The Affordable Care Act of 2010 promises to reshape American health care. The legislation calls for expanding health insurance coverage, restructuring the delivery system to improve quality and value, eliminating health care disparities, strengthening public health, enlarging the health care workforce and encouraging prevention and wellness in communities and workplaces.

Yet, despite passage of this historic legislation, formidable challenges remain. Most immediate is the difficult task of implementing the reforms. Health insurance exchanges, for example, are complex structures that require careful design in the face of financial, legal and political obstacles in some states. Likewise, the formation of accountable care organizations to deliver high-quality, affordable care presents unusual challenges for hospitals and physician groups.  Additional policy reforms are needed to bring health care spending under control and to meet the health needs of millions of Americans not touched by the new law.

Even with well implemented system reforms, larger problems still face the nation—some with deep economic, political and social roots, such as childhood obesity, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS, depression and other mental disorders, and some infectious diseases and conditions associated with unhealthy lifestyles. These problems burden the health care system and public health agencies with challenges that lie beyond their traditional missions. Compared with other industrialized nations, the United States continues to perform poorly on numerous indicators of health status.

The field of health policy research offers exciting opportunities to help reform our health care system in ways that promote the health of our people, improve access to health care and increase the quality, equity and efficiency of care delivery. Clearly, any sector of the economy that is expanding to consume almost one-fifth of the gross domestic product deserves the attention of the most gifted scholars. As the health sector has grown in size and complexity over the past three decades, so too has the need for research and analysis to guide development of health policy at the national, state and local levels.