The debate over President Clinton’s national health care reform plan put health care policy at the forefront of the national agenda in 1993 and 1994. After the end of that debate, it remained to be seen whether or not health policy would hold the media’s and the public s interest to the same degree. To help answer that and other questions, a comprehensive study of health policy media coverage from 1997 through 2000 – focusing mainly on the topics of managed care, Medicare, the uninsured, and health care costs — was undertaken by researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation, in conjunction with Princeton Survey Research Associates.

A report on Indiana, Massachusetts, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, and Pennsylvania prescription drug programs illustrating the issues and challenges for delivering drugs via Medicaid, managed care, and pharmaceutical assistance programs.

• Report

Medicaid: Purchasing Prescription Drugs

A policy brief explaining how Medicaid purchases outpatient drugs and outlining the policy tools available to states to limit the rate of growth in spending on prescription drugs.

• Policy Brief (28 pages)

This article, which appeared in the Jan/Feb 2002 issue of the journal Health Affairs, examines the availability of health plan choice for employees. After reviewing previous research and providing information on the data set employed, the authors, Tom Rice, Jon Gabel, Larry Levitt and Samantha Hawkins, examine changes in the extent of health plans choice over the past decade and the choices available to workers in 2001.

Note: This publication is no longer in circulation. However, a few copies may still exist in the Foundation’s internal library that could be xeroxed. Please email order@kff.org if you would like to pursue this option.

On June 5, 2001, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Ford Foundation jointly sponsored a daylong Symposium to mark the 20th year of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and focus on the key challenges facing the United States at home and abroad in the epidemic’s third decade. This policy brief continues the process begun that day by highlighting some of the challenges and approaches to addressing the epidemic, with a focus on the U.S. role. The policy brief examines domestic and global challenges. It was developed as part of AIDS at 20: A National Policy Initiative, a joint initiative of the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Ford Foundation designed to help inform the U.S. response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

• Policy Brief

Complete Survey Toplines for the Kaiser Health News Index: 2001

The Kaiser Health News Index is designed to provide key tracking information on public opinion about health care topics to journalists, policymakers and the general public.

January/February

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This Chart Book includes data and background information critical to understanding the Medicare program and the challenges it faces in keeping up with the rising costs of health care and in ensuring the program s future financial security. The document is organized into the following six sections: Medicare s Beneficiaries, Medicare Spending and Utilization, Supplemental Insurance and Out-of-Pocket Spending, the Medicare+Choice program, Medicare and Prescription Drugs, and Financing Medicare.

The Women’s Health Data Book: A Profile of Women’s Health in the United States, offers the latest data and trends on the wide range of health issues that affect women across their life spans. Published by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health, the Data Book is edited by Dawn Misra, Ph.D.

This book addresses social and economic factors and provides up-to-date information on chronic conditions, reproductive health, mental health, violence, health behaviors, and access to and quality of health services received by women. Information is included on disparities in health status and access to care among subgroups of women, highlighting the populations of women who are at greatest risk. Additional fact sheets highlighting key data from the book are also available.

• Women’s Health Data Book

• Fact Sheet: Data Book Highlights
• Fact Sheet: Highlights for Women of Color
• Fact Sheet: Highlights for Adolescents

A new brief policy analysis illustrates the relationship between rising unemployment and increased Medicaid enrollment and spending.

• Brief Policy Analysis