Strengthening Medicaid with Health Information Technology: Are Providers & States Up to the Challenge? August 1, 2011 Event Health care providers can receive Medicare and Medicaid payment incentives when they adopt electronic health records and demonstrate their “meaningful use.” Additionally, states must establish a website by 2014 for Medicaid beneficiaries to electronically enroll and renew coverage. Yet many challenges remain so that health information technology (HIT) can help…
The Innovation Center: How Much Can It Improve Quality and Reduce Costs – and How Quickly? July 18, 2011 Event The new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) seeks to test new health care payment and service delivery models that can potentially enhance quality of care for beneficiaries while reducing costs. How is the agency planning to administer its $10 billion in funding? What early projects is the center…
Oral Health: Putting Teeth into the Health Care System August 17, 2012 Event The Alliance for Health Reform and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsored an August 17 briefing to discuss oral health coverage under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). While PPACA ensures dental coverage for children, challenges remain to improve dental health access and coverage for adults. Speakers will…
Accountable Care Organizations: A New Paradigm for Health Care Delivery? May 13, 2011 Event The health reform law of 2010 authorizes Medicare, beginning next year, to contract with accountable care organizations (ACOs) in a Medicare Shared Savings Program. ACOs provide financial incentives to improve the coordination and quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries, while reducing costs. But providers have raised red flags, saying the…
Preventing Chronic Disease: The New Public Health June 10, 2011 Event There is a groundswell of activity in local communities to support healthier lifestyles and help people make long-lasting and sustainable changes that can reduce their risk for chronic diseases. A number of provisions in the health reform law are aimed directly at improving population health by addressing conditions where Americans…
Shared Medical Decision Making: We’re in This Together February 14, 2011 Event In recent years, awareness of the patient’s important role in managing his or her own care has been steadily growing—fed not only by such trends as the proliferation of health information on the internet and direct-to-consumer advertising, but also by the emerging science of patient-centered decision making. One way to…
Uwe Reinhardt’s New Book Priced Out: His Health Policy Ideas in Today’s Debates July 9, 2019 Event Dr. Uwe Reinhardt is a giant in the health policy field who advised policymakers and influenced debates about the nation’s health system before his passing in 2017. His recently released last book, Priced Out: The Ethics and Economics of Health Care, completed by his wife and longtime collaborator Tsung-Mei (May) Cheng gives…
Web Briefing for Journalists: Marketplace Open Enrollment in the Trump Era October 18, 2017 Event With the Trump administration’s announcements last week, the landscape around Affordable Care Act marketplaces and the open enrollment period beginning Nov. 1 continues to shift. Though the 2010 health law remains intact for now, consumers will see fundamental differences this year when it comes to signing up for 2018 marketplace…
A Conversation with Washington Gov. Inslee and Colorado Gov. Polis on the Public Option in Their States February 7, 2020 Event On Friday, Feb. 7, KFF hosted a conversation with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee about their states’ efforts to establish a public health insurance option and make other changes to address health costs and access. The two governors have made health reforms a key part…
The Health Wonk Shop: Prior Authorization in Health Insurance: A Needed Tool to Contain Costs or an Excessive Barrier to Needed Care? February 22, 2024 Event Nearly 1 in 5 consumers with health insurance say their insurer delayed or denied care in the past year due to its requirements for prior authorization, a process through which insurers can require patients to obtain approval in advance before they will agree to cover specific services. Insurers…
