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.

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Health Reform Resources on health08.org -- July 2008
A collection of resources on health reform issues from the Kaiser Family Foundation

States Moving Towards Comprehensive Health Care Reform -- July 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.

Healthy Indiana Plan: Key Facts and Issues -- June 2008

This fact sheet provides an overview of Indiana's new Medicaid waiver program, the Healthy Indiana Plan, which is the first that allows a state to use Medicaid funds to provide a benefit package modeled after a high-deductible plan and health savings account to previously uninsured adults. This piece examines key components of the plan and identifies key issues to consider.

Testimony: State-Based Health Reform Efforts -- June 2008
Gary Claxton, a Kaiser Family Foundation vice president, testified about state-based health reform efforts as part of the Senate Finance Committee's Prepare For Launch Health Reform Summit. His testimony examines the role of Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, as well as the way various federal laws and policies may limit innovation at the state level.

Pulling It Together: Perspectives on State Health Reform -- June 2008
In the fourth installment of the new Kaiser Family Foundation series, "Pulling It Together, from Drew Altman," Kaiser's President and CEO draws on his personal experience in state and federal government and from Kaiser's research to provide some perspectives on state health reform. The essay looks at obstacles and opportunities for reform in the states, and how a small number of pacesetting states could serve as laboratories for a national effort.

Kaiser Fast Facts -- May 2008
“Kaiser Fast Facts” features “QuickTakes” and “Kaiser Slides” – two tools that provide direct access to facts, data and slides about the nation's health care system and programs, in an easy-to-use format. “QuickTakes” presents an inventory of facts-at-a-glance and "Kaiser Slides" allows Web visitors to freely view, download and print graphics and tables of health policy statistics and trends.

New Analysis Shows Effect of Rising Unemployment on Health Coverage, Medicaid and SCHIP Spending and Enrollment -- April 2008

This analysis finds that 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. Another report analyzes the history of Medicaid during recent economic downturns.

Medicaid, SCHIP and Economic Downturn: Policy Challenges and Policy Responses -- April 2008

This analysis projects the implications of an economic downturn for health coverage and state programs.

Medicaid in a Declining Economy: Limited Approaches for States to Control Spending -- April 2008

This brief analyzes results from annual 50-state budget surveys of Medicaid directors from 2003 to 2007 to determine how past actions by states and the federal government may impact Medicaid programs during the current economic downturn.

Vermont Health Care Reform Plan -- December 2007

This fact sheet summarizes Vermont's health reform law designed to increase health care access and reduce costs.

A collection of resources on health reform issues from the Kaiser Family Foundation

Gary Claxton, a Kaiser Family Foundation vice president, testified about state-based health reform efforts as part of the Senate Finance Committee's Prepare For Launch Health Reform Summit. His testimony examines the role of Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, as well as the way various federal laws and policies may limit innovation at the state level.

In the fourth installment of the new Kaiser Family Foundation series, "Pulling It Together, from Drew Altman," Kaiser's President and CEO draws on his personal experience in state and federal government and from Kaiser's research to provide some perspectives on state health reform. The essay looks at obstacles and opportunities for reform in the states, and how a small number of pacesetting states could serve as laboratories for a national effort.

“Kaiser Fast Facts” features “QuickTakes” and “Kaiser Slides” – two tools that provide direct access to facts, data and slides about the nation's health care system and programs, in an easy-to-use format. “QuickTakes” presents an inventory of facts-at-a-glance and "Kaiser Slides" allows Web visitors to freely view, download and print graphics and tables of health policy statistics and trends.

This analysis projects the implications of an economic downturn for health coverage and state programs.

This fact sheet summarizes Vermont's health reform law designed to increase health care access and reduce costs.

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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.