, prepared by InterStudy Publications with the support of the Kaiser Family Foundation provides information about Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs), including the key differences between PPOs and other health plan types. The report is based on in-person interviews with 25 executives PPOs and written survey responses from 19 of their respective firms, representing as much as 80 percent of the PPO industry. The report also provides information on the different services offered by PPOs; savings from use of discounted providers; and PPO use of managed care activities such as financial incentives for patients to use network providers and prior approvals for care.

• Report

The Public’s Health Care Agenda for the New President and Congress

This survey captures the public’s attitudes regarding the health care agenda for President Obama and the new Congress in 2009. It assesses the relative priority placed on health care by the American public as part of addressing the economic recession and as a large scale reform issue. The public’s priorities for health care reform and their views on a range of other health policy issues are presented.

News Release

Chartpack

Toplines

The survey was released at a January 15, 2009, briefing.

Agenda

Speaker Biographies

Webcast of briefing

Extending a drug benefit to Medicare beneficiaries has been a highly publicized issue in recent months. To address the question of how to finance and administer such a benefit while controlling its cost, some have proposed using pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)–companies that administer pharmaceutical benefits for health plans, HMOs, and employers while managing drug utilization and obtaining discounts from both retail pharmacies and manufacturers. Most recently, the Clinton Administration introduced a proposal for a Medicare Part D benefit that would use a PBM-focused approach and other private-sector best practices. This report examines the role of PBMs and considers the implications of using PBMs to manage a Medicare drug benefit, based on a review of the literature and interviews with senior executives in the PBM industry and pharmacy benefit consultants.

provides an overview of recent data and research on the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on African Americans. The Key Facts document also presents trends in the HIV/AIDS epidemic over time, racial differences in the access to and quality of HIV/AIDS services and includes the attitudes toward and perceptions of HIV/AIDS by race.

• Report

This report includes a side-by-side analysis of recent tax proposals by Members of Congress and various health organizations designed to increase the number of individuals with private health insurance coverage.

• Recent Tax Proposals To Increase Health Insurance Coverage

This report analyzes the administrative and implementation issues associated with expanding tax subsidies for the purchase of private health insurance.

• Tax Reform to Expand Health Coverage

Health News Index November/December, 1999

The November/December 1999 edition of the Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard Health News Index includes questions about major health stories covered in the news, including questions about Medical Errors and UnitedHealth Group’s Policy Change. The survey is based on a national random sample of 1,515 Americans conducted December 3-13, 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 November-December 1999
• Topline/Survey

This technical report provides 1) a description of the detailed simulation model and the assumptions used to analyze the effects of different tax subsidies for the purchase of health insurance coverage, and 2) the results of this analysis. The analysis includes the number of people who gain coverage, overall costs to the government, how much is spent on the currently insured vs. uninsured, and the effects on low-income groups.

The results of this report were published in Health Affairs, “The Business of Health Insurance,” January/February 2000, Volume 19 Number 1, Project HOPE–The People-to-People HealthFoundation, Inc.

For copies of the reprinted article (document #1571) call the Kaiser Family Foundation Publications Request Line at 1-800-656-4533 or Health Affairs at (301) 656-7401, ext 200.

• Technical Report

Health News Index March/April, 2000

The March/April 2000 edition of the Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health, Health News Index includes questions about major health stories covered in the news, including questions about the Supreme Court’s ruling on the the Food and Drug Administration’s authority to regulate the marketing of tobacco products. The survey is based on a national random sample of 1,012 Americans conducted March 31-April 3, 2000 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 March-April 2000
• Topline/Survey

This Fact Sheet provides and overview of the current tax subsidies for health insurance, generic subsidy approaches and specific proposals, the effects of tax subsidies, and implementation.

• Fact Sheet