August Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: A Look At The GOP As The Republican Convention Draws Near August 16, 2012 Perspective Despite the ongoing focus on Republican opposition to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that the ACA is not the top health care priority among Republicans. While jobs are still the number one issue, when asked about the health care issues that will impact…
Transparency and Complexity August 13, 2012 Perspective This fall a new rule takes effect requiring all private health plans to offer a uniform, simple to read, summary of benefits and coverage (SBC). The SBC will provide consumers with standardized information about how plans cover essential health benefits and what coverage limits and cost sharing applies. The SBC…
Medicaid Managed Long-Term Services and Supports: Are More Caution and Oversight Needed? August 3, 2012 Event The Alliance for Health Reform and AARP sponsor an August 3rd briefing to discuss who is being served by Medicaid managed care, how enrollment is determined, and whether sufficient oversight of the programs exist. Speakers will explore such questions as: Does Medicaid managed care cover a full range of long-term…
JAMA Forum: The Middle Class Tax Break Hardly Anyone Is Talking About August 2, 2012 Perspective “The Middle Class Tax Break Hardly Anyone Is Talking About,” Larry Levitt’s August 2012 post for The JAMA Forum, is now available online.
A Historical Review of How States Have Responded to the Availability of Federal Funds for Health Coverage August 1, 2012 Issue Brief This historical review finds that the availability of federal funds has served as an effective incentive for states to provide health coverage to meet the health and long-term care needs of their low-income residents despite state budget pressures. The brief examines the history of earlier experiences and provides important context for how states may respond as they weigh the costs and benefits of expanding their Medicaid programs in 2014 as called for under the Affordable Care Act.
Implementing the ACA’s Medicaid-Related Health Reform Provisions After the Supreme Court’s Decision August 1, 2012 Issue Brief On June 28, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A majority of the Court also found the ACA’s Medicaid expansion unconstitutionally coercive of states, while a different majority of the Court held that this issue was fully remedied by limiting the Health…
A Guide to the Supreme Court’s Decision on the ACA’s Medicaid Expansion August 1, 2012 Issue Brief On June 28, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in the case challenging the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Court upheld the constitutionality of the ACA’s individual mandate, which requires most people to maintain a minimum level of health insurance coverage beginning in 2014. A majority of the…
How Five Leading Safety-Net Hospitals Are Preparing For The Challenges and Opportunities of Health Care Reform August 1, 2012 Report This study, published in the journal Health Affairs, examines how five leading safety-net hospitals are preparing for major changes expected to result from the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including less government support for uncompensated care and the need to compete for newly insured people. The hospitals studied are Bellevue Hospital…
Health Homes for Medicaid Beneficiaries with Chronic Conditions August 1, 2012 Issue Brief This brief profiles four states that were the first to receive federal approval to take up a state option under the Affordable Care Act to implement health homes for Medicaid beneficiaries with chronic conditions. Almost half of the 9 million people who qualify for Medicaid on the basis of disability…
July Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: A Focus On The Mandate and the Medicaid Expansion in the Aftermath of the Supreme Court Decision July 31, 2012 Perspective This second July poll reports in further depth on public opinion about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the wake of the Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court’s decision that the individual mandate was constitutional as a tax appears to have had little impact on opinion about the already largely…