This policy brief includes background information on Medicaid and its drug benefit, provides examples of how states are using the cost containment mechanisms at their disposal and addresses issues surrounding beneficiary access to outpatient drugs.

• Policy Brief

An updated fact sheet summarizing the latest statistics and trends regarding the role of Medicaid in providing prescription drug coverage.

• Fact Sheet

Kaiser Family Foundation Capitol Hill Briefing Series on Women’s Health Policy

Women’s health needs and economic circumstances make health coverage and access to care important throughout their lives. They are disproportionately affected by changes in policies that impact both the private and public sectors. To provide policymakers with up-to-date information and allow for an interchange of ideas with experts in the field, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, in partnership with Women’s Policy, Inc., sponsors this Capitol Hill briefing series on women’s health policy.

Each briefing in the series focuses on different aspects of Women’s Health Policy. Topics include:

• Women, Work, and Family Health: A Balancing Act
• The State Fiscal Crisis: What’s at Stake for Women’s Health?
• Challenges in Coverage and Access: Key Findings from the New Kaiser Women’s Health Survey
• A Profile of Women’s Health: An Agenda for Change
• Women and Medicare: Making the Connection
• Women and HIV/AIDS: Overlooked and Underserved
• Access to Health Coverage: Are Low-Income Women Falling Through the Cracks?
• Expanding Access and Coverage for Women’s Health Services: Are State Solutions Enough?

Women, Work, and Family Health: A Balancing Act This briefing addresses the multiple roles that women play to meet their family’s health care needs and the challenges that women face in balancing family health and workplace responsibilities. Topics covered include special challenges for low-income women as well as public and private sector work/family policies. (Wednesday, October 8, 2003)

Briefing Materials

• Agenda

The NPR/Kaiser/Kennedy School Congressional Election Tracking Survey examines which issues are important to people when deciding how to vote in the November 2002 election for Congress. Just a few days prior to the election, the survey found that no single issue emerges as dominant for likely voters in deciding their vote.

• Topline & Methodology

The first fact sheet in a series on topics related to children, media and health focuses on video games — pulling together the key facts on the amount of time young people spend using video games, how use varies by age, gender and ethnicity, and the best research on the impact of video games on young players. Future issues will focus on violence on television, media ratings, and the online activities of teenagers.

Key Facts: Children and Video Games (.pdf)

The first fact sheet in a series on topics related to children, media and health focuses on video games — pulling together the key facts on the amount of time young people spend using video games, how use varies by age, gender and ethnicity, and the best research on the impact of video games on young players. Future issues will focus on violence on television, media ratings, and the online activities of teenagers.

• Key Facts:

The Washington Post/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard University Survey Project’s latest findings appeared in an article in The Washington Post on October 20, 2002. The survey explores age-related variations in views of politics and policy, including voting behaviors, opinions of the government, and social values.

• Topline & Methodology

A hotly debated issue in Congress has been the issue of when health maintenance organizations, health insurers, and those who administer health benefit plans should be financially liable to their plan participants for a denial of a claim or for damages for any injuries that result from such denials (known as health plan liability ). This new report by Gary Claxton of the Georgetown Institute for Health Care Research and Policy describes the health plan liability issue, compares the different health plan liability provisions passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives, and provides two scenarios that illustrate the differences between the Senate and House liability provisions.

• Report

Full Report: Spending on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: A Three Part Series

This compliation policy brief provides analysis of spending on the HIV/AIDS epidemic both by the United States government and globally. Included is an analysis of U.S. federal spending on the HIV/AIDS epidemic since FY 1981; spending by the U.S. on global HIV/AIDS activities and programs; and global spending on HIV/AIDS in resource-poor settings, including bilateral, multilateral, and private sector support.This policy brief was prepared as part of AIDS at 20: A National HIV/AIDS Policy Initiative, a joint initiative of the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Ford Foundation. You may download the full report or each policy brief separately.

• Report: Full Report: Spending on the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: A Three-Part Series

This issue update reviews abortion since the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade legalized it in 1973. Every state has laws regulating some aspect of the provision of abortion, and many have passed restrictions that are now in effect, such as parental consent or notification requirements; mandated counseling and waiting periods; and limits on funding for abortion.

Issue Brief (.pdf)