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This briefing explored innovations and challenges in delivering health care to a growing population of inmates, and also the prospect of health care in the correctional setting as a key to improving population health. This is an expensive group because of the large number of people with mental illness, addiction disorders, conditions associated with aging and […]

Policymakers, providers, and stakeholders have been debating various approaches to reforming our medical liability system to both protect patients who experience adverse medical events and to help practitioners provide the highest quality care possible. One innovative approach may well avoid some of the sharper policy differences on proposals in this area: encouraging the disclosure of […]

Some new health plans sold in the insurance marketplaces are offering consumers networks that exclude certain doctors, hospitals and other medical providers. While some claim that these networks hamper provider access and choice, others contend that this approach, if done the right way, helps consumers by creating competition and controlling costs. The Affordable Care Act […]

Approximately 8 million children with low to moderate incomes are covered under the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and 39 million children are covered under Medicaid. (Most children who have coverage have private coverage). The number of uninsured children has decreased by half since the enactment of CHIP in 1997; however, with a new coverage landscape and […]

With the first open enrollment period for health insurance marketplaces now completed, an estimated 8 million people have enrolled in new private health insurance plans, with millions more newly enrolled in Medicaid. This briefing will look behind the enrollment numbers to take a detailed look at the demographics of marketplace enrollees, initial consumer experiences with […]

Health insurance premiums have been one of the most closely-watched features of the new health insurance marketplaces. In 2014, insurers set rates based on limited data about who would sign up for coverage. Round II of open enrollment is fast approaching, allowing little time to process the first year’s data and to prepare for tomorrow. […]

While the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model has increasingly been embraced by providers and payers as a way to improve health care and lower costs, many questions remain about its effectiveness. Definitions of medical homes vary, but they are generally known as a model that aims to transform primary care through increased coordination and communication […]

The coverage expansion under the Affordable Care Act brings new pressures and opportunities for health centers, including the potential to serve newly-insured patients while continuing as a cornerstone of the primary care safety net for the uninsured. At the same time, health centers are in the midst of rapid transformation brought about in part by […]

To date, about half of states have moved forward with the Affordable Care Act’s optional Medicaid expansion. Now, additional states are pursuing an altogether different path that would allow them to use federal Medicaid funds to help low-income residents buy private coverage. Arkansas, Michigan and Iowa have already received federal Medicaid waivers and launched programs. […]

As more people gain coverage that includes behavioral health benefits, and given a limited supply of mental health professionals, analysts and advocates are raising concerns over how and whether new laws and regulations will be able to change that situation. One option being explored in many settings is the integration of behavioral health services with […]

The event was sponsored by the nonpartisan Alliance for Health Reform and the AARP Public Policy Institute. Preventive services were a priority in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which required that a set of services be available to consumers with no cost sharing. This has improved access for some people to some services. […]

Congress is as close as it has ever been to scrapping the Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) for an alternative system of paying doctors based on the quality – rather than the quantity – of services. The SGR system has been in place since 1997, and every year since 2002 Congress has passed legislation to […]