Will health fade as a public concern as the economy rises as the public's top priority? How are concerns about health and the economy linked? Does the rise of economic concerns present obstacles or opportunities for health reform? In his latest Pulling It Together essay, Foundation President Drew Altman takes on these questions, drawing from the Foundations's latest polls and analyses in a column called Health IN the Economy.

This analysis finds that every one percentage point rise in the unemployment rate leads to a 1.1 million increase in the uninsured population and a one million increase in Medicaid and SCHIP enrollment. Another report analyzes the history of Medicaid during recent economic downturns.

This analysis projects the implications of an economic downturn for health coverage and state programs. 

This brief analyzes results from annual 50-state budget surveys of Medicaid directors from 2003 to 2007 to determine how past actions by states and the federal government may impact Medicaid programs during the current economic downturn.

Published as a Health Affairs Web Exclusive, this Kaiser Family Foundation study finds relatively few uninsured households have enough financial assets to cover the cost-sharing in consumer-driven health plans tied to Health Savings Accounts.

Diane Rowland, executive vice president of the Foundation, testified before the Health Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means about the growing share of Americans who are uninsured and without adequate health insurance coverage

With the problem of the uninsured continuing to grow, states have taken the lead in developing proposals to reform of their health care systems with the goal of significantly increasing the number of people with health coverage.  An interactive map and related summaries of plans track which states have enacted or are planning comprehensive initiatives to cover their uninsured population.

The second installment of the new Pulling It Together, from Drew Altman series lays out the steps that could lead to the first major national health reform debate since the early nineties. The series of charts and accompanying text illustrate the three primary stages and "make or break" decision points that could mark the path to a major health reform initiative or knock it off track. This new section of the Web site "pulls together" analysis, data, and ideas from across the Foundation's work to try to illuminate critical health policy issues.

In 2007, San Francisco became the first city in the nation to begin implementation of a plan to provide health care services to all uninsured residents. This fact sheet summarizes Healthy San Francisco, how it came to be, and key policy issues facing the program.

As discussions on national health care reform move to the forefront, some have focused on the role of immigrants in the health care system.  These five basic facts address questions about how immigrants use and affect the health care system.