A Public Opinion Surprise, The Latest “Pulling It Together, From Drew Altman” April 5, 2011 Perspective With Medicaid being the focus of federal and state debate on deficits, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s President and CEO examines recent poll findings about the program’s popularity that may be a surprise considering the current discussion.
The Economy and Medical Care November 15, 2011 Perspective Various market watchers have reported that the use of health care services has not been growing recently as it had in the past, resulting in lower than expected health care claims for people with private insurance and higher than expected earnings for insurers. A look at physician office visits by…
Uninsured Are Less Satisfied May 2, 2011 Perspective Given that people without health insurance have no protection from health care costs, it is not surprising that they are much less likely to say they are satisfied with costs than those with insurance (31 percent vs. 68 percent Majorities of both the uninsured and insured report being satisfied with…
Pulling it Together: Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks July 7, 2009 Perspective Way back in the eighties when I was Human Services Commissioner in New Jersey, I established something called the Garden State Health Plan (GSHP). It was the first — and I think the only — federally qualified state-run HMO for Medicaid beneficiaries. One goal of the GSHP was to reallocate…
Pulling it Together: The People Behind The Entitlement Debate November 9, 2010 Perspective Well before we have any clarity on the impact of the election on health reform, the pundits are handicapping the prospects of efforts to make a serious dent in the national debt and deficit. Three national commissions are hammering out recommendations for reducing the debt and reining in entitlement spending,…
Pulling It Together: Critical Path To Health Reform: Stage Three March 27, 2008 Perspective If there is a debate in the new Congress in 2009 about comprehensive health reform legislation, a major question is: Will there be an appetite for a bipartisan, centrist deal? No matter who is in the White House or what the margins are in the Senate, it is very unlikely…
Pulling it Together: What We Know about Making the Case to the Public for Global Health May 3, 2012 Perspective Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who is a member of our Board, recently published a column making the case very effectively for continued investments in global health. Today we released our latest national survey on attitudes towards global health, which uncovered important nuances about the argument for foreign aid…
Pulling it Together: As The International AIDS Conference Convenes, Some Positive News About Public Opinion and HIV July 19, 2012 Perspective The American people are busy trying to make ends meet and take care of their families and they are constantly bombarded by messaging and spin. They rarely have a full understanding of policy issues and debates. Often it is their strongly held beliefs, whether based on accurate or inaccurate perceptions,…
Pulling it Together: About Kaiser Health News May 1, 2009 Perspective There is lots of apocalyptic talk these days about the collapse of the newspaper industry and the challenges facing news organizations. There is even talk of the unimaginable, my hometown paper The Boston Globe shutting down. Surely they know that Red Sox Nation cannot exist without the Globe Sports pages.…
Pulling It Together: Critical Path To Health Reform: Conclusion March 27, 2008 Perspective Finally, it bears mentioning for organizations like Kaiser that do research and analysis and are committed to public education on complex health policy issues, that the kinds of activities that will be most useful will vary depending on what stage we are at on the “critical path.” At this early…