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Various proposals to expand coverage to uninsured Americans and reform the health insurance market include the establishment of a health insurance exchange. The most widely discussed example of such an exchange is in Massachusetts, and it arrived recently with Massachusetts’ 2007 health reform efforts. Many are looking to the Connector, as the Massachusetts program is […]

One of the various proposals to expand coverage to the more than 45 million uninsured Americans is referred to as the “public plan option.” Though proposed only as part of a broader effort to expand coverage, the option is viewed in varying lights. Some see it as a tool for providing consumers affordable coverage by […]

The Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation sponsored a luncheon briefing on the basics of the Medicare Advantage program. Speakers included: Jonathan Blum, director of the Center for Medicare Management at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Marsha Gold, senior fellow at Mathematica Policy Research, where she has conducted extensive monitoring […]

Provider payment policy is a hot topic again with the Medicare physician payment system due for a fix and value-based payment and other cost containment/quality schemes on the table as part of the health reform debate. This briefing sponsored by the Alliance and The Commonwealth Fund examined cost containment options in payment reform. Speakers were: […]

Medicare covers nearly 45 million beneficiaries, including 38 million seniors and 7 million younger adults with permanent disabilities. The program is expected to cost the federal government approximately $477 billion in 2009, accounting for 13 percent of federal spending and 19 percent of total national health expenditures. Whom does Medicare serve and what services does […]

Almost every day, we learn of a new hearing or briefing about ways to improve our health care system. The White House, Congress, advocates and stakeholders are fully engaged. The elephant in the room during those discussions is long-term care. Despite being so large, it suffers from the possibility of being ignored. This March 9 […]

Forty-five million Americans were uninsured in 2007. They may have worked for an employer that didn’t offer coverage, or were eligible for coverage on the job but could not pay their share of the premiums. Perhaps they were denied coverage in the individual market. Whatever the reason for not having coverage, their lack of insurance […]

Community health centers (CHCs) play a key role in the U.S. health care safety net. They provide primary health care and other health services for medically underserved populations, including 1 in 8 Medicaid beneficiaries, 1 in 7 uninsured persons, 1 in 3 people in poverty, 1 in 10 minorities, and 1 in 9 rural Americans. […]

As a state-run program with broad federal guidelines, Medicaid covers health and long-term care services for scores of millions of low-income Americans. Conversations are well underway about the role of Medicaid as a vehicle for economic stimulus, and about its role in health coverage expansion proposals. In that context, a grounding in current Medicaid basics […]

Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) play a crucial role in the U.S. health insurance system by providing coverage for more than one in four children. During 2005, about 29 million children were enrolled in Medicaid at some point in the year and more than 6 million were covered through SCHIP. Though […]

Because of the way Medicaid is financed, a recession means double trouble. States have reduced revenue, and thus less money to spend on Medicaid, just as more people are losing their jobs and their health coverage, and need the program. States have little choice but to cut Medicaid spending. Unlike the federal government, they are […]

Now that we know the next occupants of the White House and the composition of the next Congress, many Americans expect to see an effort to enact significant reform of America’s health system. Congress isn’t waiting for the White House green light. Sens. Ron Wyden and Bob Bennett, as well as Sen. Max Baucus have […]