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As part of the Kaiser Family Foundation’s National Survey of Physicians, this portion of the survey examines differences in provider payment rates from different payors, such as Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurers, and explores providers experiences with these different payors and with providing treatment for uninsured and low-income patients.
The Kaiser Family Foundation’s biennial , conducted from March 26 through October 11, 2001, is based on a nationally representative random sample of 2,608 physicians whose major professional activity is direct patient care.
The survey was released in four parts.
ToplinePart I: Doctors on Disparities in Medical CarePart II: Doctors and Prescription DrugsPart III: Doctors on Their ProfessionPart IV: Doctors, Payors, and Low-Income Patients
New Survey on Women’s Health in the U.S.
A new national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds most women report generally positive experiences with the health care system, but a sizable share faced problems. A significant minority of nonelderly women reported delaying or going without care in the past year or not filling a prescription due to costs. Women are more likely than men both to face these problems and express concerns about the quality of health care they received.
Women’s Health in the United States: Health Coverage and Access to Care presents the findings from a nationally representative survey of nearly 4,000 women ages 18 to 64. A smaller survey of 700 men was conducted for comparison purposes.
Report (.pdf)
American Indian tribes have new options under the 1996 Welfare Reform legislation that created Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a block grant enacted to replace the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). TANF, which expires in September of this year, provides cash assistance to poor families with children, including poor American Indian Families, and gives tribes the option to design and administer their own family assistance programs following approval of the plan by the Department of Health and Human Services. As Congress considers TANF reauthorization, three new publications prepared for the Kaiser Family Foundation provide insight into the opportunities presented by the tribal TANF option as well as challenges to its effective implementation.
As part of the Kaiser Family Foundation’s biennial National Survey of Physicians, the Foundation examined doctors views of their profession. The survey found that most physicians say the overall morale of physicians has decreased in the last five years. The majority of doctors say that managed care has negatively affected the way they practice medicine and doctors are more likely now than they were in 1999 to view managed care negatively. Doctors do believe managed care has had a positive effect on the use of practice guidelines and preventive care.
With attention focused recently on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs, findings from a new National Survey of Physicians by the Kaiser Family Foundation shed light on another factor in drug promotion that has received less attention — promotion to physicians. Most physicians say they have received perks from a drug company representative, including free drug samples, meals, tickets to events, free travel and other incentives. When asked their views on information they receive from drug company representatives, nearly three-fourths say it is very or somewhat useful, and more than eight in ten say the information is very or somewhat accurate. Survey findings also show that physicians see several factors influencing patients awareness of drugs. More than six in 10 doctors say prescription drug advertisements influence patients to talk to their physicians at least somewhat often , and even more doctors say the general news media and friends and family members are frequent influences.
This primer, prepared by Gary Claxton of the Institute for Health Care Research and Policy at Georgetown University, examines the structure and operation of private health insurance including the types of organizations that provide it, how managed care is delivered, and how risk pools work and describes how private health insurance coverage is regulated under state and federal laws. The primer explains how the current nature of private insurance relates to key issues facing federal and state policymakers.
Updated:
How Private Health Insurance Works — 2008 Update
This report, the sixth in an annual series, provides an overview of the status of state-administered AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) and documents how these programs are responding to the changing fiscal, clinical and epidemiological dynamics of HIV/AIDS. ADAPs, authorized under Title II of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, provide HIV/AIDS-related prescription drugs to uninsured and underinsured individuals living with HIV/AIDS in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands. The report is commissioned by the Foundation and conducted by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) and the AIDS Treatment Data Network (ATDN). For more information on the series see the National ADAP Monitoring Project page.
This survey snapshot is part of the new KFF/MTV Fight for Your Rights: Protect Yourself (FFYR), MTV’s campaign to inform and empower young people on the issues surrounding their sexual health, including HIV and AIDS, other sexually transmitted disease (STDs) and teen pregnancy. The new initiative includes special programming, public service messages, online and grassroots components, and an extensive resource and referral service.