JAMA Forum: Why Health Insurance Literacy Matters November 26, 2014 Perspective Larry Levitt’s November 2014 post looks at the challenges with people not understanding basic health insurance concepts as millions of them evaluate and choose health plans during open enrollment season for insurance in 2015.
Covering the Uninsured in 2008: A Detailed Examination of Current Costs and Sources of Payment, and Incremental Costs of Expanding Coverage August 1, 2008 Report This document contains the full findings and methodology from a Kaiser study featured in Health Affairs that examines the current spending on care for the uninsured and projects additional medical spending if the population had health insurance coverage. Full Report (.pdf)
Florida Medicaid Reform Waiver: Early Findings and Current Status September 30, 2008 Issue Brief Florida Medicaid Reform Waiver: Early Findings and Current StatusThis policy brief provides an overview of the Florida Medicaid reform and a summary of available research findings to date from various evaluators of the program. It was issued at the same time as a separate Health Affairs article highlighting findings from…
Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008: October 2008 October 20, 2008 Poll Finding The final Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 finds more people are reporting problems with health care bills, and paying for health care retains a solid hold on the public’s list of their top economic concerns. About one in three Americans now report their family has had problems paying medical…
Health Coverage in a Period of Rising Unemployment November 29, 2008 Issue Brief This policy brief reviews the public and private options available to help people maintain coverage if they become unemployed during a downturn and cannot get employer-sponsored coverage through a spouse. Specifically, it examines COBRA, non-group insurance and Medicaid. And it explains why, despite such options, more people will become uninsured…
Pulling it Together: What Will Health Reform Do For Me? February 24, 2009 Perspective There is one poll number that may be more important to watch than any other if we have a big debate about health reform: The percentage of Americans who think that they or their families would be better off if the president and the Congress enacted major health reform legislation.…
Pulling it Together: 19.7 April 16, 2009 Perspective Several years ago Joanne Silberner from NPR offered some advice I liked. Joanne said that the secret to effective communication was to “have a killer anecdote and a killer number.” Here is a killer number: 19.7. That’s the average number of years between major attempts at health reform since Harry…
Pulling It Together: A Public Opinion Surprise April 4, 2011 Perspective Medicaid is the nation’s primary health insurance program for low-income people and people with disabilities, covering more than 60 million people this year. And it’s about to get a lot of attention: it’s likely to be a prime target for spending reductions by “deficit hawks” in debate over the budget;…
Implications Of A Federal Block Grant Program For Medicaid April 1, 2011 Issue Brief This issue brief examines the broad implications of converting Medicaid to block grant financing, one of several ideas that have been put forth to help reduce the federal deficit. The paper, which does not analyze any specific proposal, notes that switching to block grant financing would fundamentally alter the Medicaid…
Community Coalitions: Pursuing Better Quality Health Care One Locality at a Time April 15, 2011 Event Stakeholders in dozens of communities around the nation are taking action to improve quality of care locally by engaging in one or more collaborations. What does each program offer? What goals do they have in common? How do they relate to a national quality strategy? This briefing, cosponsored by the…
