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The recession has squeezed state Medicaid programs between the twin pressures of rising enrollment and shrinking budgets as the economic downturn triggers both increased demand for safety-net services and a decrease in the tax revenues that state governments rely on to fund them.
Based on a baseline survey of low-income Americans and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), this report, The Uninsured at the Starting Line, provides data on insurance coverage, barriers to care, and financial security among uninsured adults before ACA implementation.
This brief provides an overview of mobile technology use today, with a focus on the low-income population and people of color, and discusses how one text messaging initiative, text4baby, is helping to connect eligible pregnant women and their families to health coverage.
Based on a baseline survey of low-income Americans and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), this report, The Uninsured at the Starting Line in California, provides data on insurance coverage, barriers to care, and financial security among uninsured adults before ACA implementation in California.
This brief provides information on remaining nonelderly uninsured men ages 19-64, provides national estimates of their eligibility for ACA coverage options, and discusses strategies for reaching and enrolling them into health coverage.
Policymakers are currently considering proposals that would fundamentally change the structure and financing of Medicaid, and potentially affect 11 million people on Medicare. This brief discusses the potential implications of Medicaid per capita cap or block grant proposals for the 11 million low-income seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare. It also describes how the per capita cap model proposed in the American Health Care Act could potentially affect low-income people on Medicare who receive assistance from Medicaid.
Social determinants, such as individual and community behaviors, economic circumstances, and environmental factors, can influence health costs and outcomes, despite being outside the control of the health system in some respects. This slideshow explores social determinants and health outcomes in the United States and similar countries. The collection looks at income inequality, obesity, educational attainment, and rates of insurance, as well as behaviors such as cigarette and alcohol consumption. Health outcomes, such as disease burden from drug abuse disorders and motor vehicle road injuries, also are examined, along with measures such as years of life lost due to firearms assaults and death rates from accidental poisonings.
This brief examines the oral health status of low-income adults, the dental benefits covered by state Medicaid programs, and low-income adults’ access to dental care today.
Nearly a year after Hurricane Harvey swamped the Texas Gulf Coast, a growing share of affected residents say their lives are back on track, but three in 10 (30%) say their lives remain disrupted, finds a new Kaiser Family Foundation/Episcopal Health Foundation survey of residents in 24 hard-hit Texas counties.
This Health Policy 101 chapter examines the share of the United States population who are uninsured, highlighting their demographics and the challenges they face because of the lack of coverage. Economic conditions, federal and state policy decisions, and major health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic influence the uninsured rate. While implementation of the Affordable Care Act, namely the expansion of Medicaid and availability of subsidized Marketplace coverage, led to a drop in the share of people who are uninsured, disparities in coverage persist and policy changes in the 2025 budget reconciliation bill are expected to increase the size of the population.
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