Role of Health Insurance Coverage in Women’s Access to Prescription Medicines November 29, 2007 Report This article presents findings from the 2004 Kaiser Women's Health Survey examining how health insurance coverage affects access to prescription medicines for non-elderly women. Results from the nationally representative telephone survey indicate that a lack of health insurance coverage is significantly associated with experiencing cost barriers to prescription medications, regardless…
What Have We Learned and Where Do We Go From Here? Three Years of the National Healthcare Disparities Report April 1, 2006 Event The first National Healthcare Disparities Report was issued by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2003. Now, three years later, the Kaiser Family Foundation hosts a forum to discuss what has been learned following the release of AHRQ’s latest progress report on disparities, and how that information can…
Health Centers Reauthorization: An Overview of Achievements and Challenges February 28, 2006 Report This report reviews the role of community health centers in the nation's health care safety net. Today, over 1,000 federally funded and “look-alike” health centers serve 14.3 million people, three-quarters of whom are uninsured or covered by Medicaid.As health centers look toward legislative reauthorization in 2006, they face several policy…
The Implications of a Loss in Public Health Coverage December 31, 2005 Event A new Health Affairs article and a policy brief examine the implications of cuts to public coverage programs like Medicaid and SCHIP. The Health Affairs article finds that Medicaid and SCHIP cuts would increase emergency department visits by the uninsured, suggesting that cost containment actions on public coverage programs would…
African Americans and the New Medicare Drug Benefit October 31, 2005 Poll Finding In a few short weeks, Medicare will undergo big changes that will have a major impact on nearly 4 million African American seniors and younger people with permanent disabilities who rely on Medicare for their health coverage. More than four in ten African Americans with Medicare lack coverage for their…
Threadbare: Holes in America’s Health Care Safety Net October 30, 2005 Report Threadbare: Holes in America’s Health Care Safety NetThis report describes the impact of coverage gaps in our safety net through the perspectives of those who provide care to the uninsured and first-hand accounts of the uninsured who are seeking care. Report (.pdf)
Health Care Costs Survey August 30, 2005 Poll Finding This comprehensive survey from USA Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health examines how Americans are being affected by health care costs. The survey includes information on the barriers health care costs pose to obtaining medical care and the alternative measures people take to lower…
Navigating Medicare and Medicaid, 2005: A Resource Guide for People with Disabilities, Their Families, and Their Advocates January 30, 2005 Report This guide explains the critical role Medicare and Medicaid have come to play in the lives and the futures of roughly 20 million children, adults, and seniors with disabilities – and gives people with disabilities new information to help them get the most from these programs.Full PDF Report (.pdf)Section 1:…
Hearing Their Voices: Lessons from the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act (BCCPTA) October 30, 2004 Report In 2000, Congress passed a landmark law that gave states the option of extending Medicaid coverage to certain low-income women with breast or cervical cancer. In California, approximately 10,000 women have been assisted by this program. This policy brief, “Hearing Their Voices: Lessons from the Breast and Cervical…
Economic Stress and the Safety Net: A Health Center Update June 29, 2004 Issue Brief The issue paper provides data on the demographic profile of health center patients and the revenue sources available for financing their care, including recent increases in federal discretionary funding. It examines the impact of the recent economic downturn on health centers in selected communities, exploring the effect of elevated unemployment…