The Commonwealth Fund

How Inflation Rebates Can Curb Drug Price Increases

To discourage price hikes on brand-name drugs, the IRA requires manufacturers to pay inflation rebates to Medicare if prices ...
The Commonwealth FundOpinion

Reducing or Eliminating the Title X Family Planning Program Would Restrict Contraceptive Access Nationwide

The Title X Family Planning Program provides equitable and reliable access to contraception nationwide and is a critical ...
The Commonwealth Fund

Millions of Community Health Center Patients to Lose Coverage When Tax Credits Expire

This analysis estimates the impact of the loss of enhanced premium tax credits (ePTC) for marketplace coverage on community ...
The Commonwealth FundOpinion

Rethinking Prior Authorization in Medicare Advantage

Prior authorization can help encourage the efficient use of health care resources but too often, it delays treatment patients ...
The Commonwealth Fund

Could Notifications Help Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries Utilize Their Unused Benefits?

Plans extensively market their supplemental benefits; one of four MA enrollees report choosing their plans over traditional Medicare because of them. To learn more, the Commonwealth Fund and SSRS ...
The Commonwealth Fund

Positive Outliers: How Some Rural Communities Maintain Access to Labor and Delivery Services

In 2024, Texas increased supplemental payments for rural hospitals from $500 to $1,500 per birth, bringing the total compensation per Medicaid birth to $8,100. (For comparison, employer-sponsored ...
Commonwealth Fund

How does universal health coverage work?

It took 10 years of political tension to establish Australia’s universal public health insurance program, known as Medicare. A universal health care bill was initially introduced in Parliament in 1973 ...
Commonwealth Fund

Emily L. Hague

Emily L. Hague, Ph.D., is a health services researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, where she focuses on describing and evaluating care delivery and payment innovations. Her work has included ...
The Commonwealth Fund

What Is Your State Doing to Affect Access to Individual Market Coverage?

The “individual market” is a vital source of coverage for Americans who cannot get health insurance through their employer and do not qualify for Medicaid or Medicare, includi ...
Commonwealth Fund

Coverage at a Crossroads: Marketplace Affordability and the End of Enhanced Premium Tax Credits

Millions of Americans will make critical decisions about their health insurance as the open enrollment period begins in November. This year, the stakes are especially high: enhanced premium tax ...
Commonwealth Fund

Congress and the Trump Administration’s Efforts to Cut Health Insurance Coverage Will Undermine the Health of the U.S. Workforce

In May 2025, nearly 163 million people in the United States were employed either full or part time. Employer coverage forms the backbone of the health insurance system, but not all working people get ...
Commonwealth Fund

What Recent Policy Changes Mean for Immigrant Health Coverage

Historically, immigrants who are “lawfully present” in the United States but not citizens have had access to certain benefits, including financial help to purchase health coverage. This explainer ...