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Women’s Health Care Providers’ Experiences with Emergency Contraception
This survey snapshot is an update on women’s health care providers’ experiences with emergency contraception (EC). It provides information on prescribing practices and counseling for EC and views on increasing access to EC.
Improving access to prenatal care has been a public policy priority in the United States for the past 15 years. This report, prepared for the Kaiser Family Foundation by Paula Braveman, M.D. of the University of California, San Francisco and others, examines the impact of the Medicaid pregnancy-related expansions and reforms in California on the use of prenatal care during the late 1980s and 1990s.
Central to the current debate over Medicare prescription drug coverage is the role of private insurance plans in providing drug benefits to Medicare beneficiaries. This report offers views from health actuaries knowledgeable about the Medicare program and the prescription drug debate on key issues that emerge for potential plan sponsors, such as insurers and PBMs, in providing prescription drug benefits to Medicare beneficiaries through private, drug-only plans. The views of the actuaries were obtained through structured individual and group phone interviews conducted in the Spring of this year. To provide a framework for the discussion, actuaries were given a summary of the provisions contained in H.R. 4954 the bill that passed the House of Representatives in 2002. The proposals currently under consideration were not available at the time of the interviews.
The actuaries were guardedly optimistic that a drug-only private plan approach to providing Medicare prescription drug benefits could be viable, provided that certain key features were included. Most important were that there be adequate government subsidies of beneficiary premiums, and that, while plans should bear some insurance risk to provide incentives for efficiency, at least in the beginning, insurance risk should be shared between the private plans and the federal government. On the method of risk sharing, most of the actuaries said that risk corridors would be better and more attractive than reinsurance. Allowing only a one-time election of the drug benefit was also regarded as critical. Additional features seen by actuaries to increase the viability of plans offering a drug-only benefit included: the freedom to price premiums without arbitrary government limits; the ability to price premiums for local markets and not nationally; flexibility to exit the market (no guaranteed renewal as exists for Medigap insurers); some benefit flexibility, especially with respect to cost-sharing structures; preemption of most state laws and regulations to reduce the costs of compliance and make it easier to market on a multi-state or national basis; and an active role for the government in marketing and collecting premiums to reduce plans’ administrative costs. However, based on their experiences with M+C and Medigap, actuaries also regarded the government as an unreliable business partner and worried that the rules of the game would be significantly changed over time.
Improving access to prenatal care has been a public policy priority in the United States for the past 15 years. This issue brief, prepared for the Kaiser Family Foundation by Paula Braveman, M.D. of the University of California, San Francisco and others, examines the impact of the Medicaid pregnancy-related expansions and reforms in California during the late 1980s and 1990s on the use of prenatal care.
This chartpack outlines the findings of the national survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation in partnership with SELF Magazine, of women on their sexual health. The study focuses on women attitudes, knowledge, and experiences relating to all facets of sexual health.
This chartpack provides 2003 and 2006 estimates of total and out-of-pocket prescription drug spending by Medicare beneficiaries. The data and analysis for this chartpack, prepared by Actuarial Research Corporation, assume no change in current law.
A new national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health examines the public’s attitudes and opinions on issues related to the Medicare reform and prescription drug debate. The survey also takes a separate look at the differing views of younger and older Americans on this topic.
A public education partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation and SELF magazine, the : Take Charge of Your Sexual Health, shows that the stigma associated with STDs silences women, making it more difficult for them to get the information they need.
Section 1115 Waivers at a Glance: Summary of Recent Medicaid and SCHIP Waiver Activity
This summary of waiver activity is part of the Commission’s monitoring to provide information on how waivers are affecting the uninsured and the coverage provided to low-income Medicaid and SCHIP beneficiaries. It covers Section 1115 waivers submitted since August 2001.
This policy brief provides an overview of recent Section 1115 waivers and a discussion of key issues. The HIFA initiative, combined with state fiscal pressures, have led to an increase in the number of states seeking Section 1115 waivers. Many of these recent waivers stake out new ground in terms of the scope of changes in coverage that they permit.