In recent years, there has been an increasing federal role in supporting efforts to reduce the incidence of childbirth outside of marriage and decrease teen pregnancy rates through specialized programs. The 1996 welfare law provided a new incentive for states to use federal matching funds to establish educational programs that promote abstinence from sex unless married. This issue brief summarizes current federal and state policies on abstinence unless married programs, highlights the current state of knowledge on the effectiveness of these programs, and reviews public attitudes about abstinence education.

• Issue Update

Health News Index July/August, 1999

The July/August 1999 edition of the Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard Health News Index includes questions about major health stories covered in the news, including questions about the White House Medicare Proposal and the Patients’ Bill of Rights. The survey is based on a national random sample of 1,000 Americans conducted August 6-10, 1999 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 July-August 1999
• Topline/Survey

The Medicaid Primer presents in depth information on Medicaid, the federal/state program that provides health coverage for low-income families and people with disabilities and is the largest source of public financing for HIV/AIDS care in the U.S. The Medicaid Primer is designed to help policymakers and advocates navigate through the complexities of Medicaid with regard to the program’s role for people with HIV/AIDS.

The Federal Budget Chartbook is an update of the 1998 publication to include FY 1999 spending data and trends. The Chartbook provides a general guide to federal funding for HIV/AIDS, estimated to be nearly $10 billion in FY 1999 and details funding trends between FY 1995 and FY 1999. It offers analysis by type of program for people with HIV (e.g., prevention, research, and care) as well as financing source (e.g., Medicaid, Medicare, and Ryan White).

• Chartbook

This policy brief provides an overview of the low-income, uninsured population. Based on an analysis of the March 1998 Current Population Survey, the report discusses the demographic characteristics of this vulnerable population. It also presents information detailing health insurance coverage for low-income children and adults, as well as trends in insurance coverage over the past decade. It concludes with a discussion of recent coverage expansions and policy changes that have affected low-income Americans. The policy brief also includes a set of detailed appendix tables that provide health insurance coverage information by socioeconomic characteristics.

• Policy Brief

Promises and Prospects For Low-Income Americans

This book explores critical issues affecting access to health care for low-income Americans by assessing the importance of expansions of health coverage for the poor, the emerging challenges providers who serve low-income and uninsured populations face in a rapidly evolving health care delivery system, and the effects of these changes on particularly vulnerable populations. Articles include:

• IntroductionMarsha Lillie-Blanton, Rose Marie Martinez, Barbara Lyons, Diane Rowland
• A Review Of The Nation’s Progress And Challenges In Assuring Access To Health Care For Low-Income AmericansMarsha Lillie-Blanton
• Children’s Access To Health Care Dana C. Hughes, Kay A. Johnson, Sara Rosenbaum
• Needs of People With Chronic and Disabling ConditionsDennis McCarty, Helen J. Levine
• Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Among Low-Income PopulationsConstance Horgan, Dominic Hodgkin
• The “New” Health Reform and Access To Care:The Problem of the Inner CityJames W. Fossett, Janet D. Perloff
• The Hospital Safety Net: A Study of Inpatient Care for Non-Elderly Vulnerable PopulationsDarrell J. Gaskin
• Medicaid: The Transition to Managed CareJulie Hudman, Barbara Lyons, Risa Ellberger
• Section 1115 Medicaid Waivers:Charting a Path for Medicaid Managed Care Reform Sara Rosenbaum, Julie Darnell, Patricia Seliger Keenan, Lois Simon
• Insight From Oregon and Tennessee: The Influence of State Context on Medicaid Initiatives and Health Care for Low-Income PopulationsMarsha Gold
• Approaches to Assuring Quality Health Care Through State Contracts with Managed Care PlansSara Rosenbaum
• Tools For Monitoring Quality for Vulnerable PopulationsSue Felt-Lisk
• Directions For The FutureMarsha Lillie-Blanton, Rose Marie Martinez, Barbara Lyons, Diane Rowland

• Report: Promises And Prospects For Low-Income Americans

A new survey of state officials, conducted by Vernon Smith of Health Management Associates for the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, found that the number of children enrolled in stateCHIP programs has grown to more than 1.3 million in June 1999 from about 835,000 in December 1998. The survey was released at the July 30th Alliance for Health Reform Briefing on state efforts to enroll more kids in the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

As part of The Faces of Medicare, a collection of fact sheets profiling the characteristics and health needs of different groups of Medicare beneficiaries, highlights key facts about Medicare’s low-income population, who have have greater health needs than those with higher incomes.

• Fact Sheet

As part of The Faces of Medicare, a collection of fact sheets profiling the characteristics and health needs of different groups of Medicare beneficiaries, Medicare and the Under-65 Disabled highlights key information about Medicare’s under-65 disabled, whose disproportionately high rates of health and cognitive problems are compounded by low incomes.

• Fact Sheet

A national random survey of 1053 doctors and 768 nurses on their experiences with and attitudes towards health plans. The survey provides quantitative information from doctors and nurses about their non-elderly patients, as well as verbatim descriptions of patient experiences with health plan decisions, including doctors’ judgments on the consequences health plan denials have on their patients’ health.

• Chart Pack: – Chart Pack
• Report: – Summary of Findings
• Topline/Survey: – Toplines
• Report: – Verbatim Book