The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
An issue brief that looks at mandated health insurance benefits and the tradeoffs among benefits, coverage, and costs. It explores the debate over mandated benefits legislation, the evidence about the impact of mandates, the status of mandated benefits in other states and in California.
Analyses of the Child Health Plan and Other Kaiser Permanente Services for Publicly and Privately Insured Children, a new policy brief prepared for the Kaiser Family Foundation and the California HealthCare Foundation by the Institute for Health Policy Studies at U.C. San Francisco, summarizes the results and policy implications of four different analyses comparing the experiences of children enrolled through Kaiser Permanente in the Child Health Plan, Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, and commercial programs. The aggregate time period for the four studies covered in the policy brief is September 1998-October 2000.
Updated, July 31, 2002
This document, prepared by Health Policy Alternatives, Inc., provides a side-by-side comparison of five major federal proposals to provide outpatient prescription drug coverage to Medicare beneficiaries, introduced as of July 31, 2002: H.R. 4954, The Medicare Modernization and Prescription Drug Act of 2002 (passed by the House of Representatives on June 28, 2002); H.R. 5019, The Medicare Rx Drug Benefit and Discount Act of 2002 (Rep. Rangel/House Democratic proposal); S. 2625, The Medicare Outpatient Prescription Drug Act of 2002 (Sen. Graham/Senate Democratic Proposal, including modifications in the Graham Amendment to S.812);S. 2729, The 21st Century Medicare Act (known as the Tripartisan Proposal); andS. 2736, The Medicare Rx Drug Discount and Security Act of 2002 (Sen. Hagel). Modeled on earlier side-by-side comparisons prepared for The Kaiser Family Foundation, this document summarizes the key provisions of leading proposals as part of the Foundation’s continuing effort to track the Medicare prescription drug debate. This side-by-side may be updated to include additional proposals.
Survey Snapshot: The Impact of TV’s Health Content: A Case Study of ER Viewers
Working with a writer/producer of the NBC drama, ER, to get advance information about upcoming episodes, researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted 10 separate national random-sample telephone surveys of regular viewers to determine the impact of entertainment media as an information source on health and health policy.
Response to the Movie, John Q
When the movie, John Q, was released in February 2002, it brought a new round of press attention to the issue of health insurance coverage in America, and to the role of entertainment media in drawing public attention to or reflecting public concern with this topic. These are the results of a survey of adult Americans about the impact of the movie.
This report by Michael Gluck of the Georgetown University Institute for Health Care Research and Policy examines several ways in which the federal government influences the availability and cost of prescription drugs, including 1) intellectual property protection the laws and policies which regulate and influence patents and generic competition (include the Hatch-Waxman Act), 2) federal support for drug research and development, 3) federal tax subsidies through various tax credits available to pharmaceutical firms, and 4) reimportation from other countries of drugs produced in the US. July, 2002.
As Seen on TV: Health Policy Issues in TV s Medical Dramas
The popularity of hospital-based TV shows and the recent Hollywood movie, John Q, have raised questions about the extent to which the entertainment media engage health policy issues and how those issues are portrayed. This is the executive summary of a study of the 2000-2001 television season of four television hospital dramas.
Underinsured in America: Is Health Coverage Adequate?
This fact sheet examines the adequacy of health insurance coverage of the insured and focuses on the consequences and future policy challenges of what some experts have defined as “underinsurance.”
Survey Snapshot: Response to the Movie, John Q
When the movie, John Q, was released in February 2002, it brought a new round of press attention to the issue of health insurance coverage in America, and to the role of entertainment media in drawing public attention to or reflecting public concern with this topic. This is the summary of a survey of adult Americans about the impact of the movie.
As Seen on TV: Health Policy Issues in TV s Medical Dramas
The popularity of hospital-based TV shows and the recent Hollywood movie, John Q, have raised questions about the extent to which the entertainment media engage health policy issues and how those issues are portrayed. This is the full report of a study of the 2000-2001 television season of four television hospital dramas.