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Low-income adults (those with incomes below 200 percent of poverty, or $33,200 for a family of three in 2007) account for just over half of the non-elderly uninsured in the United States. This brief reviews the health coverage of non-elderly low-income adults and discusses the implications for national health reform…

This series of implementation briefs called “CHIP Tips” examines new opportunities for covering children following the reauthorization and expansion of CHIP in February 2009. Together Medicaid and CHIP provide coverage for more than one in four children in the U.S., yet many others remain eligible but uninsured. The series, which…

 Download PDF Racial and ethnic disparities in health care – whether in insurance coverage, access, or quality of care – are one of many factors producing inequalities in health status in the United States.1  Eliminating these disparities is politically sensitive and challenging in part because their causes are intertwined with…

 Download PDF Women consistently cite health care as one of the top issues they want the Presidential candidates to address, reflecting their experiences with the health care system as patients, mothers, and caregivers for frail and disabled family members.  Women’s priorities for health care reform cut across many critical topics,…

This Pulling It Together column is the fourth in my new series. All four so far have dealt with different dimensions of health reform. This time I write about one of my favorite topics, the states. As a former head of an umbrella health and social services agency in a…

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued an August 17, 2007, directive that would restrict states’ flexibility to continue to apply income disregards when determining eligibility for Medicaid and SCHIP coverage for expansions to children above 250 percent of the federal poverty level. This issue brief describes the purpose…

Health expenditures continue to grow very rapidly in the U.S.  Since 1970, health care spending has grown at an average annual rate of 9.8%, or about 2.5 percentage points faster than the economy as measured by the nominal gross domestic product (GDP).  Annual spending on health care increased from $75…

, details the different types of private plan options available to people on Medicare. These include Medicare Advantage plans (such as Medicare HMOs, PPOs and private fee-for-service plans) and new stand-alone prescription drug plans.• In 2006, all Medicare beneficiaries have access to at least one type of private Medicare Advantage…

With the enactment of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, states have gained increased flexibility over benefits and cost sharing for certain currently eligible Medicaid populations without having to obtain a waiver of Medicaid rules. New findings from the Kaiser Family Foundation's 2004 survey of the experiences of Medicaid beneficiaries…

The 50-state annual survey of about budget conditions and Medicaid cost containment actions in FY2005-06 shows that all states implemented and planned more Medicaid cost-containment actions, but are also implementing expansions as the gap between Medicaid spending growth and state tax revenue narrowed.Report (.pdf)Executive Summary (.pdf)