Health Affairs

The president and CEO of a Midwest health foundation relates what she and colleagues have learned thus far from its initiative. Five years ago, the REACH Healthcare Foundation hosted a day-long forum in Kansas City, Missouri, for local safety-net health care providers on a concept that was then relatively new to us and to many... Read the rest of this entry »

The president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts hits some of the highlights of a recent foundation-supported report on that state’s ongoing health reform effort. Call it what you like—“RomneyCare,” “ObamneyCare,” or plain old Massachusetts Health Reform—it’s working pretty much as intended, at a cost that’s within what was projected, and with... Read the rest of this entry »

The Colorado Health Foundation sponsored a debate this past week as part of its annual symposium. The conference sold out, as it has many other years. GrantWatch Blog asked Grace-Marie Turner of the Galen Institute, a participant in the debate and a former journalist, to write a post containing her observations. Resolved: The Affordable Care... Read the rest of this entry »

Read about a Blue Shield of California Foundation project to educate Californians about the federal health reform law. According to the April 2011 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll, public opinion on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) continues to be split. Four in ten feel favorably about the law, and... Read the rest of this entry »

For those who want to change jobs or find a job, here is a selected sampling of positions that appear to be still open. Please note that I am only mentioning here a few pertinent details. I have put links to URLs for fuller descriptions of the positions, with all of the caveats, limitations, etc.!... Read the rest of this entry »

Many of you have heard news reports about Wisconsin Republican Congressman Paul Ryan’s controversial proposal for Medicare contained in a broader fiscal year 2012 federal budget proposal. He proposes a “premium-support model” (some call this payment a voucher) for beneficiaries, beginning in 2022; Medicare would make a payment to a health plan chosen by the beneficiary, thus subsidizing... Read the rest of this entry »

The California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF), based in Oakland, announced its Health Innovation Fund on November 8. The total amount of money alone that has been allocated for this investment fund will attract notice. And what is also interesting is that this fund allows both nonprofits and for-profit companies to apply for money. The CHCF Health Innovation Fund... Read the rest of this entry »

Here are links to some recent blog posts from and about health philanthropy that caught my eye. They cover a variety of topics—from political contributions to water and sanitation to social media to the flu. All blogs mentioned are listed on our Blogroll on the right side of the page. “Healthcare Reform and Mental Health,”... Read the rest of this entry »

In last week’s post, I marked the six-month anniversary of the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. I continue here our selected sampling of what philanthropy is doing to help with health reform. Also included today are some related resources on health reform, including a tongue-in-cheek glossary of health care terms (which... Read the rest of this entry »

The just-released September 2010 issue of Health Affairs contains a section on malpractice and medical errors. Today, the GrantWatch Blog looks at examples of foundation funding of research on malpractice reform and suggests related resources for further reading on this controversial topic. New Issue Brief: “Will the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Address the... Read the rest of this entry »

Our discussions at the recent health funders’ retreat at Brandeis University drove home an important point. The Affordable Care Act is a lot more than a series of provisions to assure access to health care coverage for millions of uninsured Americans. The new health reform law creates opportunities to develop fundamental and complementary payment and... Read the rest of this entry »

I had the good fortune to attend and participate in the Colorado Health Symposium, sponsored by the Colorado Health Foundation on July 28 in beautiful Keystone, Colorado. The symposium brought together 400 health professionals from Colorado, representing a variety of backgrounds, to discuss major health policy issues. This year’s theme was “Value in Health Care,”... Read the rest of this entry »

Why are people saying that we don’t know how to contain health care costs? I’d argue that we do know how. What we don’t know is how to get better practices accepted and spread. Behavior change is difficult, even when we can advance quality of care and contain costs. Let me give you one potent... Read the rest of this entry »

A new GrantWatch paper, “A Philanthropy Tackles Growth in Health Costs at the State Level” was released today as part of the July 2010 issue of Health Affairs. Authors David Sandman, senior vice president of the New York State Health (NYSHealth) Foundation, and Anthony Kovner, a professor of public health and health management at the... Read the rest of this entry »

Many articles in the issue are authored by foundation staffers and/or funded by foundations. The June 2010 issue of Health Affairs was released today. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) provided support toward the issue, which has the theme “Moving Forward on Health Reform.” Inside, you will find the GrantWatch Outcomes column with content on health reform, global... Read the rest of this entry »

A piece on the potential health-related effects of Arizona’s new immigration law is the most-read GrantWatch Blog post since the blog debuted on March 16. Other posts on the most-read list focus on “bending the cost curve” and foundation activities regarding health reform and primary care. Here are the top five posts:  Arizona’s Immigration Law: Bad for Health by Roger Hughes... Read the rest of this entry »

Group of Foundations Award a Total of $615,000 for Implementation The Connecticut state legislature passed SustiNet, the new state health care reform law, in July 2009, when it overrode a veto by Gov. M. Jodi Rell (R). (For background on the law and the role of the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, read the... Read the rest of this entry »

Two-thirds of registered voters in California (age forty and older) say that they are worried about the future costs of long-term care for themselves or a family member, according to survey results released 21 April 2010. The “concern crosses party affiliation,” with majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and independents being worried about affordability, the full survey... Read the rest of this entry »

On April 8, the Rhode Island Foundation hosted Sarah Iselin, president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, who spoke on “Bending the Curve: The Challenges of Cost Containment.” This was the third presentation in the foundation’s “Making It Work: Health Reform in Rhode Island series.” The goal of the series is to... Read the rest of this entry »