New on the Web 52 (January 2009)
From the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy: “The Supreme Court’s Two-Front War on the Safety Net: A Cautionary Tale for Health Care Reformers”
From the Center for Studying Health System Change: “More Nonelderly Americans Face Problems Affording Prescription Drugs,” “Louisiana’s Medicaid Waiver Proposal: Is It the Right Fit for Louisiana?”
From the Commonwealth Fund: “Getting and Keeping Coverage: States’ Experience with Citizenship Documentation Rules,” “Health Care Opinion Leaders’ Views on Priorities for the Obama Administration”
From the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured: “Turning to Medicaid and SCHIP in an Economic Recession: Conversations with Recent Applicants and Enrollees”
From the Kaiser Family Foundation: “The Public’s Health Care Agenda for the New President and Congress”
From the National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation: “The Role of Individual Mandates in Health Care Reform”
From the Urban Institute: “Massachusetts Health Reform: Solving the Long-Run Cost Problem,” “Prospects for Reducing Uninsured Rates among Children: How Much Can Premium Assistance Programs Help?”
From the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy:
The Supreme Court’s Two-Front War on the Safety Net: A Cautionary Tale for Health Care Reformers argues that critical components of the nation’s health care safety net have been seriously undermined by the conservative bloc of the Supreme Court. The piece also asserts that the original purposes of Medicaid and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) have been hindered by the Court’s application of progressively stricter limitations on enforcement of federal mandates. (January 2009)
From the Center for Studying Health System Change:
More Nonelderly Americans Face Problems Affording Prescription Drugs finds that the proportion of children and working-age Americans who went without a prescription drug because of cost concerns reached 13.9 percent in 2007, up from 10.3 percent in 2003. Nearly one in four working-age adults with Medicaid or other state insurance reported having difficulties affording prescription drugs, while nearly three in 10 working-age Medicare beneficiaries reported having such problems. (January 2009)
Louisiana’s Medicaid Waiver Proposal: Is It the Right Fit for Louisiana? examines the state’s proposal, which would use managed care plans to provide more limited benefits to those who would be eligible under the expansion than the benefits that are provided to current beneficiaries. However, Louisiana lacks the type of managed care organizations on which the plan primarily depends, and while the proposal would provide coverage for some very low-income parents, their benefits would be substantially less than those available in standard Medicaid, and the out-of-pocket costs would be greater. (December 2008)
From the Commonwealth Fund:
Getting and Keeping Coverage: States’ Experience with Citizenship Documentation Rules examines the impact that the Bush Administration’s citizenship documentation rules have had on coverage stability in the public programs of seven states. It finds that these rules have made it more difficult for children and families to obtain and maintain coverage because the new requirements increased the complexity, administrative burden, and costs of enrollment and renewal in some states. (January 2009)
Health Care Opinion Leaders’ Views on Priorities for the Obama Administration reports that leaders in heath care and health care policy feel strongly that President Obama should pursue an ambitious reform agenda that expands coverage, improves quality and efficiency, and controls costs. There was strong support for allowing individuals to purchase coverage through a health insurance exchange, expanding CHIP, creating new insurance market regulations, requiring employers to either offer coverage or pay a percentage of their payroll to help finance expanded coverage, and including a public insurance option in an insurance exchange. (January 2009)
From the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured:
Turning to Medicaid and SCHIP in an Economic Recession: Conversations with Recent Applicants and Enrollees examines the impact of the recession and illuminates the emotional and financial difficulties of families who have lost health coverage, which has forced many to skip medications and postpone doctor visits. Many who once had steady employment are now turning to Medicaid and CHIP for the first time, even as these programs face increasing budget constraints as state tax revenues decline. (December 2008)
From the Kaiser Family Foundation:
The Public’s Health Care Agenda for the New President and Congress assesses how the American public prioritizes health care and presents its views on a range of health policy issues. The survey reports that large majorities of Americans say that coverage expansion, cost reduction, and improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of the health care delivery system are important pieces of health care reform. It finds a partisan divide in the public’s willingness to pay higher insurance premiums or taxes to cover more individuals and the extent to which the government should regulate health care costs. (January 2009)
From the National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation:
The Role of Individual Mandates in Health Care Reform examines the 2006 Massachusetts mandate that all adults purchase health insurance. Several national health care reform proposals include an individual mandate, and a number of other states have considered moving in this direction. The article considers the evidence supporting arguments for and against individual mandates, discusses their nuances in practice, and reviews the available evidence on their effectiveness. (January 2009)
From the Urban Institute:
Massachusetts Health Reform: Solving the Long-Run Cost Problem summarizes the state’s accomplishments, examines its challenges, and suggests four options for addressing long-term costs. It finds that though recent reform measures decreased the number of uninsured by 50 percent and improved access to care, Massachusetts’ per capita health care spending is higher than the national average, and the reforms have incurred higher-than-anticipated costs. (January 2009)
Prospects for Reducing Uninsured Rates among Children: How Much Can Premium Assistance Programs Help? considers the extent to which uninsured children could be covered through premium assistance programs, which use Medicaid or CHIP funding to subsidize employer-based coverage. New data indicate that only 4.6 percent of all Medicaid-eligible uninsured children and 15.9 percent of CHIP-eligible uninsured children have a parent with employer-based coverage. This suggests that premium assistance programs may not make a substantial dent in the numbers of uninsured children. (January 2009)
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