New Study Examines the Current Spending on Health Care for the Uninsured and Projects the Cost of Additional Medical Care if the Population Were Insured August 1, 2008 Report This study examines the current spending on care for the uninsured and projects additional medical spending if the population had health insurance coverage. The study finds that the uninsured will spend $30 billion out-of-pocket for health care in 2008 while receiving $56 billion in uncompensated care, three quarters of which…
Affordability and Health Reform: If We Mandate, Will They (and Can They) Pay? November 1, 2009 Event The Alliance for Health Reform and The Commonwealth Fund co-sponsored this briefing to explore the health reform proposals being considered which may impose responsibilities on both individuals and employers to have and help pay for coverage and whether they will be able to pay the amounts above the subsidies. Questions…
Children and Oral Health: Assessing Needs, Coverage and Access June 1, 2012 Issue Brief This policy brief highlights the prevalence of dental problems among children and examines gaps in oral health coverage and access to dental care, as well as disparities by income and race/ethnicity. It also looks at out-of-pocket costs for dental care, explains the role of Medicaid and CHIP in dental care,…
Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 – June 2008 June 23, 2008 Poll Finding The latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 poll finds that the recent economic downturn continues to create serious financial problems for most Americans. When asked about the impact of recent economic changes, nearly six in 10 adults (59 percent) report having a “serious problem” with one of seven major…
Covering the Uninsured: Options for Reform September 16, 2008 Issue Brief Download PDF Key Facts on the Uninsured In 2007, 45 million nonelderly people in the United States lacked health coverage More than eight in ten uninsured people (81%) come from working families About two-thirds of the nonelderly uninsured are from low-income families (income below 200% of poverty, about $42,400 for…
Pulling it Together from Drew Altman: Multiple Agendas for Controlling Health Care Costs January 26, 2009 Perspective In what would be a domestic policy trifecta, we may be headed for interconnected big debates about economic recovery, entitlement programs and health reform. A core issue in the entitlement and health reform debates is the problem of rising health care costs. President Obama, now apparently fully briefed on the…
Pulling it Together: Health Reform’s Six-Month Checkup September 23, 2010 Perspective Six months after its enactment, there are two totally different stories to tell about the health-reform law. The public remains split on the law largely along traditional partisan lines. Confusion and misperception are rampant, with more than a third of seniors still thinking the law contains “death panels” (it does…
Pulling It Together: What Do We Want Health Insurance To Be? September 26, 2008 Perspective Trends in the health insurance marketplace show substantial growth in high deductible health plans, especially among smaller firms, where 35% of workers are now covered by plans with a deductible of $1,000 or more. That’s according to our recently released employer health benefits survey, which we have been conducting now…
Pulling It Together: The Falloff in Utilization: “There’s Something Happening, Here, What It Is Ain’t Exactly Clear” April 10, 2012 Perspective For as long as I have been in the field, we have seen cycles in health care costs. Per capita health spending would rise, then moderate, then rise gain. My colleague Larry Levitt and I documented this in The Sad History of Health Care Costs and my friend Dr. Jim Mongan…
Individuals with Special Needs and Health Reform: Adequacy of Health Insurance Coverage August 30, 2009 Issue Brief This issue brief examines the health care needs and health costs of individuals with special health challenges, focusing on those with low-to-moderate incomes. It finds that even under a benefit package more generous than most offered in the private insurance market, individuals and families can face significant gaps in coverage…