KFF designs, conducts and analyzes original public opinion and survey research on Americans’ attitudes, knowledge, and experiences with the health care system to help amplify the public’s voice in major national debates.
What do you think is the most urgent health problem facing this nation today? Is there another health problem you think is almost as urgent?
Subpopulation/Note: Adds to more than 100% due to multiple responses.
44
AIDS or HIV
27
Cancer
27
Health care costs and health insurance/access
11
Heart
4
Drugs
4
Elderly
15
Other
8
Health care – access
8
Don’t know/Refused
Survey by Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Methodology: Fieldwork conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates, November 27-December 17, 1995 and based on telephone interviews with a national adult of 1,511. The survey of 1511 included an oversample of 250 African-Americans and 250 Hispanics. Results were weighted to be representative of a national adult population.
Who are the Uninsured? A Consistent Profile Across National Surveys
This issue brief examines the differences in the estimates of the uninsured population from three major surveys and finds that the estimates are actually more consistent than what is often perceived. In addition, the analysis shows that who the uninsured are does not vary much across national surveys.
This report offers insights into Medicare beneficiaries’ experiences with the new drug benefit, based on observations of State Health Insurance Assistance Plan (SHIP) directors convened for a moderated focus group discussion. Because SHIP directors work closely with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and are on the front lines providing one-on-one counseling for beneficiaries who have questions or problems related to the new drug benefit, they are a key resource for understanding issues that have emerged during the first six months of the new Medicare benefit. At the same time, because SHIPs are a resource for people who need help and seek assistance, the issues identified in this report should not be construed to apply generally to the Medicare population.
SHIP directors who participated in the focus group reported significant casework related to data system errors resulting in beneficiaries being enrolled in a plan other than the one they had selected, being enrolled into multiple plans, or inadvertently disenrolled from a plan. Another major source of casework involved Part D premium payments, particularly for those who elected to have premiums deducted from their Social Security checks. Other issues include concerns about marketing practices by some Part D plans, prior authorization requirements, beneficiaries’ limited knowledge of Medicare Advantage products, emerging concerns related to the “doughnut hole,” and problems with the automatic enrollment of the dual eligible population.
On the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall, a paper authored by Foundation staff, released as a web exclusive by the journal Health Affairs, examines the impact of the storm on New Orleans, the current state of health care in the city, and lessons learned about the city’s health care delivery system.
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), signed into law on February 8, 2006, contains a large number of changes in Medicaid policy that are expected to affect almost all elements of the Medicaid program—eligibility, benefits and cost-sharing, provider payments and program integrity. In most instances the policy changes are optional for state Medicaid programs, but in some the changes are mandatory. At the federal level, the interpretation and implementation of these legislative policy changes is primarily the responsibility of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). State Medicaid agencies and state legislatures look to CMS for guidance as to what policy changes they must make and what policy changes they are allowed to make.
This policy brief outlines the roles of Congress, CMS and the states in implementing Medicaid policy changes and highlights some of the changes included in the DRA. The brief also examines how the forms and timing of guidance can affect the transparency of the public policy process as well as lead time for state implementation of new policies.
The Kaiser Family Foundation released a new report on the implications of the new Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit for people living with HIV/AIDS. The report looks at the coverage and cost of antiretroviral drugs under the new private, stand-alone Medicare drug plans.
In collaboration with the International AIDS Society, the Toronto Local Host and co-organizers of the conference, Kaiser provides free, online access to the archived conference proceedings to NGOs, news organizations, policymakers, researchers and others on kaisernetwork.org. The daily coverage included:
Live and tape-delayed webcasts and transcripts of each day’s sessions, including the opening and closing sessions, all plenary sessions, and selected other sessions and press conferences.
English-, French- and Spanish-language audio podcasts of select sessions; slide presentations from select conference sessions.Daily narrated video highlights of conference developments.
A free Daily Roundup email providing direct access to the latest coverage.
News summaries from international media in the Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report.
Interviews with newsmakers and journalists to summarize conference developments.
