The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
This brief uses the latest available data from the National Survey of America’s Families to assess the relationship of health coverage to work status, health, access and use of health services by women who left welfare in 1997 or after and had not returned by 1999.
The 50 state survey of enrollment simplification and renewal procedural reforms, shows that states continue to take steps to transform the Medicaid program from its origins as a welfare-based program into something resembling a more traditional health insurance program.
African Americans represent twelve percent of the U.S. population, or approximately 35 million people, but have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.
This chartpack presents a brief overview of the state of prescription drug coverage among the Medicare population. It reviews the impact of lack of coverage on beneficiaries’ access to prescription drugs, as well as current levels of total and out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs.
“the Pill”
This issue update reviews the research to date on the Pill the oldest hormonal contraceptive option as well as current medical recommendations concerning what women should know to make an informed choice about which contraceptive method to use.
Welfare and Work: How Do They Affect Parents’ Health Care Coverage?
This fact sheet presents an overview of issues involving health care coverage for parents who are shifting from welfare to the workforce.
This issue paper reveals that after three years of relatively slow spending growth, Medicaid spending accelerated in 1999 and 2000, and more rapid growth appears likely to continue. Medicaid spending grew by 7.1 percent ind FY 1999 and 8.6 percent in FY 2000.
Health News Index May/June, 2002
The Health News Index measures public attention to and knowledge about leading health stories covered in the news in April and May, including discussions in Congress about a Medicare prescription drug benefit and warnings by medical researchers about possible harmful side effects of newer prescription drugs compared to older, similarly effective drugs. The Health News Index is designed to help 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 issues.
It seems that almost every week the media reports on a new study about the Pill. Forty years after the first birth control pill was approved, research continues into everything from how effective oral contraceptives are to what impact they may have on risk for breast cancer, cervical cancer, or stroke. The Pill is the most widely used reversible contraceptive today and most new birth control methods also rely on hormones just like it. Yet many women remain confused about how best to weigh their pros and cons.
On June 18, at the most recent Emerging Issues in Reproductive Health Briefing a panel of researchers, clinicians, and public health experts discussed if new studies are shedding more light on the benefits and risks of the pill and other hormonal birth control options; how can a woman distinguish between established science and preliminary research; and how do today s hormonal methods stack up against each other and the alternative choices women have and what might tomorrow bring? The panel discussion featured leading experts, including Hoyt G. Wilson, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Reproductive Health; Carolyn L. Westhoff, MD, Professor, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and Professor, Department of Ob/Gyn, New York Presbyterian Hospital; Laura Castleman, MD, MPH, an ob/gyn in private practice and Adjunct Clinical Professor at University of Michigan; and Edio Zampaglione, MD, Associate Director for Contraception, Organon Pharmaceuticals.
The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured highlighted two new reports at the policy briefing, , and released several related publications at the event.