New on the Web 44 (April 2008)
From the Commonwealth Fund: “Health Policy Reform: Beyond the 2008 Elections,” “Racial and Ethnic Disparities in U.S. Health Care: A Chartbook,” “Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans for Dual Eligibles: A Primer”
From the Employee Benefit Research Institute: “Findings from the 2007 EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Survey”
From First Focus: “CMS’ Medicaid Regulations: Indications for Children with Special Health Care Needs”
From Health Affairs: “Disparities in Physician Care: Experiences and Perceptions of a Multi-Ethnic America,” “Willingness to Pay for Cross-Border Health Insurance between the United States and Mexico”
From the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured: “Five Basic Facts on Immigrants and Their Health Care,” “Medicaid: Overview and Impact of New Regulations”
From the Kaiser Family Foundation: “Employer Heath Insurance Costs and Worker Compensation,” “Policy Workshop to Examine Implications of Medicare’s Funding Warning”
From the Kaiser Family Foundation, National Public Radio, and the Harvard School of Public Health: “The Public on Requiring Individuals to Have Health Insurances”
From the National Council of La Raza: “Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance: Already Poor Access Further Dwindles for Working Latino Families”
From the National Health Law Program: “Medicaid Transportation Services”
From the Urban Institute: “Do Individual Mandates Matter?”
From USA Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health: “The Public on Prescription Drugs and Pharmaceutical Companies”
From the Commonwealth Fund
Health Policy Reform: Beyond the 2008 Elections is designed to provide journalists with a context for understanding the fundamental problems that plague our health system, as well as policy options for addressing these problems. It points out that, while expanding access to health coverage is the single most important step to achieving a better system, there are a number of other policy steps that need to happen, from speeding the adoption of emerging information technologies to building new payment mechanisms that reward quality instead of quantity. (March 2008)
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in U.S. Health Care: A Chartbook provides easily accessible information on disparities in coverage, health status and mortality, access and quality of health care, and strategies for closing the gap. The chartbook’s goal is to help policymakers, teachers, researchers, and advocates begin to understand the health disparities in their communities and start to develop solutions. (March 2008)
Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans for Dual Eligibles: A Primer identifies the core issues relating to the Medicare Modernization Act’s goal of offering full Medicare and Medicaid benefits through a single plan. The brief points out that coordination between special needs plans and state Medicaid programs often fails to occur. It also offers recommendations for providing higher quality care without institutionalization. (February 2008)
From the Employee Benefit Research Institute
Findings from the 2007 EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Survey presents information about the growth of account-based and high-deductible health plans and their impact on the behavior and attitudes of consumers. It provides statistics on the numbers of adults enrolled in consumer-driven health plans, their incomes, health status, and satisfaction rates, the rates at which they actually use their plans, and whether these plans have had an impact on the numbers of uninsured. (March 2008)
From First Focus
CMS’ Medicaid Regulations: Indications for Children with Special Health Care Needs analyzes each of the new proposed regulations that CMS has issued for Medicaid and CHIP and finds that they will have a disproportionate impact on children with special health care needs. The rules pose a direct threat to programs and services for these children, including public health nurses who provide care in children’s homes and at their schools. (March 2008)
From Health Affairs
Disparities in Physician Care: Experiences and Perceptions of a Multi-Ethnic America presents the results of a survey of more than 4,000 U.S. adults from 14 racial and ethnic groups about their perceptions of the quality of physician care compared to those of whites. On each measure examined, at least five of the subgroups perceived their care to be significantly worse than care for whites, and in many instances, the groups were at least 15 percentage points more negative than whites. (March 2008) (Subscription needed)
Willingness to Pay for Cross-Border Health Insurance between the United States and Mexico estimates the demand for a health insurance plan that would include preventive and ambulatory care in the U.S. and comprehensive care in Mexico. More than 60 percent of the surveyed population seemed interested in the product, and more than half were willing to pay between $75 and $125 a month if health officials offered the program in public hospitals. (February 2008)
From the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Five Basic Facts on Immigrants and Their Health Care addresses questions about how immigrants use and affect the health care system, including their impact on the nation’s uninsured problem, their participation in public health coverage programs, and their use of hospital emergency rooms. The brief concludes that immigrants play a relatively small role in our current health care crisis. (March 2008)
Medicaid: Overview and Impact of New Regulations focuses on the six new regulations proposed by the Bush Administration that would cut $12 billion in federal Medicaid spending over the next five years. The brief explains the current policy, the proposed changes, and the likely impact of the new regulations. (February 2008)
From the Kaiser Family Foundation
Employer Health Insurance Costs and Worker Compensation analyzes what it costs employers to provide health insurance and the rate at which these costs are growing. Employers’ costs as a percentage of payroll vary across work settings, which makes it challenging for policymakers to establish equitable standards. The report also notes that employees are suffering: Insurance premiums have risen by 78 percent over the last six years while wages have risen by only 19 percent. (March 2008)
Policy Workshop to Examine Implications of Medicare’s Funding Warning examines the controversial policy created by the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which states that Medicare trustees must issue a funding warning when they project that general revenues exceed 45 percent of total Medicare spending. This workshop was held to discuss the implementation of the warning, what it means, and how it works. (March 2008)
From the Kaiser Family Foundation, National Public Radio, and the Harvard School of Public Health
The Public on Requiring Individuals to Have Health Insurance presents survey results from 1,704 adults concerning their views about different approaches for expanding health coverage, including mandates. The survey questions dealt predominantly with the stances of the current presidential candidates. (February 2008)
From the National Council of La Raza
Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance: Already Poor Access Dwindles Further for Working Latino Families examines the rates at which the Latino community receives employer-sponsored health insurance, which is lower than that of any other major racial or ethnic group in the U.S. Employers are less likely to offer Latino workers health coverage, so Latinos have to seek out other avenues of insurance coverage, which are often unaffordable. (January 2008)
From the National Health Law Program
Medicaid Transportation Services discusses states’ coverage of transportation services for Medicaid recipients who have no other means of reaching their health care providers. The fact sheet examines enforcement of the transportation mandate and outlines the best state practices for ensuring that Medicaid recipients have access to this service. (February 2008)
From the Urban Institute
Do Individual Mandates Matter? concludes that universal health coverage is not possible without an individual mandate and that large numbers of people would be left uninsured without one. Without universal coverage, the government would have difficulty redirecting current spending on the uninsured to offset some of the costs associated with a new program. (January 2008)
From USA Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health
The Public on Prescription Drugs and Pharmaceutical Companies survey found that Americans value the health benefits of prescription drugs, but they believe drugs cost too much. The survey also provides information on Americans’ views on and experiences with prescription drugs and the pharmaceutical industry, such as safety issues and government regulation. (March 2008)
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