Medicaid/SCHIP - Health Policy, Public Opinion & Research

Sort Documents by:

Document Type:

Date Range:

Health Coverage in an Economic Downturn: Impact of Tight Budgets for Families and States
The economic downturn has strained family finances and led some Americans to cut back on 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 and trends in states’ Medicaid enrollment and spending.

Report Shows Impact of the Recession on Family Budgets and Health Coverage
This issue brief, drawn from five focus group discussions, sheds light on the experiences of families who have suffered financial reversals and lost health coverage in the economic downturn, forcing many to turn to safety-net programs such as Medicaid and SCHIP for the first time.

Recent Documents: (879 results)

Pages 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 >>

Pulling it Together from Drew Altman: Multiple Agendas for Controlling Health Care Costs -- January 2009
In his latest essay for "Pulling It Together, From Drew Altman," the Foundation's President and CEO considers whether multiple, and sometimes conflicting agendas for controlling health spending and care costs could play out in separate or combined "grand bargain" health reform and entitlement debates.

Annual Updates on Eligibility Rules, Enrollment and Renewal Procedures, and Cost-Sharing Practices in Medicaid and SCHIP -- January 2009

This resource page links to the annual reports on changes in state Medicaid and SCHIP programs released by the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid.

Challenges of Providing Health Coverage for Children and Parents in a Recession: A 50 State Update on Eligibility Rules, Enrollment and Renewal Procedures, and Cost-Sharing Practices in Medicaid and SCHIP in 2009 -- January 2009

This eighth annual 50-state survey of eligibility rules, enrollment and renewal procedures, and cost-sharing practices in Medicaid and SCHIP for children finds that state efforts to expand coverage to children slowed in state fiscal year 2008.

Next Steps in Covering Uninsured Children: Findings from the Kaiser Survey of Children’s Health Coverage -- January 2009

This issue brief provides key findings from the Kaiser Survey of Children’s Health Coverage conducted in 2007, including that many low- and middle-income working families with an uninsured child do not have access to employer-sponsored health insurance.

Covering Uninsured Children: Reaching and Enrolling Citizen Children With Non-Citizen Parents -- January 2009

This issue brief examines health insurance coverage for low-income citizen children whose parents are not citizens and some of the specific barriers to enrolling these children in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Enrolling Uninsured Low-Income Children in Medicaid & SCHIP -- January 2009

This fact sheet outlines issues in outreach and enrollment for Medicaid and SCHIP. It provides a profile of eligible but uninsured children, discusses the greatest barriers to enrollment, and offers strategies to improve enrollment.

Health Insurance Coverage of America's Children -- January 2009

This chartbook provides fundamental facts about children's health insurance coverage.

The Public's Health Care Agenda for the New President and Congress -- January 2009
This survey captures the public's attitudes regarding the health care agenda for President-elect Obama and the new Congress in 2009. It assesses the relative priority placed on health care by the American public as part of addressing the economic recession and as a large scale reform issue.

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.

In his latest essay for "Pulling It Together, From Drew Altman," the Foundation's President and CEO considers whether multiple, and sometimes conflicting agendas for controlling health spending and care costs could play out in separate or combined "grand bargain" health reform and entitlement debates.

This resource page links to the annual reports on changes in state Medicaid and SCHIP programs released by the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid.

This eighth annual 50-state survey of eligibility rules, enrollment and renewal procedures, and cost-sharing practices in Medicaid and SCHIP for children finds that state efforts to expand coverage to children slowed in state fiscal year 2008.

This issue brief provides key findings from the Kaiser Survey of Children’s Health Coverage conducted in 2007, including that many low- and middle-income working families with an uninsured child do not have access to employer-sponsored health insurance.

This issue brief examines health insurance coverage for low-income citizen children whose parents are not citizens and some of the specific barriers to enrolling these children in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

This fact sheet outlines issues in outreach and enrollment for Medicaid and SCHIP. It provides a profile of eligible but uninsured children, discusses the greatest barriers to enrollment, and offers strategies to improve enrollment.

This chartbook provides fundamental facts about children's health insurance coverage.

This survey captures the public's attitudes regarding the health care agenda for President-elect Obama and the new Congress in 2009. It assesses the relative priority placed on health care by the American public as part of addressing the economic recession and as a large scale reform issue.

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.

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.

View all items >

Pages 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 >>

Medicaid/SCHIP

Medicaid is the nation's public health insurance program for low-income Americans, financing health and long term care services for more than 55 million individuals. The program provides access to affordable and comprehensive health care for children and adults in low-income working families and for the elderly and disabled who often rely on the program to fill in critical gaps in their Medicare coverage. Although three quarters of Medicaid's enrollees are adults or children, the elderly and disabled account for 70% of the program's expenditures. Financed and operated jointly by the states and federal government, Medicaid accounts for roughly one sixth of the nation’s health care spending and almost half of all spending on long term care. As the largest source of federal support to the states, Medicaid is also a major engine in state economies, supporting millions of jobs across the country. Its guarantee of open-ended federal financing that matches state spending enables states to respond to losses of private health insurance attributable to unemployment and rising health insurance premiums, increases in health care costs, emergencies and disasters, and an aging society.

The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was enacted in 1997 to provide a capped amount of federal matching funds to states for coverage of children and some parents with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid, but for whom private health insurance was either unavailable or unaffordable. Covering roughly four million children, SCHIP has played an important role in reducing the number of uninsured children in America.

This section provides data and information on the Medicaid and SCHIP programs with a focus on the populations they serve. Analyses of proposals to restructure these programs, data from surveys, studies of the impact of recent programmatic changes on beneficiaries, and basic information on how the programs operate and are administered can all be found here. These materials can help to inform discussions of reform proposals and efforts to improve and maintain health coverage and financing for the low-income disabled and elderly populations, families, and children who are left out of our country’s fragmented, employer-based health care system.

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured is the main source for the Foundation's work related to the Medicaid and SCHIP programs. Begun in 1991, the Commission is the largest operating program of Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and has brought increased analysis and attention to health coverage issues facing the low-income population for over a decade. Through its reports and briefings, the Commission continues to provide up-to-date information on Medicaid and SCHIP and assesses options for reform.