U.S. State Health Policy, Public Opinion & Research

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Statehealthfacts.org
This redesigned and updated website provides the latest state-level data on demographics, health, and health policy, including health coverage, access, financing, and state legislation and budgets.

New Analysis Shows Effect of Rising Unemployment on Health Coverage, Medicaid and SCHIP Spending and Enrollment
Every one percentage point rise in the unemployment rate leads to a 1.1 million increase in the uninsured population and a one million increase in Medicaid and SCHIP enrollment, according to a new Kaiser analysis. Another report analyzes the history of Medicaid during recent economic downturns.

Recent Documents: (201 results)

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The Role of Medicaid in State Economies: A Look at the Research -- January 2009

This policy brief synthesizes the results of 29 studies in 23 states that examine the role Medicaid plays in state and local economies. These studies estimate the economic stimulus derived from Medicaid spending, and also analyze the adverse effects on the state economy from reducing Medicaid spending.

Reports Examine Impact of Economic Turmoil on Health Coverage and State Medicaid Programs -- January 2009

The Kaiser Family Foundation issued several new reports looking at how the recession and growing unemployment is affecting people's health coverage and state Medicaid programs. The new reports were released in conjunction with an Alliance for Health Reform briefing.

Rising Unemployment, Medicaid and the Uninsured -- January 2009

This policy brief analyzes the relationship between increases in the unemployment rate and changes in the number of people covered by employer-sponsored health insurance, Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and non-group insurance policies, as well as the financial implications for government budgets.

Medicaid in a Crunch: A Mid-FY 2009 Update on State Medicaid Issues in a Recession -- January 2009

This report relays the perspective of leading state Medicaid directors to describe the fiscal strain on Medicaid and other safety-net programs as enrollment swells and state tax revenues shrink, raising the prospect of program cutbacks. It augments the most recent Medicaid budget survey report that was based on a survey and interviews with all state Medicaid directors in July and August 2008, at the beginning of state fiscal year 2009.

State Fiscal Conditions & Medicaid -- January 2009

This fact sheet examines how an economic downturn increases state Medicaid program enrollment and costs at the same time that states face new budget constraints, as well as possible policy responses.

Resources on National Health Reform Efforts -- December 2008

The Kaiser Family Foundation has a number of resources that provide insight into the nation's health care challenges and various health reform proposals being considered at the national and state levels.

Emerging Health Information Technology for Children in Medicaid and SCHIP Programs -- November 2008

This report highlights states' innovative use of health information technology in their Medicaid and SCHIP programs to improve their ability to reach and enroll eligible children, improve the quality of care for children, increase communications with families, and continue to modernize their programs.

Vermont's Choices for Care Medicaid Long-Term Services Waiver: Progress and Challenges As the Program Concluded Its Third Year -- November 2008

This case study report examines the experience of Vermont's Choices for Care experiment in delivering long-term services, created through a five-year Medicaid waiver in 2005. The state has seen a shift of people and money toward community settings, but also the return of waiting lists for some populations.

States Moving Towards Comprehensive Health Care Reform -- November 2008

With the problem of the uninsured continuing to grow, states have taken the lead in developing proposals to reform of their health care systems with the goal of significantly increasing the number of people with health coverage. An interactive map and related summaries of plans track which states have enacted or are planning comprehensive initiatives to cover their uninsured population.

Health Coverage in an Economic Downturn: Impact of Tight Budgets on Families and States -- November 2008
The economic downturn has strained family finances and led some Americans to cut back on medications and medical care. The Foundation has a number of resources that shed light on how Americans and states are faring and provide background on the uninsured, employer-sponsored health insurance costs, trends in states’ Medicaid enrollment and spending and prior efforts to support the Medicaid program during a slumping economy.

This fact sheet examines how an economic downturn increases state Medicaid program enrollment and costs at the same time that states face new budget constraints, as well as possible policy responses.

The economic downturn has strained family finances and led some Americans to cut back on medications and medical care. The Foundation has a number of resources that shed light on how Americans and states are faring and provide background on the uninsured, employer-sponsored health insurance costs, trends in states’ Medicaid enrollment and spending and prior efforts to support the Medicaid program during a slumping economy.

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State Health Policy

States play a major role in the delivery and financing of health care and public health in the United States. Insurance regulation, Medicaid policy and financing of public health services, and many reproductive health policies are under state jurisdiction. States operate their own Medicaid programs within broad federal guidelines, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for low-income children, and in some cases also offer additional health care programs such as discount drug programs for seniors.

In recent years, states have been facing major budget shortfalls. These fiscal constraints have broad implications for many aspects of the health care financing and delivery system. Recent reductions to Medicaid coverage and benefit packages have been a reversal from the programs expansions of the late 1990s when states experienced unprecedented budget surpluses. State legislatures are also playing an increasingly important role in health policy, enacting legislation on issues that have been controversial and slow-moving at the national level, such as patients’ rights and reproductive health.

The Foundation’s work in state health policy cuts across nearly all of the Foundation’s policy priority areas. The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured analyzes state Medicaid and SCHIP programs, and tracks changes states are making to their Medicaid programs as a result of their deteriorating fiscal conditions. The California Health Policy Program provides information and analysis about health policy issues and key trends in the nation's largest and most diverse state. Nearly all of the Foundation’s priority areas collect and conduct analyses on state-based policies. Much of this information is presented in State Health Facts Online, a web-based interactive database, including demographic information, health insurance coverage rates, Medicaid and Medicare enrollment, spending and policies, private insurance mandates, health care financing and delivery information, as well as disease and mortality statistics.