The Healthcare Experiences of Women with HIV/AIDS: Insights from Focus Groups

This report summarizes findings from a series of focus groups with women living with HIV/AIDS. Focus group participants describe their first-hand experience with the health care system, including issues of to financing and coverage, relationships with providers, the role of AIDS support organizations, and challenges in care and treatment.

Report (.pdf)

Key Facts: Women and HIV/AIDS

Key Facts: Women and HIV/AIDS provides comprehensive data on the impact of HIV/AIDS epidemic on women in the United States. Based on the most recent data and research on the epidemiology of HIV/AIDS among women, the report includes an overview of the epidemic profile, a profile of women living with HIV/AIDS, data on access to and use of health services, and women’s perceptions of HIV/AIDS.

Report (.pdf)

In 2003, researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health completed an analysis of trends in attention to and knowledge about health news using data from all Health News Index tracking surveys between 1996 and 2002. The resulting article, “Health News and the American Public, 1996-2002,” was published in the October 2003 edition of Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law. The article is available online from Duke University Press.

Article (.pdf)

The Uninsured in Rural America

Summarizes the number of uninsured individuals in rural America, who they are, and the barriers to coverage they experience.

Fact Sheet (.pdf)

On October 5, 2003, Governor Gray Davis signed into law the California Health Insurance Act of 2003 (also referred to as SB2). This law would require employers with 200 or more workers to either pay into a fund that will provide coverage to their workers or to pay for 80% of the premium costs for their workers and dependents (effective January 1, 2006). Medium-sized employers (between 50 and 199 workers) would be required either to pay into the fund or pay for 80% of the premium costs for their employees by January 1, 2007. This chartpack updates an earlier analysis of the 2002 Kaiser/HRET California Employer Health Benefits Survey to provide data in employment categories that are more closely aligned with those of the California Health Insurance Act of 2003.

Chartpack: The Health Insurance Act of 2003 (SB2): Updated Findings from the 2002 California Employer Health Benefits Survey (.pdf)

This issue paper examines the policies in the HIFA waiver initiative that provide incentives for states to use Medicaid/SCHIP funds to assist in the purchase of private insurance options. It also reports on how states have responded to these new policies and what key policy questions are raised about premium assistance programs.

Issue Paper (.pdf)

This issue paper provides information on the out-of-pocket expenses for prescription drugs that low-income individuals would face under the Senate versus the House Medicare prescription drug benefit legislation.

Issue Paper (.pdf)

This chartbook presents analysis of national data on health insurance coverage based on a county’s proximity to a large urban area. It answers questions of how much health insurance coverage differs among people living in rural vs. urban communities, as well as, the differences in socio-economic and employment characteristics of those living in rural vs. urban counties.

Chartbook (.pdf)