2001/2002 Kaiser Mini-Fellows

Constance Alexander, freelance writer and independent producer, WKMS-FM Reporting Area: End-of-life issues in rural western Kentucky.

Jenni Bergal, reporter, The Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, FLReporting Area: The Broward County mental health court – a model way to address cases involving mentally ill defendants?

Jill Brown, managing editor, Managed Care WeekReporting Area: Converting Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans to for-profit companies, and the implications for enrollees.

Dudley Clendinen, authorReporting Area: Growing old in America: life in a geriatric high-rise, a microcosm of coping with the new old age, on the shore of Tampa Bay.

Mary Coffman, co-director, Medill News Service, Washington, D.C.Reporting Area: The impact of direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs.

Barbara Feder, medical reporter, The San Jose Mercury NewsReporting Area: The search for a viable microbicide-the politics, policy, research, and ethical issues surrounding clinical trials.”Slowly, AIDS Spotlight Focuses on Microbicides for Women,” July 23, 2004

Jean Fisher, health/business writer, The News & Observer, Raleigh, NCReporting Area: The impact of managed care on academic medical centers.

Susan Thom Loubet, public radio host, KUNM/Radio, New MexicoReporting Area: Healthcare outreach efforts to special populations in New Mexico – how well do they work?

Camille Mojica Rey, freelance writerReporting Area: Changing the way Americans eat and exercise, with a focus on communities of color.

Ann Pappert, freelance writerReporting Area: Healthcare after welfare reform-the experience of residents in an inner-city New York neighborhood.

Tom Paulson, science/medical reporter, and Mike Urban, photographer, The Seattle Post-IntelligencerReporting Area: Efforts to tackle global health challenges, and transform the health status of communities worldwide.

Julie Reynolds, editor, El Andar magazineReporting Area: The impact of AIDS among migrant workers in California, and in their hometowns in Mexico.

Stephen Smith, managing editor and correspondent, American RadioWorks, Minnesota Public RadioReporting Area: The Cuban health care system.

Jamie Stobie, public television documentary producerReporting Area: How technological advances are being used and adapted by people with disabilities.

Contact Information:

For more information, please email mediafellows@kff.org.

Jide Adeniyi-Jones, All Africa.comReporting Area: Nigeria”HIV in Nigeria: Living on the Edge,” 2003

Raney Aronson, FRONTLINEReporting Area: India “India: The Sex Workers,” FRONTLINE, June 24, 2004

Susan Brink, US News & World ReportReporting Area: Botswana”Dancing in the Dark,” December 15, 2003

Jon Cohen, Science magazineReporting Area: Asia”Asia: The Next Frontier for HIV/AIDS,” September 12, 2003

Liz Doup, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort LauderdaleReporting Area: South Florida”AIDS in South Florida,” June 8, 2003

Roland De Wolk, KTVU/2, San Francisco-OaklandReporting Area: California Bay Area teens

Liz McGregor, freelance reporterReporting Area: Southern Africa

James Nachtwey, photographerReporting Area: Southern Africa

Joe Richman, National Public Radio/Radio DiariesReporting Area: South African teens”Out of Hiding, Into the World: Thembi’s AIDS Diary” April 19, 2006

Will Wright & Curtis Jackson, BET Nightly NewsReporting Area: Alabama women and youth”AIDS in the South,” November 26, 2003

Contact Information:

For more information, please email mediafellows@kff.org.

Joanna Breitstein, senior associate editor, Pharmaceutical ExecutiveProject: Tracking pharmaceutical companies’ AIDS drugs donations to patients in Africa.”AIDS in Africa: The Lazarus Effect,” February 1, 2005″AIDS in Africa: The Road Forward,” March 1, 2005

“Broken and Fixed- Images and Ideas Shaping East Africa,” photography event, December 14, 2005

“Breath of Hope: TB in Africa,” February 1, 2006

Geoffrey Cowley, senior editor for health and medicine, NewsweekProject: The World Health Organization’s plan to extend AIDS treatment to 3 million more people by 2005. “Medicine Without Doctors,” June 19, 2004

Sharon Egiebor, executive editor, The Dallas ExaminerProject: The impact of HIV/AIDS on African-Americans in Dallas County, with special focus on teenagers.

Natalia Fedushchak, freelance reporterProject: HIV/AIDS in the Ukraine”CU tracks HIV in Ukranian addicts,” The Denver Post, November 30 2004

Regina McEnery, medical writer, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)Project: The impact and challenge of collaborative AIDS projects linking university researchers, physicians and anthropologists in Cleveland with those in Kampala, Uganda.Teaming Up Against AIDS is 3-part series on AIDS in Uganda”Case Battles Uganda Crisis,” November 21, 2004″Tracking a Killer’s Helper,” November 22, 2004″Focus turns to Affordable Treatment,” November 23, 2004

Kristi Nelson, health writer, Chandra Harris, staff writer, and Jeannine Hunter, staff writer, The Knoxville News SentinelProject: The changing face of AIDS in Southern Appalachia.”Living Positive: Faces of HIV/AIDS varied in East Tennessee“, Seven-part series, August 14-21, 2005

Judy Nichols, senior reporter, The Arizona RepublicProject: HIV/AIDS in Native American communities.”AIDS takes a growing toll on Native Americans,” July 3, 2005

Sabin Russell, medical writer, The San Francisco ChronicleProject: The complexities and implications of the emerging HIV/AIDS epidemic in India.”AIDS in India,” Five-Part Series, July 4, 2004

Renata Simone, producer, WGBH National Productions (Boston)Project: HIV/AIDS in China”China AIDS Initiative: A Conversation with David Ho,” June 17, 2004

“Age of AIDS,” PBS FRONTLINE, May 30, 2006

Matt Steinglass, correspondent, The Boston GlobeProject: HIV/AIDS and public health attitudes in Vietnam.

