Americans aren’t thinking a lot about the poor these days. A new survey by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government found that only about one in 10 Americans names poverty, welfare, or something similar as one of the two top issues government should address. Nevertheless, when they are asked about it directly, most Americans think that poverty is still a problem in this country, even in these generally prosperous times. However, the survey found the public is divided on why poverty is a problem and on what should be done about it. Furthermore, the survey highlights the experiences and problems of low-income Americans.Summary of Findings (.pdf)

Toplines/Survey (.pdf)

• Fact Sheet: Condoms

Medicaid’s Role for the Disabled Population Under Age 65

Defines the non-elderly disabled and summarizes Medicaid’s role in their health care coverage. Includes a description of enrollment requirements, benefits, spending and managed care concerns for the population.

• Fact Sheet

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

• Fact Sheet

New and recent publications on immigrant health policy explore some of the complex problems the country faces in expanding health coverage to immigrants and provide basic statistics and facts on the current status of their health care.

• News Release: Recent Immigrants Have Had Little Impact on the Growth in America’s Uninsured Population
• Issue Paper: Is Immigration Responsible for the Growth in the Number of the Uninsured?
• Fact Sheet: Immigrants’ Health Care Coverage and Access
• Chart Pack: Immigrants’ Health Care: Coverage and Access
• Background Paper: Caring for Immigrants: Health Care Safety Nets in Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and Houston
• Policy Brief: Medicaid Eligibility and Citizenship Status: Policy Implications for Immigrant Populations
• Link to find “Left Out: Immigrants’ Access to Health Care and Insurance”
• Background Paper: Immigrants’ Access to Health Care After Welfare Reform: Findings from Focus Groups in Four Cities

The Kaiser Commission co-sponsored a policy briefing on America’s uninsured population and potential models for coverage expansion. Expanding public programs and providing tax credits are both being discussed as ways to cover some of the 42 million uninsured Americans. A link to the webcast and related resources is provided.

• Webcast of Policy Briefing

President Bush’s Budget: An Overview of Health Programs

A new Foundation presentation provides an overview of President Bush s federal budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2002, focusing on its impact on health programs. The budget largely keeps pace with expected growth in Medicare and Medicaid, creates a prescription drug block grant to states for low-income seniors, proposes decreased funding for some public health programs, and would provide either limited or no growth for central programs related to HIV/AIDS.

• Presentation

This report by the Institute for Medicare Practice at Mount Sinai School of Medicine takes a hard look at the operational challenges facing Medicare and considers incremental, structural changes to improve the management of the Medicare program from the standpoint of beneficiaries and providers.

Based on interviews with key experts and Medicare stakeholders including representatives of beneficiaries, hospitals, physicians and other providers of care, as well as current and former Congressional and Administration staff, the report identifies problems in current operations and offers recommendations to address them. Recommended changes are grouped according to whether they would primarily impact beneficiaries, providers or general program administration. For each recommendation, the report identifies the type of action that would be needed statutory, appropriation, or administrative.

• Report

Health News Index March/April, 2001

The March/April, 2001 edition of the Kaiser Family Foundation/HarvardSchool of Public Health Health News Index includes questions about major health stories covered in the news, including questions about the financial future of Social Security and Medicare. 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. Every two months, Kaiser/Harvard issues a new index report.

• HNI March-April 2001
• Topline/Survey

In Their Own Words: Family Profiles

As the U.S. Congress and state legislatures explore policies to cover the uninsured, the Commission has profiled four families with uninsured members, including their family budgets, to better understand how specific policy ideas will practically affect typical uninsured Americans.

• Family Profiles
• Read the full report, “In Their Own Words: The Uninsured Talk About Living Without Health Insurance”