SPECIAL SESSIONMedia and AIDS: Spreading Information Faster than the DiseaseMonday, August 14, 2006 at 18:00 -20:00 – Metro Toronto Convention Center – Session Room 5 / Level 800Richard Gere, actor and founder of Healing the Divide, opened a session on the critical role of media in raising awareness, changing attitudes, and fighting stigma. Moderated by Bill Roedy of MTV Networks International, this panel of broadcast executives and a leading AIDS advocate discussed the mobilization of the media industry following the 2004 launch of the Global Media AIDS Initiative by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at a special meeting organized by the Kaiser Family Foundation and UNAIDS.
Major new media coalitions and public awareness campaigns have emerged in Africa, the Caribbean, India and Russia. Media executives from these regions and countries discussed and shared key challenges and achievements in their expanded response to HIV/AIDS. Panelists also discussed models of partnership between local organizations, government institutions, and media companies that have led to well-coordinated and highly-leveraged campaigns.
NEWS CONFERENCEMonday, August 14, 2006, at 17:00 – 17:45 – Media Center, Metro Toronto Convention CenterThe Heroes Project and Star TV made an important announcement regarding their stigma reduction and HIV prevention campaign in India. Launched in 2004, the Heroes Project is the largest nongovernmental public service campaign in India, which is responsible for mainstreaming HIV/AIDS messaging throughout the country. Participants included: Richard Gere, Co-Chair, Heroes Project; Peter Mukerjea, CEO, STAR India; Askok Alexander, Director, Avahan, India AIDS Initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Matt James, Senior Vice President, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
News Release: Star India and the Heroes Project Announce Extension of Media Partnership at the 2006 International AIDS Conference
NEWS CONFERENCEWednesday, August 16, 2006 at 16:00 –16:45 – Room 3, Media Center, Metro Toronto Convention CenterCaribbean Broadcast Media, together with partners from the Ford Foundation, the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Kaiser, made a major announcement to support HIV prevention efforts in the Caribbean. Participants included Dr. Allyson Leacock, General Manager, Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation; Jacob Gayle, Deputy Vice President, Ford Foundation; Scott Campbell, Executive Director, Elton John AIDS Foundation; and, Matt James, Senior Vice President, Kaiser Family Foundation.
Globalhealthfacts.orgAn interactive website providing global health data by country.
GlobalHealthReporting.orgUpdated daily provides daily news summaries, resources for journalists, country-focus pages, webcasts of health conference and interviews, and a calendar of upcoming global health events.
International Assistance for HIV/AIDS in the Developing WorldA detailed look a funding for the global epidemic by G8 and other major donor governments. A recently published comment in the Lancet by Kaiser’s Vice President and Director of HIV Policy Jennifer Kates also looks at trends in global health funding.
Survey of Americans on HIV/AIDS, conducted in spring 2006A national survey that includes findings on Americans’ views on global HIV/AIDS.
KaiserEDU.orgA health policy resource designed primarily for students and faculty features tutorials on the U.S. and global HIV epidemic and provides links to volunteering opportunities to fights the disease around the world.
JOURNALIST BRIEFINGSKaiser hosted more than 50 journalists from Africa, India, the Caribbean, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States of America for three days of special briefings on HIV/AIDS. The sessions were designed as a precursor to the AIDS Conference and to spur more in-depth reporting on the epidemic, and were held in collaboration with CBC/Radio-Canada’s Canadian Institute for Training in Public Broadcasting, and with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).
This report provides key findings from interviews with low-income Katrina survivors about their health care experiences after the storm to provide insight into how they fared and to highlight ways to improve the response to this and future disasters. The report also includes several in-depth, individual profiles of survivors’ health care experiences and highlights some specific experiences of individuals with HIV/AIDS.
The report is based on in-person interviews conducted with more than 40 survivors and seven providers serving survivors, which took place in January and February 2006 (five to six months after the storm) in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Houston. Follow-up interviews were conducted in June 2006 (by phone or in-person) with eight survivors.
This chartpack highlights key data which was taken from the June 2006 Kaiser Health Poll Report and focuses on the public’s views about the response to Hurricane Katrina.
These toplines highlight key data which was taken from the June 2006 Kaiser Health Poll Report and focuses on the public’s views about the response to Hurricane Katrina.
