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Primary Care Check Up: Why It Can Be Hard to Get an Appointment and How to Fix It
Event Date:EventPrimary care has historically served as the backbone of our nation’s health care system, with patients often maintaining a relationship with a primary-care provider to guide their care over a period of years. Yet, the U.S. emphasizes primary care less than other high-income countries. On Wednesday, April 3 a panel of primary-care experts joined Larry Levitt, KFF’s executive vice president for health policy, for a 45-minute discussion on the current state of primary care in the country, including the extent of the shortage, how it varies geographically and for different populations, the impact on people’s health, and what can be done to address it.
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What are the Recent Trends in Health Sector Employment
Issue BriefThis chart collection takes a deep dive into employment data to analyze how health sector jobs and wages shrank and recovered since the coronavirus pandemic struck in early 2020.
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Adult Children of Immigrants Make Outsized Contributions to the U.S. Health Care Workforce
News ReleaseAdult children of immigrants make up a disproportionately large share of physicians, surgeons and other health care practitioners in the U.S. -- just one reflection of their comparatively high employment, educational attainment and income levels, according to a new KFF analysis.
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The Role of Adult Children of Immigrants in the U.S. Health Care Workforce
Issue BriefThis brief examines key characteristics of adult children of immigrants and highlights their role in the workforce, including the health care workforce.
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A Look at Substance Use and Mental Health Treatment Facilities Across the U.S.
Issue BriefThis brief uses 2022 data from the National Substance Use and Mental Health Services Survey (N-SUMHSS), an annual survey sent to all substance use and mental health treatment facilities to assess the supply and characteristics of these facilities at a national and state level. Despite the escalation of mental health needs and the increasing and evolving opioid epidemic, accessing treatment continues to be difficult--as indicated by consumer surveys and national data. Factors like the decline in psychiatric beds, financing barriers, difficulty accessing outpatient treatment, and the growing workforce shortages have led to more reports of unmet need and psychiatric boarding in emergency departments. Overall, there are approximately 14,700 facilities providing substance use treatment services and about 9,500 facilities that offer mental health services. More than eight in ten substance use treatment facilities and mental health facilities provide outpatient services; smaller shares offers more intensive inpatient services. Substance use treatment and mental health bed availability varies across states. Most substance use and mental health treatment facilities are non-profit; however, for-profit ownership is more common among substance use treatment facilities, whereas public ownership is more common among mental health facilities. Most facilities report high participation with private insurance and Medicaid, but lower for Medicare and there is variation across states. Reported Medicaid participation by substance use treatment facilities varies across states.
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New Federal Support for the Public Health Workforce: Analysis of Funding by Jurisdiction
Issue BriefThis issue brief analyzes how the new CDC Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG) workforce funding has been distributed across health departments in the U.S., and also jurisdictional plans for public health workforce hiring using funds from PHIG.
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A Look at Waiting Lists for Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Services from 2016 to 2023
Issue BriefThis data note provides new information about waiting lists from KFF’s most recent survey of state Medicaid HCBS programs, including a discussion of why waiting lists are an incomplete measure of unmet need and why they are not necessarily comparable across states or over time.
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Waiting for Care: Three-Fourths of States Have Waiting Lists for Some Medicaid Home Care Programs
News ReleaseIn a new analysis of survey data from state Medicaid home care programs, KFF found that in most years since 2016, there have been nearly 700,000 people on waiting or interest lists for expanded home and community-based services (HCBS), with a total of 692,000 across 38 states in 2023 and waiting lists averaging three years.
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The Health Care Workforce Under Pressure – Strikes, Shortages, and Staffing Requirements
Event Date:EventAmid low unemployment and rising demand for services, today’s health care workforce is under pressure from several directions, including worker strikes; shortages of trained staff; and proposed new staffing standards for nurses and aides in nursing facilities. On November 16, a panel of three experts joined Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, for a 45-minute discussion focused on the diverse challenges facing the health care workforce.