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KFF designs, conducts and analyzes original public opinion and survey research on Americans’ attitudes, knowledge, and experiences with the health care system to help amplify the public’s voice in major national debates.
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Child Health Facts: National and State Profiles of Coverage Nearly 10 million children in the United States lack health insurance coverage and over two-thirds of them or low-income. This databook provides baseline data on how many children are uninsured today and on the extent of Medicaid coverage. It provides astarting point to monitor and assess state efforts to reach and insure more children. Report
This brief examines uninsured parents and how they could be affected by health reform, including estimates of how many might qualify for coverage under a Medicaid expansion, how many would be eligible for subsidies and how many would not be eligible for such help. Issue Brief (.pdf)
This focus group report explores the perceptions, motivations, and experiences of low-income parents enrolling their children in Medicaid and SCHIP. The 11 focus groups were conducted in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami in early 2007. Report (.pdf)
Florida's Medicaid Prescription Drug Benefit: A Case Study A new study summarizes and discusses the state s attempt to reform its Medicaid prescription drug benefit program. Background Paper
A central goal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is to significantly reduce the number of uninsured by providing a continuum of affordable coverage options through Medicaid and new Health Insurance Exchanges. Following the June 2012 Supreme Court decision, states face a decision about whether to adopt the Medicaid expansion. These decisions will have enormous consequences for health coverage for the low-income population. This analysis uses the Urban Institute’s Health Insurance Policy…
Health Coverage for Low-Income Adults: Eligibility and Enrollment in Medicaid and State Programs, 2002 This policy brief provides new information on the number and characteristics of nonelderly adults eligible for Medicaid and other public coverage and on their enrollment. Because low-income adults often work at jobs that do not offer employer-sponsored coverage and individual coverage is prohibitively expensive for them, their uninsured rates are high. Although Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)…
As Congress debates comprehensive national health reform, the Kaiser Family Foundation has two reports and an updated fact sheet that examine state-level health reform in Massachusetts and the lessons it offers for policymakers in Washington. Consumers’ Experience in Massachusetts: Lessons For National Health Reform and In Pursuit of Affordable Health Care: On the Ground Lessons from Families in Massachusetts, examine the impact of health reform on the lives of ordinary people in the state, including…
The report examines state Medicaid program policies regarding coverage of pregnancy-related services. It details state-level Medicaid eligibility and enrollment policies for pregnant women, as well as scope of coverage for prenatal and screening services, delivery and post-partum care, educational classes and support services.
With Medicaid set to expand under health reform, the program will begin to reach individuals who have previously had little interaction with the health care system. The data in this brief profile uninsured adults with incomes at or below 133 percent of the poverty level who, because of health reform, will be eligible for Medicaid in 2014 based on income. It focuses on those who received no medical care over a two-year period to help…
This policy brief provides data and analysis of coverage and access to oral health care for low-income nonelderly adults. Lack of resources to pay for dental services, either through dental insurance or out-of-pocket, is a major barrier to oral health care for many low-income Americans. The problem is particularly acute for low-income adults, who are more likely to be uninsured than low-income children. Issue Brief (.pdf)
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