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This policy brief presents data on the range of resources currently being expended to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in resource-poor settings, including bilateral, multilateral, and private sector support, as well as domestic spending by recipient country governments. For purposes of this policy brief, resource-poor countries include developing countries and countries in transition.
This policy brief provides an analysis of trends in U.S. federal spending on the HIV/AIDS epidemic since FY 1981, the year in which the epidemic began. To date, the U.S. government has invested more than $100 billion in combating the epidemic.
The Kaiser Family Foundation helped conduct a national survey of over 1,000 informal caregivers in 1998 to assess the policy issues involved with this new, growing role for many family members and friends. Nearly one of every four adults (23 percent) is an informal caregiver, and, as the American population ages, it is likely families will take on an even greater responsibility to keep their loved ones at home and in communities.
The Foundation is pleased to provide you with a chartpack that presents the key findings from the survey and a link to a just-released Health Affairs article principally authored by Karen Donelan.
New Survey on Women’s Health in the U.S.
A new national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds most women report generally positive experiences with the health care system, but a sizable share faced problems. A significant minority of nonelderly women reported delaying or going without care in the past year or not filling a prescription due to costs. Women are more likely than men both to face these problems and express concerns about the quality of health care they received.
Women’s Health in the United States: Health Coverage and Access to Care presents the findings from a nationally representative survey of nearly 4,000 women ages 18 to 64. A smaller survey of 700 men was conducted for comparison purposes.
This policy brief examines federal spending on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, with a primary emphasis on spending and activities to benefit resource-poor countries. United States spending on international HIV/AIDS activities in resource-poor countries began in the mid-1980s; and in FY 2002, the U.S. will devote $1 billion to combating HIV/AIDS globally.
Survey Snapshot: The Impact of TV’s Health Content: A Case Study of ER Viewers
Working with a writer/producer of the NBC drama, ER, to get advance information about upcoming episodes, researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted 10 separate national random-sample telephone surveys of regular viewers to determine the impact of entertainment media as an information source on health and health policy.
This report addresses national managed care firms participation in M+C and the factors influencing their decision processes about M+C products. Based on interviews with executives and senior staff of national managed care firms, this report examines how eight national firms strategically position their M+C product, including the process that firms use when making decisions and the key factors they say most influence their decisions related to participation.
This report, prepared by Marilyn Moon of The Urban Institute and Robert Friedland and Lee Shirey of Georgetown University’s Center on an Aging Society, reviews the income and assets of the current Medicare population, provides an overview of asset tests used to determine eligibility for programs assisting low-income Medicare beneficiaries, and considers how alternative policy options would affect eligibility for these programs.
The authors find that beneficiaries with low incomes tend to have minimal assets. Eighty-five percent of all Medicare beneficiaries with incomes below the poverty level have less than $12,000 in assets and more than half have less than $1,500 in assets. Even moderate asset holdings can prevent beneficiaries from qualifying for low-income assistance, however, given the asset criteria often used by programs offering coverage to low-income Medicare beneficiaries. In considering options such as raising asset limits, eliminating them altogether, and redefining assets and how they are determined, the authors find that each of these approaches would allow significant numbers of additional low-income Medicare beneficiaries to qualify for assistance. While adding to the cost of public programs, these policy changes would clearly expand their capacity to reach their target populations.
To help understand why M+C plans have exited or limited their participation in the M+C program in recent years, this report presents an empirical analysis of the factors associated with plan withdrawals between 1999 and 2001. This analysis explores factors such as M+C payment levels, local market characteristics, and individual health plan characteristics to help predict plan withdrawals and draw inferences about the types of plans and markets that have been most adversely affected.
As the U.S. Congress works on legislation to reauthorize Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the nation’s welfare program, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured cosponsored a briefing on the health-related issues of the reauthorization.