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…
The Sleeper in Health Reform: Long-Term Care and the CLASS Act October 1, 2009 Event The Kaiser Family Foundation briefing examines a little-noticed but major provision in two leading health reform bills that would change the way that the U.S. pays for long-term care. The provision, known as the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, would establish a national voluntary insurance program that…
A Medicaid Block Grant Would Reduce Federal Spending But Trigger Substantial Cuts in Medicaid Coverage in the States That Would Increase the Uninsured May 10, 2011 News Release NEWS RELEASE May 10, 2011 New State-By-State Analysis Shows House Budget Plan For Medicaid Would Reduce Enrollment By Tens of Millions Of People And Cut Funding For Hospitals And Other Medicaid Services WASHINGTON, D.C. — Converting Medicaid into a block grant and repealing the health reform law as adopted by…
Five Key Questions And Answers About Section 1115 Medicaid Waivers June 30, 2011 Issue Brief This issue brief provides an overview of what Section 1115 Medicaid waivers are, how they are approved and financed, how states have used them, and how they are impacted by health reform. For many years, Section 1115 waivers have been used by states to test new coverage approaches not otherwise…
The Texas Health Care Landscape December 1, 2011 Report This fact sheet summarizes the Texas health care landscape, including data on demographics, population health, the uninsured and the state Medicaid program. Fact Sheet (.pdf)
Emerging Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations: The Role of Managed Care May 1, 2012 Issue Brief This brief examines efforts by a number of states to set up Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) within their Medicaid programs. An ACO is a provider-run organization in which participating providers are collectively responsible for the care of an enrolled population, and may share in any savings associated with improvements in…
How Five Leading Safety-Net Hospitals Are Preparing For The Challenges and Opportunities of Health Care Reform August 1, 2012 Report This study, published in the journal Health Affairs, examines how five leading safety-net hospitals are preparing for major changes expected to result from the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including less government support for uncompensated care and the need to compete for newly insured people. The hospitals studied are Bellevue Hospital…
Health Homes for Medicaid Beneficiaries with Chronic Conditions August 1, 2012 Issue Brief This brief profiles four states that were the first to receive federal approval to take up a state option under the Affordable Care Act to implement health homes for Medicaid beneficiaries with chronic conditions. Almost half of the 9 million people who qualify for Medicaid on the basis of disability…
Health Care on the Brink of the Fiscal Cliff November 16, 2012 Event The Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation present a November 16 briefing to discuss the components of this key policy crossroads with a particular emphasis on the implications for health programs and the health care industry. Automatic cuts would not apply to Medicaid, but Medicare providers would…
Visualizing Health Policy: Health Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) December 26, 2012 Infographic The December 2012 Visualizing Health Policy infographic is a flowchart illustrating the mechanisms by which people will get health coverage beginning in 2014. See the full-size infographic at The Journal of the American Medical Association. Visualizing Health Policy is a monthly infographic series produced in partnership with the Journal of…