The Commonwealth Fund, a left-leaning health policy research institute, in a Jan. 4 blog post shared six healthcare predictions and policy recommendations for leaders to keep top of mind in 2021.
The organization predicts and prescribes that:
1. The U.S. will resume some sense of normalcy in the second half of 2021, when a sufficient proportion of the country has been vaccinated against COVID-19.
2. The federal government should provide states with more funding to support COVID-19 recovery efforts and protect Medicaid coverage gains, possibly through funding targeted directly at states in future COVID-19 relief bills.
3. President-elect Joe Biden's administration will propose thoughtful policy for taking on racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare, and that Congress can support this effort by expanding coverage for people of color and shoring up safety-net institutions.
4. The Supreme Court will uphold the Affordable Care Act when it rules on California v. Texas, and that ruling will allow the Biden-Harris administration to further strengthen the ACA.
5. COVID-19 will accelerate healthcare providers' adoption of payment models encouraging value-based care, as these models can protect against losses during chaotic events like the pandemic.
6. Congress ought to consider new revenue proposals and spending cuts to reduce national health spending and keep the Medicare Part A Trust Fund solvent.
To view the full blog post, click here.
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