With the problem of the uninsured continuing to grow, states have taken the lead in developing proposals to reform of their health care systems with the goal of significantly increasing the number of people with health coverage.  An interactive map and related summaries of plans track which states have enacted or are planning comprehensive initiatives to cover their uninsured population.

Will health fade as a public concern as the economy rises as the public's top priority? How are concerns about health and the economy linked? Does the rise of economic concerns present obstacles or opportunities for health reform? In his latest Pulling It Together essay, Foundation President Drew Altman takes on these questions, drawing from the Foundations's latest polls and analyses in a column called Health IN the Economy.

Published as a Health Affairs Web Exclusive, this Kaiser Family Foundation study finds relatively few uninsured households have enough financial assets to cover the cost-sharing in consumer-driven health plans tied to Health Savings Accounts.

The second installment of the new Pulling It Together, from Drew Altman series lays out the steps that could lead to the first major national health reform debate since the early nineties. The series of charts and accompanying text illustrate the three primary stages and "make or break" decision points that could mark the path to a major health reform initiative or knock it off track. This new section of the Web site "pulls together" analysis, data, and ideas from across the Foundation's work to try to illuminate critical health policy issues.

This analysis by Kaiser Family Foundation researchers examines employers' payroll and health care costs and examines wide variations in those costs by occupation and firm size.  It is part of the Foundation's online series, Snapshots: Health Care Costs.

In 2007, San Francisco became the first city in the nation to begin implementation of a plan to provide health care services to all uninsured residents. This fact sheet summarizes Healthy San Francisco, how it came to be, and key policy issues facing the program.

This survey conducted jointly by NPR and public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health examines how the public views different approaches for expanding health coverage, including provisions that would require individuals to purchase insurance or parents to obtain coverage for their children.

This first installment of the new Pulling It Together series draws from the unique compendium of candidates' statements on health reform we have assembled on health08.org and our side-by-side comparisons of the candidates' health plans to tease out the fundamental differences between Democrats and Republicans and liberals and conservatives on health reform. These are the differences would that will ultimately need to be bridged if there is to be health reform legislation in 2009.

This new analysis examines changes in wages and benefits since the 1960s, and how these break down over time for employers and individuals. It finds that working families may feel the impact of rising health care costs by seeing smaller increases in their paychecks. This snapshot is part of the Foundation’s online series, Snapshots: Health Care Costs. 

This fact sheet summarizes Vermont's health reform law designed to increase health care access and reduce costs.