The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
Rap It Up’s It’s Your (Sex) Life: Your Guide to Safe and Responsible Sex
An informative booklet on preventing unintended pregnancies, HIV and AIDS and other STDs. This brochure was produced by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation as a project of the Foundation and BET.
It’s Your (Sex) Life: Your Guide to Safe and Responsible Sex
This chartpack highlights key results and trends from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s August 2005 tracking poll looking at seniors’ views and knowledge about the new Medicare prescription drug benefit.
Survey Chartpack (.pdf)
This brief describes the main concerns with the Census Bureau’s CPS health coverage estimates and how analysts have attempted to adjust for problems, and concludes with implications for how the CPS might be enhanced in order to improve the measurement of health insurance coverage.
Issue Paper (.pdf)
Tracking Poll Finds Seniors Now Split on Medicare Drug Benefit
This August tracking survey shows modest progress in seniors’ knowledge about the Medicare drug benefit. Also, for the first time, the tracking poll shows seniors are as likely to say that they have a favorable impression of the drug benefit as an unfavorable one.
The Kaiser Health Poll Report Survey was conducted and analyzed by researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation. A nationally representative sample of 1,205 adults ages 18 and older, including 300 respondents 65 years of age and older, was interviewed by telephone by Princeton Survey Research Associates between August 4-8, 2005. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points for the full sample and plus or minus six percentage points among seniors.
Health News Index July/August, 2005
These toplines provide the complete survey questions and responses to the July/August 2005 Kaiser Health Poll Report, a bimonthly report designed to provide key tracking information on public opinion about health care topics to journalists, policymakers and the general public. It includes a series of questions on seniors’ views and knowledge about the Medicare prescription drug benefit.
An informative booklet on preventing unintended pregnancies, HIV and AIDS and other STDs, this brochure was produced by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation as a project of the Foundation and MTV.
It’s Your (Sex) Life: Your Guide to Safe & Responsible Sex (.pdf)
This series of case studies examines how eight states (Alabama, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Texas, and Washington) from around the nation responded to their budget crises from 2003 to 2005, with a focus on how Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Programs were affected. Additionally, an overview of the eight states’ experiences was published in the journal Health Affairs.
Health Affairs article (free access)Three Years Of State Fiscal Struggles: How Did Medicaid And SCHIP Fare?, Teresa A. Coughlin and Stephen Zuckerman Abstract Reprint
Alabama Case Study (.pdf)
California Case Study (.pdf)
Colorado Case Study (.pdf)
Massachusetts Case Study (.pdf)
Michigan Case Study (.pdf)
New York Case Study (.pdf)
Texas Case Study (.pdf)
Washington Case Study (.pdf)
This brief assesses the extent to which recent Section 1115 waivers have helped reduce the number of uninsured people and finds that there has been a net gain in coverage of 426,329 people under recent waivers.
Issue Paper (.pdf)
Over the last four years, the Commission has been tracking the national development of the three main Medicaid HCBS programs that states can operate. The Commission also began to survey the policies, such as eligibility criteria and waiting lists that states can use to control the growth of spending on the waiver programs. This brief presents the latest data on the development of home and community-based service programs in Medicaid.
Issue Paper (.pdf)
Most people get their health care through some form of managed care plan – a health maintenance organization, preferred provider organization, or point-of-service option. Most of the time, people receive the care they need, but the potential exists for disagreements over the services that will be provided or paid for by health plans.
Health plans are required to follow state and federal rules for handling their enrollee’s complaints and appeals inside the health plan, known as an “internal review.” Many states have legislated additional procedures outside of the health plan, called “external reviews” or “independent reviews,” to provide an unbiased way to resolve disputes between patients and their health plans. An external review is a reconsideration of a health plan’s denial of service, with the review conducted by a person or panel of individuals who are not part of the plan. As of December 2004, 43 states plus the District of Columbia had legislated such procedures.
Anyone enrolled in a health plan should be familiar with their plan’s internal review process and any external review program in their state in case problems later arise. This guide, which includes a checklist for diagnosing your coverage, will help you navigate your employer or private health plan’s internal grievance procedure, as well as any external review program your state may have. The guide is not applicable, however, for resolving disputes if you have Medicare or Medicaid coverage.
2005 Report: A Consumer Guide to Handling Disputes with Your Employer or Private Health Plan
2003 Report: A Consumer Guide to Handling Disputes with Your Employer or Private Health Plan
2001 Report: A Consumer Guide to Handling Disputes with Your Employer or Private Health Plan