The Commonwealth Fund

An Overview of Federally Funded Contraceptive Programs

With sufficient funding, states can utilize Medicaid SPAs and Section 1115 waivers, MCO contracts, and Title X grants to ...
The Commonwealth Fund

What Does the Decline in Medicare Part D Plan Availability Mean for Beneficiaries?

Source: Faith Leonard and Gretchen Jacobson, “What Does the Decline in Medicare Part D Plan Availability Mean for ...
The Commonwealth Fund

How Medical Frailty Exemption Policies Can Offer a Lifeline to People with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses When Medicaid Work Requirements Are Implemented

Under H.R. 1, states must require that low-income people meet work-reporting requirements to qualify for Medicaid under the ...
The Commonwealth Fund

How New Limits on State Provider Taxes Will Affect Medicaid Funding

H.R. 1’s Medicaid provider tax changes are projected to reduce federal investments by nearly $226 billion over 10 years and cause 2.4 million people to lose coverage.
The Commonwealth Fund

How States Are Preserving Science-Backed Recommendations for Preventive Care and Vaccines

These developments have prompted states to preserve scientifically backed services where they can: state-regulated private insurance plans, Medicaid, and public health programs. State policymakers ...
Commonwealth Fund

Insights into the U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis: An International Comparison

The United States continues to have the highest rate of maternal deaths of any high-income nation, despite a decline since the COVID-19 pandemic. And within the U.S., the rate is by far the highest ...
Commonwealth Fund

Helping Older Adults Age Well in Rural America

The article is part of a partnership between the Commonwealth Fund and the Bassett Research Institute in Cooperstown, N.Y., to explore innovative approaches to the health care challenges facing rural ...
Commonwealth Fund

Taking Stock of Medicare Advantage: Special Needs Plans

In 2004, Congress authorized special needs plans (SNPs) as a new type of Medicare Advantage plan that enables insurers to offer customized approaches for high-need beneficiaries. There are three types ...
Commonwealth Fund

Federal Cuts to Medicaid Could End Medicaid Expansion and Affect Hospitals in Nearly Every State

The U.S. Congress is considering deep cuts to federal Medicaid spending, as much as $880 billion over 10 years. According to the Congressional Budget Office, such cuts would represent a 12 percent ...
Commonwealth Fund

Maternal Mortality in the United States: A Primer

In 2017, at a time when maternal mortality was declining worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the U.S. was one of only two countries (along with the Dominican Republic) to ...
Commonwealth Fund

Maternal Mortality in the United States, 2025

This brief was originally published in December 2020 and updated in July 2025. In 2023, at a time when maternal mortality was declining worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the ...
Commonwealth Fund

The ACA’s Preventive Services Benefit Is in Jeopardy: What Can States Do to Preserve Access?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires nearly all private health plans to cover many critical preventive services without cost sharing. Though this protection is broadly popular and its benefits have ...