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.
Exhibit 7.1: Number of the Nonelderly Uninsured, 1994-2004
The number of the nonelderly (under age 65) uninsured in the United States increased in 2004 to 45.5 million, an increase of 800,000 over 2003. Health insurance affects people’s access to health care, their health status, their job decisions, and their financial security. Health insurance makes a difference in whether people get necessary medical care, where they get their care, and, ultimately, how healthy they are. About two-thirds of the nonelderly uninsured are low income (see Exhibit 7.4), so medical bills can cause financial burdens for individuals and families. Uncompensated care to uninsured and underinsured individuals and the safety net of public hospitals and community clinics do not fully substitute for health insurance.
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Notes: Changes in the Current Population Survey’s (CPS) sample and questionnaire have been made over the years, which hamper the ability to trend data across years. Health insurance estimates for 1999 and later years that use the revised questionnaire cannot be compared with CPS estimates from earlier years. *Revised method estimates for 1999 shown in this exhibit are comparable to later years, except they are based on a smaller sample.
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, Health Insurance Coverage in America, 2004 Data Update, November 2005, Figure 1, p.9, at http://www.kff.org/uninsured/7415.cfm prepared by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, and the Urban Institute using data from the Census Bureau’s March Supplements to the Current Population Survey.
Trends and Indicators in the Changing Health Care MarketplaceInformation provided by the Health Care Marketplace Project.Publication Number:7031Information Updated: 03/15/06
Exhibit 6.1: Physician Participation in Managed Care, 1988, 1999, 2001
Physician participation in managed care increased sharply in the decade between the late 1980s and the late 1990s, but has decreased since then. The proportion of physicians with at least one managed care contract increased from 61% in 1988 to 91% in 1999, but then dropped to 88% in 2001. The average contribution of managed care to physician practice revenue followed a similar pattern, more than doubling from 23% in 1988 to nearly half (49%) of physician revenue in 1999, but then fell to 41% in 2001.
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Notes: “Managed care contracts” include contracts with HMOs, PPOs, and IPAs. “Average share of total practice revenue” represents share of revenue among physicians with at least one managed care contract.
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, Trends and Indicators in the Changing Health Care Marketplace, 2002, May 2002, Exhibit 6.1, p. 64, at http://www.kff.org/insurance/3161-index.cfm (1988 and 1999 data, from Physician Marketplace Statistics 1997/98, and Physician Socioeconomic Statistics, 2000-2002, American Medical Association); and data from the American Medical Association’s 2001 Patient Care Physician Survey (2001 data).
Trends and Indicators in the Changing Health Care MarketplaceInformation provided by the Health Care Marketplace Project.Publication Number:7031Information Updated: 04/01/04
Dual Eligibles: Medicaid’s Role in Filling Medicare’s Gaps – Issue Brief
This paper presents a profile of dual eligible beneficiaries (those qualifying for both Medicare and Medicaid), describes their health care expenditures, and analyzes the distribution of spending on the population.
This brief brings new analysis to the debate concerning the efficiency of Medicaid versus private health insurance as a mechanism for covering low-income children and adults.
This document was prepared for the AIDS in America: A Forgotten Epidemic? A Conference for News Leaders sponsored by the Kaiser Media Fellowships Program and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. It provides an overview of the impact of HIV/AIDS in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) across the U.S.
This updated issue brief, Trends in U.S. Government Funding for HIV/AIDS: Fiscal Years 1981 to 2004, provides an analysis of U.S. federal funding for HIV/AIDS since fiscal year (FY) 1981. It presents data and trends in the major categories of funding — care, cash and housing assistance, research, prevention, and global/international — over time. Cumulatively through its FY 2004, the US government has invested approximately $150 billion for domestic and international HIV/AIDS programs.
A recent survey conducted by The Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University examines the views of Army spouses and their experiences with military life, including experiences with deployment and attitudes toward re-enlistment, as well as attitudes towards government and the media. The survey was conducted among spouses of active duty U.S. Army personnel serving on the ten largest U.S. Army bases.
Statement by Drew Altman, President and CEO, Kaiser Family Foundation on the Selected Survey Findings of the Medicare Rx Drug Law
A number of reports have interpreted our recent poll on the public’s knowledge of the new Medicare prescription drug law as suggesting that the more seniors learn about the law the more unfavorable they will be. That may or may not prove correct but it is not what our analysis suggested. We found that seniors who know more about the law are more unfavorable towards it, but we also found that seniors who know more are more politically active and may not be representative of all seniors. Based on our poll we would say that it remains to be seen how the majority of seniors will react.
Ten years after the fall of apartheid and the birth of a new democracy, South Africans went to the polls for their third national election in April 2004. During the past ten years, the people of South Africa have witnessed dramatic changes in their government, as well as in their daily lives.
A comprehensive, nationally representative survey of South Africans was conducted by The Washington Post, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University to examine South Africans’ views about democracy and the challenges facing the country leading up to the April 2004 election. This extensive survey, “,” also sought to explore perceptions of how things have changed since the end of apartheid, as well as perceived challenges for the future, including issues such as unemployment, crime, race relations, and HIV/AIDS. Finally, the survey included many questions designed to illuminate the real-life experiences of South Africans, and the struggles and successes they face on a daily basis (March 2004).
