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State Health Facts is a KFF project that provides free, up-to-date, and easy-to-use health data for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the United States. It offers data on specific types of health insurance coverage, including employer-sponsored, Medicaid, Medicare, as well as people who are uninsured by demographic characteristics, including age, race/ethnicity, work status, gender, and income. There are also data on health insurance status for a state's population overall and broken down by age, gender, and income.
The October Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds public support for health reform unchanged since last month, with more in favor than opposed. Fifty-five percent of Americans believe that it is more important than ever to take on health care reform now, while 41 percent say the country cannot afford it right now. The survey also shows about half of the public believes that if reform passes, help for the uninsured and changes in insurance market…
A fair amount of attention was given recently to projections made by the Chief Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) about the new health reform law, and how they compare to previous estimates by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). No doubt the various projections will be grist for claims made in the upcoming political season, so it is important to be clear about the differences between the two estimates and to…
This document contains the key findings from the September Health Tracking Poll. The survey was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and was conducted September 11 through September 18, 2009, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,203 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews conducted by landline (801) and cell phone (402, including 147 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English and Spanish. The margin…
The September Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that public support for health reform ended its summer slide, reversed course and moved modestly upwards in September. The survey also finds initial majority support for taxing expensive health plans and imposing fees on insurers to pay for reform. Fifty-seven percent of Americans now believe that tackling health care reform is more important than ever—up from 53 percent in August. The proportion of Americans who think their families…
This document contains the key findings from the July Health Tracking Poll. The survey was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and was conducted July 7 through July 14, 2009, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,205 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews conducted by landline (800) and cell phone (405, including 126 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English and Spanish. The margin…
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…
This poll fielded following the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the heart of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) finds a majority of Americans (56 percent) now say they would like to see the law’s detractors stop their efforts to block its implementation and move on to other national problems. Democrats overwhelmingly say opponents should move on to other issues (82 percent), as do half (51 percent) of independents and a quarter (26 percent) of Republicans. But,…
HIPAA Compliance Strategies In California: Reforming the State's Individual Health Insurance Market -- Policy Brief A policy brief on reform of the individual insurance market and implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in California. The brief is based, in part, on discussion at a California Health Policy Roundtable held in Sacramento, California on March 12, 1998. Note: This publication is no longer in circulation. However, a copy may still exist in…
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 called it “the peaks and valleys” of health care costs. We have never been sure whether the "valleys" were the result of government actions, such…
This analysis, based on site visits and interviews with key stakeholders, examines the experiences of Alabama, Iowa, Massachusetts and Oregon in significantly improving health coverage of children in recent years through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Several common themes underlie these states' successful efforts: At least one state political leader made coverage of children a top priority. All four states have expanded eligibility for children to 300 percent of poverty and have streamlined…
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