Health News Index January/February, 2001

The January/February, 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 President Bush’s executive order on U.S. funding of international family planning groups. The survey is based on a national random sample of 1,021 Americans conducted January 25-28, 2001, which measures public knowledge of health stories covered by news media during the previous month. 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 in the news Americans are following and what they understand about those health issues. Every two months, Kaiser/Harvard issues a new index report.

• HNI January-February 2001
• Topline/Survey

Diane Rowland, executive director of the Commission, testified to the Subcommittee on Health of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce about providing prescription drugs to seniors. Her testimony includes discussion of Medicaid’s role in providing outpatient drug coverage.

• Testimony
• Chart Pack

An article in the January/February 2001 issue of Health Affairs by Judith Feder, Larry Levitt, Ellen O’Brien, and Diane Rowland assesses how best to expand health insurance coverage for the low-income uninsured. The article concludes that despite flaws in existing public programs, which can and should be remedied, strengthening programs like Medicaid and CHIP establishes a foundation for truly effective coverage for all low-income Americans.

Available at www.healthaffairs.org.

This study is the second in a biennial series of studies examining both the amount and the nature of television’s sexual messages, paying special attention to references to such issues as contraception, safer sex, and waiting to have sex. (The prior report is publication #1458.) The current study also examines any changes that have occurred in the presentation of sexual messages on television over the last two years. The study looked at 1,114 programs from the 1999/00 television season across ten different channels, representing broadcast, public, cable, independent, and premium channels. The full report is available separately as publication #3088.

• Chart Pack

This study is the second in a biennial series of studies examining both the amount and the nature of television’s sexual messages, paying special attention to references to such issues as contraception, safer sex, and waiting to have sex. (The prior report is publication #1458.) The current study also examines any changes that have occurred in the presentation of sexual messages on television over the last two years. The study looked at 1,114 programs from the 1999/00 television season across ten different channels, representing broadcast, public, cable, independent, and premium channels. The full report is available separately as publication #3088.

• Executive Summary

This fact sheet provides an overview of the Medicaid program’s increasing reliance on managed care to deliver services.

• Fact Sheet

Access to health coverage is a challenge for millions of low-income women. Because they are more likely to be low-wage workers and work in industries that don’t offer benefits, access to job-based coverage is often problematic. Avenues for assistance are available to some through Medicaid. However, despite the program s broadened focus on children and pregnant women, restrictive income and categorical requirements still leave millions of women ineligible and often uninsured. Recent changes in public and private health and welfare policies have had a disproportionate impact on low-income women and have resulted in increased numbers of women who lack coverage. This report, created for a Capitol Hill briefing series on women’s health issues, reviews the challenges facing low-income women and assesses the impact on health coverage of policy changes associated with the 1996 federal welfare reform law, tracing changes in coverage between 1994 and 1998.

• Report

Low-income women’s high rate of health problems and limited economic resources make access to health care and adequate health insurance coverage particularly important. Health coverage, whether through the private sector or publicly through Medicaid, has been demonstrated to improve access to care for low-income women. However, obtaining coverage is not easy or even possible for many women. Job-based insurance is not always an option for low-income women, despite their high workforce participation. Assistance is available to some women through Medicaid, but the program s restrictive income and categorical requirements leave millions ineligible and often uninsured. This fact sheet presents coverage rates for low-income women ages 18 to 64, highlights subgroups of women at particular risk of being uninsured, and examines changes in coverage from 1994 to 1998.

• Fact Sheet

This study is the second in a biennial series of studies examining both the amount and the nature of television’s sexual messages, paying special attention to references to such issues as contraception, safer sex, and waiting to have sex. (The prior report is publication #1458.) The current study also examines any changes that have occurred in the presentation of sexual messages on television over the last two years. The study looked at 1,114 programs from the 1999/00 television season across ten different channels, representing broadcast, public, cable, independent, and premium channels.

• Report

The report reveals that the total number of children enrolled in state CHIP programs had grown to 2.3 million by June 2000, showing a steady increase in enrollment. The report is part of a larger project to track Medicaid and CHIP enrollment in all 50 states.