Survey on Consumer Experiences with Health Plans

A Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health survey found that more than six in ten privately insured American adults under age 65 give their health plans a grade of A or B, but nearly half report having some type of problem with their health plan in the last year with a range of consequences for the consumer. The survey found strong support for the right-to-sue a health plan, but also a willingness to accept limits on damages. Americans perceptions of the managed care industry have been substantially more negative over the past several years, but there has been little change recently.

• News Release: Nearly Half of Consumers Report Problems With Their Health Plans With Consequences Ranging from None to Serious
• Chart Pack
• Topline/Survey
• Public Opinion Update

A report focusing on the circumstances facing selected safety net hospitals in five major metropolitian areas around the United States, and their responses in the context of the market conditions they face.

• Report

The Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health monitored consumer experiences with managed care and attitudes toward alternative consumer protection approaches. This Public Opinion Update summarizes key findings from surveys conducted between 1997 and 2001, a period in which the intensity of public debate and media attention paid to managed care issues varied substantially.

• Public Opinion Update (PDF)

This guide, prepared by Stephanie Lewis, JD, MHSA for the Kaiser Family Foundation, explores key issues in the Congressional debate over a federal patients bill of rights. It includes an overview of private health insurance market regulation and its relationship to the patient protection debate, a discussion of areas of consensus such as access to care and information, scope of coverage and preemption, and an examination of the key differences between the House and Senate bills with particular attention to how they each handle external review of health plan decisions and liability.

As the largest source of public funding for contraceptive care in the United States, Medicaid plays a crucial role in financing family planning services and supplies for millions of low-income women across the nation. In the past 15 years, managed care has become the primary way of delivering care to children and adults on Medicaid, a development which has had significant implications for how family planning services are financed, organized and delivered under Medicaid. This report, , prepared by Rachel Benson Gold and Cory L. Richards of The Alan Guttmacher Institute for the Kaiser Family Foundation, provides an overview of Medicaid coverage of family planning services, examines the effects of Medicaid managed care on the provision of these services, and discusses how the 1997 Balanced Budget Act can shape the delivery of family planning services under Medicaid managed care to improve access to these services for low-income women.

This document, prepared by Health Policy Alternatives, Inc., provides a side-by-side comparison of five major federal proposals under consideration to provide outpatient prescription drug coverage to Medicare beneficiaries. It includes both a summary and a detailed comparison of the following major proposals: S. 357, The Medicare Preservation and Improvement Act of 2001 (Breaux/Frist I), S. 358, The Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act of 2001 (Breaux-Frist II), H.R. 4680, The Medicare Rx 2000 Act (passed by the House of Representatives on June 28, 2000), S. 10, The Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage Act of 2001 (Senator Daschle), and S. 1135, The Medicare Reform Act of 2001 (Senator Graham). 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.

• Prescription Drug Coverage for Medicare Beneficiaries: Comparison of Selected Proposals

Health News Index July/August, 2001

The July/August 2001 edition of the Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health, Health News Index includes questions about major health stories covered in the news, including stem cell research and patients rights legislation. The Health News Index is designed to help the news media and people in the health field gain a better understanding of which health stories Americans are following and what they understand about those health issues.

• HNI July-August 2001
• Topline/Survey

A new background report sums up how multiple trends have led to a situation where safety net hospitals are feeling more financial pressure and are challenged to subsidize the unprofitable care of theuninsured.

• Background Paper
• For a more extensive discussion read our larger report from the same study.

Since Texas enacted the first law explicitly authorizing suits by enrollees in health plans offered by managed care organizations (MCOs) and other insurers, several other states have adopted similar legislation. This report, prepared by Patricia Butler, J.D., Dr.Ph., for the Kaiser Family Foundation, briefly describes the key features of these state laws, legal challenges that have been raised to some of them, and early experiences in states whose laws are in effect. The key features of the laws in eight states are outlined in a table that accompanies this report. Updated August 2001.

• Report

A national survey of employers, released jointly by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust, found that smaller employers (3 to 199 employees) are significantly more likely than larger employers (200 or more employers) to support a person’s right to sue a health plan, and somewhat more likely to support the right to appeal a health plan’s decision to an independent reviewer. Two-thirds (67%) of smaller employers express support for the right to sue a health plan compared to 28% of larger employers. Eighty-six percent (86%) of smaller employers and 74% of larger employers support independent review. However, the survey found that support for both the right to sue and independent review decreases if employers are told that the cost of health insurance might increase as a result.

A separate national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation of very small businesses only — those with 3 to 24 employees — found that 68% favor a federal law increasing patient protections, including the right to sue health plans, while 24% oppose such a law. Again, support drops when those surveyed hear that such a law would increase the cost of health insurance (48% favor, 40% oppose).

• Chart Pack
• Toplines/Survey