A fact sheet on current facts and statistics on abortion trends, provider profile, and abortion policy, both federal and state.

• Fact Sheet:

A growing trend by state legislatures to pass tough regulations on abortion services begs the questions: Do these rules help to ensure the health and safety of abortion patients and the quality of abortion services? Or, as some abortion rights groups have suggested, are they designed to put abortion providers out of business?

National Committee for Quality Assurance Chief Executive Officer, Margaret O’Kane, National Abortion Federation Committee on Quality Improvement Chair, Dr. Bernard Smith, and other experts discussed the quality of abortion care today, current medical guidelines for care, and whether additional state or federal oversight is needed at an Emerging Issues in Reproductive Health Briefing. A new study that provides the first-ever national data on the quality of abortion care from the patient’s perspective was also released.

• News Release: Women Who Have Abortions Give Care High Marks
• Report
• Toplines/Survey: National Survey of Abortion Patients
• Chart Pack
• News Release

: Fact Sheet

Fact Sheet available in PDF format.

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: Fact SheetLibrary Index

To learn how women view abortion care, the Kaiser Family Foundation commissioned a study of more than 2,200 patients. The Picker Institute, a health care assessment and improvement research organization, interviewed a diverse group of women drawn from 12 abortion providers in a dozen states around the country. The study, the first of its kind on such a large scale, found that patients generally gave abortion providers high marks for quality of care. Women also indicated which areas were most important to them – and how abortion providers could improve upon their services.

Executive Summary

Employment-Based Health Insurance Coverage and its Decline:The Growing Plight of Low-Wage Workers

This background paper examines the increase in uninsured workers and the growing disparity in health insurance coverage between low- and high-wage workers. While a larger proportion of higher wage workers had health coverage in 1996 than a decade before, coverage deteriorated for low-wage and less-educated workers, especially young men. The paper explores many explanations for this widening disparity. The primary cause is that while higher wage workers have retained access to employer-sponsored coverage, lower wage workers have less health benefits available and (especially when the deterioration in their real wages is taken into account) are less able to pay for coverage when it is offered by their employer.

• Background Paper

This fact sheet provides an overview of the role of Medicare and Medicaid in serving these beneficiaries, describes the health status of dual Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries, and discusses issues of managed care and access to care.This fact sheet is a summary of a longer Background Paper (#2132), which is also available.

• Fact Sheet

A National Survey of Women About Their Reproductive Health Care: Are Women Getting the Care Experts Say They Should?

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.

This fact sheet provides an overview of the role of Medicare and Medicaid in serving these beneficiaries; describes the health status of dual Medicare/Medicaid beneficiaries, and discusses issues of managed care and access to care.

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Library Index

Trends in Commercial Plans’ Participation

This background paper analyzes the trends in commercial plan participation in the Medicaid market by using a database specifically designed for this purpose. It examines changes from mid-1996 to mid-1997 in the types of full-risk plans serving Medicaid Beneficiaries. It also looks at trends through mid-1998 for the 15 states with the largest number of Medicaid enrollees.

• Background Paper: : Trends in Commercial Plans’ Particpation

California’s Undocumented Latino Immigrants: A Report on Access to Health Care Services

This report provides the results of a survey of undocumented Latino immigrants in two California counties (Fresno and Los Angeles), including their access to health care services, insurance status, health status, and economic circumstances.

• Report