A Historical Review of How States Have Responded to the Availability of Federal Funds for Health Coverage August 1, 2012 Issue Brief This historical review finds that the availability of federal funds has served as an effective incentive for states to provide health coverage to meet the health and long-term care needs of their low-income residents despite state budget pressures. The brief examines the history of earlier experiences and provides important context for how states may respond as they weigh the costs and benefits of expanding their Medicaid programs in 2014 as called for under the Affordable Care Act.
Implementing the ACA’s Medicaid-Related Health Reform Provisions After the Supreme Court’s Decision August 1, 2012 Issue Brief On June 28, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A majority of the Court also found the ACA’s Medicaid expansion unconstitutionally coercive of states, while a different majority of the Court held that this issue was fully remedied by limiting the Health…
A Guide to the Supreme Court’s Decision on the ACA’s Medicaid Expansion August 1, 2012 Issue Brief On June 28, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in the case challenging the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Court upheld the constitutionality of the ACA’s individual mandate, which requires most people to maintain a minimum level of health insurance coverage beginning in 2014. A majority of the…
Dimensions of Partisanship Survey August 1, 2012 Poll Finding With the 2012 presidential elections approaching, The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation’s latest partnership survey gauged the American public’s attitudes toward the political system and toward major political issues. This survey is the 25th in a series of surveys dating back to 1995 that have been conducted as…
July Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: A Focus On The Mandate and the Medicaid Expansion in the Aftermath of the Supreme Court Decision July 31, 2012 Perspective This second July poll reports in further depth on public opinion about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the wake of the Supreme Court decision. The Supreme Court’s decision that the individual mandate was constitutional as a tax appears to have had little impact on opinion about the already largely…
Health Insurance Exchanges: Can States and the Federal Government Meet the Deadline? July 27, 2012 Event The Alliance for Health Reform and the Commonwealth Fund sponsor a July 27 briefing to discuss how states are facing implementation and evaluation deadlines in regards to health insurance exchanges. Speakers will explore such questions as: What needs to happen between now and January 2014 for states to successfully implement…
Comparison of Medicare Premium Support Proposals July 26, 2012 Issue Brief This brief provides a side-by-side comparison of recent proposals to transform Medicare into a premium support program and slow the future growth in Medicare spending. These proposals each would convert Medicare from a defined benefit program, in which beneficiaries are guaranteed coverage for a fixed set of benefits, to a…
Visualizing Health Policy: HIV/AIDS – The State of the Epidemic After 3 Decades July 25, 2012 Infographic The July 2012 Visualizing Health Policy infographic looks at the state of the HIV/AIDS epidemic after three decades, released during the 19th biannual International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) in Washington, D.C. See the full-size infographic at The Journal of the American Medical Association View the related Slideshow Visualizing Health Policy is a monthly…
Community Health Centers: Can They Plug the Gaps in the Safety Net? July 23, 2012 Event The Alliance for Health Reform and the Centene Corporation sponsored a July 23 briefing to discuss the role of community health centers (CHCs) in providing care to vulnerable populations as employer-sponsored coverage declines and demand for safety-net services increase. Panelists addressed questions such as: How are states and safety-net systems…