This collection of some
of our most recent and relevant issue briefs go beyond the basics to
provide concise discussions and analyses of key policy topics related to health
reform.
For a more complete collection of all
the Foundation's health reform resources, click here.
Assessing CBO Estimates of the Cost and Coverage Implications of Health Reform
ProposalsThis issue brief explains key elements of the Congressional Budget Office's
estimates of the major health reform bills in Congress and examines the role of
the CBO in the health reform debate.
Health Reform and Access to Abortion Coverage
The brief discusses the treatment of coverage for abortion services under the major health reform bills and explores the possible impact of the House-passed legislation on public and private coverage for abortion services.
Matching Health Benefit
Packages to Health Needs: Key Issues to Consider in Health
Reform
Two briefs examine the range of health care needs and
costs that children and individuals with special
needs face today against the backdrop of the scope of coverage that may be
available under health reform.
How Will The Uninsured Be
Affected By Health Reform?
Four briefs examine how the uninsured
could be affected by health reform that would expand Medicaid and provide
subsidies to low-to-middle income people to purchase health insurance. The
briefs look at uninsured children, parents and childless adults, and the uninsured in
general.
Setting Medicare Payment Policy:
Is There a Role for an Independent Entity?
This issue brief
considers questions associated with proposals to establish a new entity to set
Medicare payment policy and the implications for beneficiaries, other
stakeholders, and program spending, as part of broader health reform.
Where Are States Today?: Medicaid and
State-Funded Coverage Eligibility Levels for Low-Income
Adults
This fact sheet provides a brief overview of low-income
adults' current eligibility for Medicaid and other state-funded coverage
programs and a discussion of how this coverage may be impacted by health
reform.
Medicaid Beneficiaries and Access to Care
This fact
sheet summarizes Medicaid beneficiaries' experience in obtaining access to
care, finding Medicaid compares favorably
with private coverage in connecting low-income children and adults with primary
and preventive care.
Immigrants’ Health Coverage and
Health Reform
This issue brief discusses key questions related
to immigrants' health coverage and health reform, addressing subjects such as
how many of the uninsured are non-citizen immigrants and what would happen to
coverage for them under current health reform proposals.
Health Reform: Implications for
Women's Access to Coverage and Care
This issue brief highlights
key issues for women that arise in the context of health reform, including
access to health insurance coverage, health care affordability, scope of
benefits, reproductive health and long-term care.
Health Reform and Communities of Color: How might it Affect Racial and Ethnic
Health Disparities?
This brief examines some of the key provisions of health reform legislation that
are likely to have a significant impact on people of color and also highlights
the specific provisions that focus on health disparities.
Medicaid as a Platform for Broader Reform
Two papers examine prospects for expanding Medicaid as a key element of health
reform. The first, on Medicaid as Platform, summarizes the problems that low-income
individuals face in the health care system and explores policy opportunities to
expand the Medicaid program to cover more people as a base for broader health
reform. The second, on State Financing and Medicaid,
highlights some of the potential benefits and costs to the states associated
with an expansion of Medicaid as part of health reform.
Basic Facts About Low-Income
Adults Under 65
This brief examines the characteristics and
insurance coverage of low-income adults under age 65, a group numbering more
than 50 million people who are among the least likely in the U.S. to have health
insurance.
