In The Spotlight

The Health of Safety-Net Hospitals: How are They Faring? What’s the Outlook?

Safety-net hospitals play a critical role in providing care to vulnerable populations, especially at a time when employer-sponsored coverage has declined and the demand for safety-net services has gone up. While the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) creates some opportunities for safety-net providers, it also presents significant challenges. Who does the safety-net system currently serve and how will this change as the health reform law plays out? How are safety-net hospitals faring in the current economic environment and how are they altering the way they provide care right now? What are some policy options for sustaining financial viability of safety-net hospitals in the short-term and long-term? The Alliance for Health Reform and The Commonwealth Fund are cosponsoring a briefing to answer these and related questions. Info & Registration 

An estimated one out of five adults in the U.S. suffers with mental illness. Some 11 million adults reported an unmet need for mental health care in the past year, a situation no doubt made worse by the recent recession and higher-than-normal unemployment. The health reform law's expansion of Medicaid holds the potential to provide treatment to millions with substance use or mental health disorders who might not otherwise have gotten this care. But Medicaid already finances more than half of mental health care in the U.S. While addressing unmet needs, the reform law provisions raise new challenges. Given their budgetary constraints, will states be able to expand capacity to meet the demands of increased enrollment? Will sacrifices in other benefits and services be needed in order to provide mental health parity? To address these questions and more, the Alliance for Health Reform and the Centene Corporation sponsored a May 4 briefing. Read More

This was the first event in a three-part series of discussions on costs, the factors driving them up and what (if anything) can be done about them. The series marks the Alliance for Health Reform’s 20th year of promoting informed and balanced discussion of health policy issues. Much has been said about spending in governmental health care programs, notably Medicare and Medicaid. But employers, families and other payers have also experienced steady increases in health care spending. Many factors have been cited as health care cost drivers. This briefing took an in-depth look at a select few of the most often cited cost drivers. Read More

Many analysts and policymakers agree that the fragmentation of the health care delivery system results in uncoordinated care, frustrated patients, higher costs, wasted administrative dollars and lost opportunities for rapid improvement in our health care system. How should payments be reformed in order to harmonize health care delivery and reduce this fragmentation? To answer this important question and related ones, the Alliance for Health Reform and The Commonwealth Fund sponsored an April 13 briefing.  Read More