our most recent tracking poll shows the economy rising as a political issue…
Toplines: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — July 2009 July 1, 2009 Poll Finding This document contains the toplines from the July Health Tracking Poll. The survey was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and was conducted July 7 through July 14, 2009, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,205 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews…