The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
This document presents key findings from the April 2008 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008, which tracks changes in the saliency of health as a political and policy priority, what the public’s priorities are for a health reform plan, and whether any candidates are breaking through with the public with their health reform plans.
Key Findings (.pdf)
This poll finds that health care costs rank among Americans’ top personal economic problems, and their struggles to deal with those costs have affected both their financial well-being and their family’s health care. Conducted by the Foundation’s public opinion researchers, the poll probes into the economic concerns facing Americans and the ways they have dealt with the cost of health care.
The poll was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation. A nationally representative random sample of 2,003 adults was interviewed by telephone between April 3 and 13, 2008. The margin of sampling error for the survey is plus or minus 3 percentage points. For results based on subgroups, the sampling error is higher.
Survey Brief (.pdf)
An April 2008 poll finds that health care costs rank among Americans’ top personal economic problems, and their struggles to deal with those costs have affected both their financial well-being and their family’s health care. Conducted by the Foundation’s public opinion researchers, the poll probes into the economic concerns facing Americans and the ways they have dealt with the cost of health care.
Across a series of economic concerns, health care costs rank near the top. Nearly three in 10 Americans (28 percent) report that they or their families have had a serious problem paying for health care and health insurance as a result of recent changes in the economy, behind paying for gas (44 percent) and about tied with getting a good-paying job or raise in pay (29 percent). Smaller shares report serious problems paying their rent or mortgage (19 percent), dealing with credit card or other personal debt (18 percent), paying for food (18 percent) or losing money in the stock market (16 percent).
Health care costs are also having ripple effects on family budgets. In a separate series of questions asking about the personal economic consequences of medical bills, nearly four in 10 (37 percent) report at least one of six financial troubles over the past five years as a result of medical bills: having difficulties paying other bills (20 percent); being contacted by a collections agency (20 percent); using up all or most of their savings (17 percent); being unable to pay for basic necessities such as food, heat or housing (12 percent); borrowing money (10 percent); or declaring bankruptcy (3 percent).
Kaiser also released the results of its April Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008, the seventh in a series tracking voters’ views about where health care fits as an issue in the 2008 presidential election, as well as their views on potential approaches to health reform.
The polls were designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation. A nationally representative random sample of 2,003 adults was interviewed by telephone between April 3 and 13, 2008. The margin of sampling error for the survey is plus or minus 3 percentage points . For results based on subgroups, the sampling error is higher.
Survey Brief: Economic Problems Facing Families
Key Findings: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll – Election 2008
International Health Journalism Fellowship Project: RUSSIA/UKRAINE
Recent Project Events
Kyiv, Ukraine, Training program – On the Frontline of an Epidemic: Reporting on HIV/AIDS in Mass Media, April 2007 (.pdf) Kyiv, Ukraine, Reporting on ARV- treatment in Mass Media, March 2007 (.pdf)
Moscow, Russia, Training for Journalists and Representatives of AIDS-service Organizations, November 2006 (.pdf) Kyiv, Ukraine, Journalism Training Workshop in the Coverage of HIV/AIDS, June 2006 (.pdf) Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, HIV/AIDS Reporting in Mass Media Workshop, April 2006 (.pdf)
Kyiv, Ukraine, Workshop for Ukrainian Journalists on the Economic Impact of HIV/AIDS, November 2005 (.pdf) Kyiv, Ukraine, First National Workshop on HIV/AIDS Reporting for Journalists in Ukraine, October 2005 (.pdf) Kyiv, Ukraine, Informational Briefing for Editors, September 2005 (.pdf) Perm, Russia, Training for journalists and representatives of governmental and non-governmental AIDS-service organizations, August 2005 (.pdf)
Moscow, Russia, Briefing for Journalists, October 2004 (.pdf) Moscow, Russia, Journalist Training Session, March 2004 (.pdf)
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How Private Health Coverage Works: A Primer— 2008 Update
This primer explains the role and operations of private health coverage in the United States. Private health coverage is provided under a variety of different arrangements, including health insuring organizations regulated under state law and health plans sponsored by employers and employee organizations that operate under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
The primer discusses the fundamental aims of private health coverage and sorts out the complicated web of state and federal regulations that govern it.
Issue Brief (.pdf)
Medicaid in a Declining Economy: Limited Approaches for States to Control Spending
This brief analyzes results from its annual 50-state budget surveys of Medicaid directors from 2003 to 2007. The historical results describe how states adopted a wide array of Medicaid cost containment strategies during the last economic downturn and were assisted by the federal government to avoid deeper Medicaid cuts.
Issue Brief (.pdf)
Medicaid, SCHIP and Economic Downturn: Policy Challenges and Policy Responses
A new analysis conducted for the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examines the implications of a downturn for health coverage and state programs and projects the impact of one percentage point rise in the national unemployment rate on Medicaid and SCHIP and the number of uninsured individuals. The analysis also documents how federal fiscal relief during the last economic downturn of 2003-2004 helped to stabilize Medicaid eligibility and let states avoid deeper budget cuts.
Executive Summary (.pdf)
Report (.pdf)
View Chart, Impact of Unemployment Growth on Medicaid and SCHIP and the Number Uninsured
A new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum examines the health coverage, access to health care, and health status of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander ethnic groups in the United States, and finds that certain subgroups are doing much worse than others in terms of health insurance coverage and access to health care. For example, Korean Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are about twice as likely to be uninsured as whites.
The analysis reveals substantial differences in the health care experiences of about a dozen subgroups of the nation’s estimated 13 million Asian Americans and more than half million Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. The analysis uses data from the 2004, 2005 and 2006 National Health Interview Survey and Current Population Survey.
Fact Sheet (.pdf)
2008 Medicare Benefits Table
Summary of Traditional Medicare, 2008
PART A
Financing: 1.45% for both workers and employers No premiums* Benefits: Inpatient hospital – Days 1-60 – Days 61-90 – Days 91-150 – After 150 days Deductible of $1,024 per benefit period** No coinsurance $256 a day $512 a day No benefits Skilled nursing facility – Days 1-20 – Days 21-100 – After 100 days No coinsurance $128 a day No benefits Home health No coinsurance Hospice Copayment of up to $5 for outpatient drugs and 5% coinsurance for inpatient respite care
Part B
Financing: Premiums cover about 25% of Part B costs ($96.40 per month usually deducted from Social Security checks). General revenues cover the remaining 75%. Benefits: Deductible $135 a year Physician and other medical services – MD accepts assignment – MD does not accept assignment 20% coinsurance 20% coinsurance plus up to 15% over Medicare-approved fee Outpatient hospital care 20% coinsurance Ambulatory surgical services 20% coinsurance X-rays 20% coinsurance Durable medical equipment 20% coinsurance Physical, occupational, and speech therapy 20% coinsurance*** Clinical diagnostic laboratory services No coinsurance Home health care No coinsurance Outpatient mental health services 50% coinsurance Preventive services – Flu shots, pneumococcal vaccines, colorectal and prostate cancer screenings; pap smears; mammograms – Bone mass measurement, diabetes monitoring; glaucoma screening The Part B deductible and 20% coinsurance are waived for certain preventive services.
20% coinsurance after deductible is met
Part D
Information below applies to the standard Part D benefit design in 2008. Benefits and cost-sharing requirements typically vary across plans. Beneficiaries receiving low-income subsidies pay reduced cost-sharing amounts. Deductible $275 a year Initial Coverage (up to $2,510 in drug costs) 25% coinsurance Coverage Gap or “doughnut hole” 100% coinsurance (no coverage) Catastrophic Coverage (above $4,050 in out-of-pocket costs) 5% coinsurance * People age 65 and older are automatically entitled to Medicare if they (or their spouse) worked for 40 quarters or more. Those who have worked up to 30 quarters may be able to get Part A coverage by paying a premium of $423 per month (2008). **A benefit period begins when a person is admitted to a hospital and ends 60 days after discharge from a hospital or a skilled nursing facility. *** Coverage limit on Medicare outpatient therapy services ($1,740 limit per year for occupational therapy services, $1,740 limit per year for physical and speech-language therapy services combined). Note: For more detailed information on preventive and other benefits, see http://www.Medicare.gov. SOURCE: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), “Medicare and You, 2008”.
International Health Journalism Fellowship Project: RUSSIA/UKRAINE
2006 Fellows
Natalia A. Feduschak, a Kaiser International Fellow and a freelance journalist, wrote and delivered the following lectures about HIV/AIDS to journalism students at the Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University and Kyiv International University between April 2005 and November 2006. The lectures are based on her own research and interviews conducted in Ukraine and Europe, through resources provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation, Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS, numerous Ukrainian non-profit groups and the experiences of people living with HIV/AIDS.
Natalia A. Feduschak, a Kaiser International Fellow and a freelance journalist, published the following articles on HIV/AIDS and the impact the epidemic has on countries where Ukrainians migrate. The articles were published in the Ukrainian newspaper, Kyivskiy Telegraf, between October 2006 and June 2007. The articles are based on Feduschak’s own research and interviews conducted in Ukraine and Europe, through resources provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
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