Expanding Access to Care: More than Just an Insurance Card? July 31, 2009 Event The Alliance for Health Reform and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation co-sponsored this event to explore expanding access to health care as a main goal of health reform. Panelists address the following questions: What provisions exist in the health reform proposals that speak directly to expanding access to health care?…
Healing Mind and Body: Behavioral Health and Reform June 30, 2009 Event The Alliance for Health Reform, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Open Society Institute co-sponsored this event to examine how mental health and substance abuse disorder services fit into the health reform discussion. Panelists address the following questions: What mental health and substance use disorder provisions are included in…
Pulling It Together: Jobs, A Reason to Fast Track Coverage March 13, 2009 Perspective The two big topics in Washington right now are the economy and health care. I’ve written before about how the two are linked, and in particular about how among the everyday economic problems people are having, paying for health care is a big one. But the latest numbers out from…
Reports Analyze Cost and Coverage of People Eligible for Both Medicaid and Medicare and Options for Reforming Financing of Their Care January 31, 2009 Issue Brief These issue briefs examine coverage of the nearly 9 million “dual eligibles,” the low-income elderly and persons with disabilities who are enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid. The reports explore the national and state impacts of shifting the financing of selected services for dual eligibles from Medicaid to Medicare, and…
Views about the Quality of Long-Term Care Services in the United States – Chartpack November 29, 2007 Poll Finding The Nursing Home Reform Law, part of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA ’87), was passed twenty years ago with hopes of improving the quality of nursing homes throughout the United States. Today, however, there are still concerns about the progress that has been achieved since this legislation and…
Medicaid and Long-Term Care: Recent Publications Illuminate Key Policy Issues December 19, 2006 Fact Sheet With recent policy debates about the future of Medicaid, the Foundation’s Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has created a resource page of recent publications that address key policy issues when examining Medicaid’s role for high cost populations and in long-term care. Of particular interest are a report profiling…
Total Medicaid Spending and Enrollment Growth Slowed Significantly in FY 2012 Amid Signs of Economic Recovery and States’ Efforts To Curb Costs October 1, 2012 News Release Washington, D.C. – Growth in total Medicaid spending and enrollment slowed substantially in state fiscal year 2012 as the economy began to improve and states continued to work to control costs. Relatively slow spending and enrollment growth are expected to continue in FY 2013, according to the 12th annual 50-state…
Massachusetts Health Care Reform Plan – An Update June 1, 2007 Fact Sheet Massachusetts’ law to cover their uninsured population combines an individual mandate on the purchase of health insurance with government subsidies to ensure affordability. Full implementation of the plan is expected by July 1, 2007. This fact sheet summarizes the plan and its implications. Fact Sheet (.pdf)
Health Care Coverage and Financing Issues in California: An October 2005 Update October 1, 2005 Issue Brief Health Care Coverage and Financing Issues in California: An October 2005 UpdateThis brief summarizes recent health insurance coverage trends in California and the Medi-Cal program, provides an overview of the state’s newly adopted FY 2005-06 budget agreement, and discusses key issues driving the current health policy agenda. The brief concludes…
Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — December 2009 November 30, 2009 Poll Finding The December Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds a dip on several measures of public opinion on health care reform. The number of Americans who say they personally will be better off if reform passes fell to 35 percent in December, down from 42 percent last month. Meanwhile, 27 percent say…