Contact the Engelberg Center
General Inquiries:Email: healthreform @ brookings.edu
Fax: 202-238-3527
Press Inquiries:
Brynn Barnett, Outreach Director
Email: bbarnett @ brookings.edu
Phone: 202-797-6140
Relevant Publications
Bending the Curve: A Comparative Review
of the Senate Finance Committee Reform Proposal »Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, September 29, 2009
Overview: In early September, the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform released a report,
Bending the Curve: Effective Steps to Address Long-Term Health Care Spending Growth, to help inform the current debate. A new brief provides a high-level review of the legislation introduced by Senate Finance Commitee Chairman Max Baucus, including a side-by-side summary of key provisions of the
Bending the Curve report and those in the Baucus proposal.
Bending the Curve: Effective Steps to Address Long-Term Health Care Spending Growth »Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, September 1, 2009
Overview: With the President, members of Congress, and key stakeholders seeking aggressive reforms to slow spending growth while improving value, a group of 10 health care policy experts has released a set of concrete, feasible steps that could achieve this goal. The plan,
Bending the Curve: Effective Steps to Address Long-Term Health Care Spending Growth, focuses on reducing the growth of health care spending, while also improving quality.
Improving Quality and Value in the U.S. Health Care System »Bipartisan Policy Center, August 21, 2009
Overview: The U.S. health care system faces significant challenges that clearly indicate the urgent need for reform. Attention has rightly focused on the approximately 46 million Americans who are uninsured, and on the many insured Americans who face rapid increases in premiums and out-of-pocket costs. As Congress and the Obama administration consider ways to invest new funds to reduce the number of Americans without insurance coverage, we must simultaneously address shortfalls in the quality and efficiency of care that lead to higher costs and to poor health outcomes.
Reforming the Medicaid Disproportionate-Share Hospital Program »
Health Affairs, August 18, 2009
Abstract: Congress and the Administration are considering redirecting federal spending on the Medicaid disproportionate-share (DSH) program to help pay for health reform. In this paper, we propose linking federal Medicaid DSH funding to state-level Medicaid enrollment or uninsured populations, or both.
Evolving State Approaches to Expand Coverage in the Current Wave of State Access Reform »
State Coverage Initiatives, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, July 24, 2009
Overview: In the latest wave of state access reform, states are undertaking a range of initiatives to improve the availability and affordability of health insurance in the small and non-group markets. Some of the approaches implemented today —including health insurance purchasing exchanges and limited-benefit plans —are variations on approaches attempted by states in earlier waves of health reform. While these past efforts were helpful to individuals who enrolled, they generally did not result in broad-based coverage expansions.
Crossing Our Lines: Working Together to Reform the U.S. Health Care System »Bipartisan Policy Center, June 17, 2009
Overview: This bipartisan framework, released by former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders and Bipartisan Policy Center's (BPC) Advisory Board members Howard Baker, Tom Daschle and Bob Dole, provides recommendations for comprehensive health reform to ensure every American has affordable, quality health coverage. The report is a product of the BPC's Leaders' Project on the State of American Health Care, which was launched last year and is co-directed by health care policy experts Chris Jennings and Mark McClellan.
Implementing Comparative Effectiveness Research: Priorities, Methods, and Impact » Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, June 2009
Overview: These comparative effectiveness research (CER) discussion papers, released at a forum hosted by the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform and The Hamilton Project, focus on how research questions should be prioritized, what methods and data infrastructure are needed for CER, and how CER findings can be used to improve clinical and health policy decisions.
Fostering Accountable Health Care: Moving Foward in Medicare »
Health Affairs, January 27, 2009
Abstract: To succeed, health care reform must slow spending growth
while improving quality. We propose a new approach to help achieve
more integrated and efficient care by fostering local organizational
accountability for quality and costs through performance measurement
and "shared savings" payment reform. The approach is practical
and feasible: it is voluntary for providers, builds on current
referral patterns, requires no change in benefits or lock-in
for beneficiaries, and offers the possibility of sustained provider
incomes even as total costs are constrained. We simulate the
potential expenditure impact and show that significant Medicare
savings are possible.
Priorities for Reform »
Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, November 17, 2008
Overview: There is now growing consensus that integrating efforts to improve access to affordable coverage with steps to promote real reforms in the delivery of health care will, in turn, improve the sustainability of both affordable coverage and medical innovation. The Engelberg Center has outlined several priorities for getting to real health care reform.
Real Health Care Reform in 2009: Getting to Better Quality. Higher Value, and Sustainable Coverage »
Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, November 2008
Overview: From the standpoint of presidential and congressional leadership heading into 2009, one thing is clear: Now is the time for action on a different vision for health care reform. By bringing a focus on changing how health care works to next year’s health care reform strategy, the new president and Congress may be able to craft a bipartisan path forward that makes real progress on the nation’s core health care challenges. Doing so will require leadership not only in developing policy ideas that can save money and improve care, but also in redefining the problem and in building bipartisan support for taking action to address it.
Strengthening State/National Partnerships to Support Delivery System Reform »Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, October 2008
Overview: Across the country, the consistency with which high-quality, evidence-based health care is provided is remarkably uneven. The challenge of care coordination in an increasingly complex and fragmented delivery system is widely acknowledged. And rising health care costs and other state and federal fiscal challenges threaten not only the feasibility of greatly reducing the number of people without insurance, but also the affordability of health insurance for those who already have coverage. Given these challenges, public and private stakeholders at the state and national level have a strong, shared interest in improving the delivery of health care in order to improve quality and lower overall cost growth.