The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation - Health Policy, Media Resources, Public Health Education & South Africa

New Reports Indicate Immediate State Fiscal Crisis Subsides, But Medicaid Still Faces Long-Term Budgetary Challenges
Three Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured state surveys indicate state budgetary pressures are easing as the gap between Medicaid spending growth and state tax revenue growth narrows, but states still face long-term budgetary challenges.

Health Care and Hurricane Katrina
As part of the Kaiser Family Foundation's commitment to help respond to the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, you will find resources related to an ongoing effort to monitor and study the health coverage and needs of the victims. A new fact sheet summarizes and compares ten states' approved Medicaid waivers related to Hurricane Katrina evacuees.

Aetna CEO Dr. John W. “Jack” Rowe Discusses Current Issues in Health Policy
The Foundation hosted Aetna CEO Dr. John W. “Jack” Rowe, M.D., for an interview and live webcast on Thursday, Oct. 20. The interview touched on issues including rising health care costs, information technology, new programs promoting quality of care and consumer-directed care, efforts to address health care disparities, and the health care and coverage challenges stemming from Hurricane Katrina. Watch an archived webcast of the interview.

Survey Finds Fewer Small Businesses Offering Health Coverage, Premiums Up 9.2%
The 2005 Employer Health Benefits Survey provides a detailed look at trends in employer-based health coverage, including changes in premiums, employee contributions, offer rate among firms, and the use of consumer-driven health plans. The 2005 survey of public and private firms with three or more employees was conducted and analyzed jointly by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational. A webcast of the briefing releasing the survey findings is available.

African Broadcast Media Leaders Join to Combat HIV/AIDS
Top executives from 20 of Africa’s major broadcast companies announced their commitment to make combating HIV/AIDS a corporate priority, to devote substantial and increased radio and television broadcast airtime to HIV/AIDS-related programming, and to work together under the newly formed African Broadcast Media Partnership Against HIV/AIDS, at a Media Leaders Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. The meeting was jointly organized by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Nelson Mandela Foundation and the South African Broadcasting Corporation, in association with the Southern African Broadcasting Association. To provide background information on the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Kaiser produced country-specific fact sheets for each of the participants.

Survey of Hurricane Katrina Evacuees in Houston Area Shelters
To give voice to people whose lives have been devastated by the hurricane, this unique survey from The Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health examines how evacuees are coping and includes information about their experiences, health, and plans for the future.

Medicare Question of the Week: Can you give me a quick overview of what I should know about the Medicare drug benefit?
Medicare Q&A is a weekly column prepared by the Kaiser Family Foundation that is being distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. The column answers questions from readers related to the new Medicare drug benefit.

"Ask the Experts" Program on Medicare Part D
On October 6, kaisernetwork.org hosted a live “Ask the Experts” discussion about Medicare Part D. Guests Julie Goon, director of Medicare Outreach and Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS); Aileen Harper, executive director, Center for Health Care Rights; and Tricia Neuman, Kaiser Family Foundation vice president and director, Medicare Policy Project, addressed how implementation of Medicare Part D is proceeding and answered viewers' questions about the new prescription drug coverage plan.

Sheila P. Burke Named New Chair of Kaiser Family Foundation Board of Trustees
The Kaiser Family Foundation announced this week that Sheila P. Burke has been appointed chair of the Foundation's Board of Trustees.

USA Today/Kaiser/Harvard Health Care Costs Survey
This comprehensive public opinion survey and related USA Today articles explore how Americans are being affected by health care costs.

Tracking Poll Finds Seniors Now Split on Medicare Drug Benefit
The latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking survey shows seniors now as likely to view the Medicare drug benefit favorably as unfavorably, with modest progress in knowledge about the new benefit.

Key Resources on Health Coverage and the Uninsured
The U.S. Census Bureau's released its annual update on health insurance coverage and the number of uninsured Americans on August 30, 2005. Access a wide range of Kaiser Family Foundation reports and analyses on health insurance coverage.

Improved 50 State Medicaid Benefits Database Includes 2004 Data
A newly enhanced interactive database based on 50-state survey data provides easy access to information on health services provided by each state's Medicaid program. You can search the database by state or Medicaid benefit and compare benefit packages from 2003 and 2004.

Medicare and Medicaid at 40
The Medicare and Medicaid health coverage programs were signed into law July 30, 1965. The Kaiser Family Foundation has produced some new resources that examine how the programs came into existence and how they have evolved, including interactive timelines of the Medicaid and Medicare programs, video documentaries, background data and information, and a webcast of an event featuring historian Robert Dallek and key government officials responsible for the programs over the past 40 years.

Updated Consumer Guide to Resolving Health Plan Disputes
This new consumer guide from the Kaiser Family Foundation and Consumers Union provides detailed information about how consumers can resolve disputes with their health plans. It includes a new section about experiences with state external review programs and provides tips for avoiding some common mistakes that may prevent consumers from properly filing and successfully resolving disputes through external appeals.

Medicare Chartbook Highlights Latest Data and Trends
This 2005 chartbook features more than 80 charts and tables with detailed information about the Medicare program and the 42 million seniors and younger people with disabilities who rely on the program for health insurance coverage.

New Survey Examines the State of Women's Health Care
A new national survey finds that more than one-quarter of non-elderly women have delayed or gone without health care they believed they needed in the past year because of the cost. The survey covers a broad range of issues facing women, including health status, health care costs, insurance, access to care, prevention, and their role in family health care.

Despite Concerns About State Budgets and Policymakers’ Frustrations with the Costs of Medicaid, Americans View the Program Positively and Are Reluctant to See State and Federal Cuts
A new national survey assesses the public's views towards Medicaid and knowledge of how the program operates.

KaiserEDU.org – Redesigned With New Features and New Tools
KaiserEDU.org, a comprehensive website for health policy students, faculty and others has been redesigned to include new features and tools providing easier access to the latest data, literature, news, and developments in health policy. The site features topic navigation from the home page; research tools consisting of searchable databases and links to publicly-available national surveys and data sources; a journal browser with links to the most recent table of contents of leading health policy journals; and a directory of fellowships in health policy.

New Website for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Information: GlobalHealthReporting.org
Designed to help journalists, researchers, policy makers and NGOs efficiently sort through the latest and most accurate information on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, this new website provides the latest news, information and data on the three diseases, information by country and reporting resources for journalists.

Trends and Indicators in the Changing Health Care Marketplace
Current information on key health care marketplace trends including health care spending and costs; health insurance enrollment, premiums, and benefits; the structure of the health care marketplace; and consumers and the safety net.

“Media Multi-tasking” Changing the Amount and Nature of Young People’s Media Use, New Study Shows
Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds, a national survey of young people about their media use, found that they are spending an increasing amount of time using "new media" like computers, the Internet and video games, without cutting back on "old media" like television and music. Instead, because they are using more than one medium at a time (for example, going online while watching TV), they’re packing increasing amounts of media content into the same amount of time each day.

Navigating Medicare and Medicaid: Resource Guides for People with Disabilities, Their Families, and Their Advocates
These guides explain the critical role Medicare and Medicaid have come to play in the lives and the futures of roughly 20 million children, adults, and seniors with disabilities - and give people with disabilities new information to help them get the most from these programs.

Global HIV/AIDS Timeline
An interactive web-based timeline designed to serve as an ongoing reference tool for many of the political, scientific, cultural, and community events that have occurred from 1981 to today.