Kai Wright, senior editor, City Limits (New York City)Project: HIV/AIDS inside New York State’s prison system.

Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon, independent documentary filmmakers (New York City)Project: HIV/AIDS in ChinaThe China AIDS Media Project

Contact Information:

For more information, please email mediafellows@kff.org.

Greg Barker, documentary filmmaker, FRONTLINEProject: Age of AIDS: 25 years of the epidemic “Age of AIDS,” PBS FRONTLINE, May 30, 2006

Tim Collie, senior writer, and Mike Stocker, senior photographer, South Florida Sun-SentinelProject: AIDS and children in the Caribbean.

Shereen El Feki, healthcare correspondent, The EconomistProject: AIDS in the Middle East–what are the HIV rates and transmission patterns?

Reese Erlich, freelance journalist, Oakland, CAProject: Brazil’s success in fighting AIDS, and the implications for the U.S.Report on how activists believe the U.S. could learn about AIDS health care from the Brazilian government. (09/2005) Story republished with permisson from Latino USA. “Hard to Swallow,” The Monthly, Vol. 36, No. 4. (01/2006)

Andrew Finlayson, news director, WSMV/4, Nashville, TNProject: AIDS and STDs in Tennessee. “It Can Happen to You: HIV/AIDS in Middle Tennessee,” WSMV/4, Nashville, TN

This issue brief summarizes the Medicaid provisions of the budget reconciliation law signed in February 2006 and discusses the implications of the proposed changes. The changes would net reductions of $4.8 billion over the next five years and $26.1 billion over the next ten years from current Medicaid spending.

Issue Brief (.pdf)

Tracking Prescription Drug Coverage Under Medicare: Five Ways to Look at the New Enrollment Numbers

This new analysis, which assesses Medicare drug benefit enrollment statistics released Feb. 22 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, examines five different approaches to understanding the Medicare drug coverage numbers:

• What share of the total Medicare population has creditable prescription drug coverage?
• What share of the total Medicare population is enrolled in a Medicare drug plan?
• How do current drug plan enrollment numbers compare to projections previously released by the Administration?
• What share of beneficiaries voluntarily signed up for a Medicare drug plan, among those without another source of creditable drug coverage?
• Among beneficiaries who lacked prescription drug coverage, how many signed up for a Medicare drug plan?

Issue Brief (.pdf)

This 50-state survey of Medicaid officials assesses states’ early experience relating to the transition of low-income seniors and people with disabilities enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare (dual eligibles) to the Medicare Part D drug benefit. Conducted by Health Management Associates, the survey covers the types of problems observed by states during the transition of dual eligibles to the Medicare drug benefit, state actions to correct problems and ensure temporary coverage, and specific data on costs incurred by states from these temporary programs.

On January 1, 2006, the prescription drug coverage for over 6 million dual eligibles was transitioned from Medicaid into the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. Almost immediately, federal, state and local officials noticed problems that made it more difficult for some dual eligibles to obtain needed prescriptions. Because dual eligibles typically have more extensive health and prescription drug needs than other beneficiaries, many states had been preparing for problems and moved forward with temporary programs to ensure that these beneficiaries obtained needed medications during the transition to the Medicare drug benefit. The federal government has since committed to reimbursing the states for the costs associated with the temporary coverage programs.

Medicaid officials from all 50 states and the District of Columbia responded to the survey. It provides a state-by-state breakdown of temporary coverage programs, including the number of duals receiving prescriptions, total prescriptions, and the cost of coverage. The survey also finds that in the first month of implementation:

• Over 60 percent of states reported problems that affected a significant number of dual eligibles,
• 37 states implemented temporary coverage programs for dual eligibles, and
• The most common problems included incorrect cost-sharing charged to beneficiaries (49 states), pharmacies could not bill plans (44 states), and beneficiaries were unable to obtain non-formulary drug (43 states).

Report (.pdf)

Toplines — Kaiser Health Poll Report: Selected Findings on Seniors’ Views of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit

These toplines contain the detailed results from the February 2006 tracking poll on seniors’ views toward the new Medicare drug benefit.

Survey Toplines (.pdf)

Frontline Perspectives on Long-Term Care Financing Decisions and Medicaid AssetsTransfer Practices

In the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, Congress tightened Medicaid asset transfer rules for individuals qualifying for Medicaid assistance with nursing home bills. Research on asset transfer shows a low incidence of asset transfers and limited cost savings from tightening such rules. But, because of demographic trends that will increase pressure on Medicaid and concerns that the Medicaid program may be financing care for higher-income beneficiaries when limited dollars should be spent on those with the most financial need, tightening Medicaid asset transfer rules remain a focus of policy efforts to reduce spending growth on Medicaid long-term care services.

The themes emerging from a series of interviews in six states with public long-term care benefit counselors at the state and local level are:

• Most people have not planned for their long-term care needs and are unaware of their options,

• Private long-term care insurance is too expensive for low and middle-income families, and

• Personal resources and family care-giving play important roles in providing long-term care services, but have limits.

Report (.pdf)

Toplines: December 2005 Kaiser Health Poll Report

These toplines provide the complete survey questions and responses to the December 2005 Kaiser Health Poll Report Survey, a bimonthly survey designed to provide key tracking information on public opinion about health care topics. The survey includes a series of questions on seniors’ views of the new Medicare prescription drug benefit.

Survey Toplines (.pdf)