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August 1, 2007
Let Floridians craft a better health system
Published July 23, 2007 in Miami Herald's Letters to Editor
Re the July 11 editorial Ailing health system needs an overhaul: The Miami Herald uses the documentary Sicko to illustrate what many already know - the healthcare system in the United States is ailing. An essential part of fixing our healthcare system is hearing from those for whom it is not working. Florida CHAIN has, for eight years, been working to link and amplify the voices of consumers, advocates and providers to make them audible to policymakers. . . . If we don't like what the French, Canadians, British and others have to offer, let's create our own system that more closely resembles the kind of compassionate society we would all rather live in. Including real input from those affected is the right place to start. (Lisa Margulis, Executive Director, Florida CHAIN) Read more
Participants at 4th Consumer Medicaid Roundtable in Broward;
Gov. Crist chats with children residing at Kids in Distress;
Gov. Charlie Crist and Florida policy makers at Children's Cabinet signing ceremony, at Kids in Distress, Ft. Lauderdale
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SCHIP Reauthorization Moves through Perilous Waters in Senate and House
As Congress approaches its August recess, actions related to the reauthorization of the State Children Health Insurance Program have been swirling in both chambers. The Senate’s version consists of a $35 billion increase, for a five-year total of $60 billion, while the House is considering an increase of $50 billion, for a total expenditure of $75 billion over the next five years. The Senate debate is expected to include proposed amendments in some cases favored, and in others feared by children’s health advocates. Meanwhile, the House has been moving forward on a bill also largely funded by a federal tobacco tax increase. Additional funds would be raised through lower payments to Medicare Advantage companies that have reaped over 12% more in Medicare payments from the government than it would have spent on traditional Medicare. Advocates and consumers must act NOW, as House and Senate bills are under active consideration and moving toward committee and floor votes. (by Contributors: Lisa Tilson, SEIU; Karen Woodall and Linda Merrell, Children's Defense Fund, Florida; Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN) Read more and TAKE ACTION
Back-to-School Outreach Seeks Uninsured Children
The Governor's office in partnership with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), Florida Department of Health (DOH), Department of Children and Families (DCF), Florida Healthy Kids Corporation (FHKC) and USF's Florida Covering Kids and Families Initiative (CKF) are working together to reach out to as many uninsured families as possible during the back to school time period. The participation of as many key community leaders as possible will enable CFK to effectively reach more eligible families of Florida's 715,000 uninsured children. (by Jodi Ray, Florida Covering Kids & Families Initiative) Read more and learn how to host or participate in Back-to-School outreach activities |
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Nassau County Commissioners Continue Medicaid Reform Delay Effort
In a test of wills reminiscent of David and Goliath, the Nassau County Commissioners declined an invitation by State Rep. Aaron Bean to meet with the Director of the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), Dr. Andrew Agwunobi. According to a number of Commissioners, the meetings to discuss their concerns with expanding Medicaid Reform was to have taken place in Mr. Bean’s office on an individual basis. The invitation comes on the heels of the Commission’s formal request to Gov. Charlie Crist to delay the implementation of Medicaid Reform in Nassau County, where looming property taxes threaten to undermine delivery of basic services to many of the rural county’s Medicaid consumers. (by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN) Read more
Georgetown Study Exposes Medicaid Reform Prescription Drug Problems
In the third of a series of webcast presentations, Dr. Jack Hoadley, of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, reported on a specific set of challenges faced by Medicaid Reform consumers. The new report, accompanied by the briefing “Uncertain Access to Needed Drugs: Florida's Medicaid Reform Creates Challenges for Patients” depicts a system in which most Reform HMO’s take full advantage of their right to limit the drug benefits and, by doing so, often create additional obstacles to health care access for Medicaid consumers. (by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN) Read more
GAO Report Doubts Legality of Medicaid Reform Waiver
Parts of the waiver that allows for Medicaid Reform in Florida may be skirting the law, according to a recent legal opinion by the General Accounting Office (GAO). Affected may be children and pregnant women who may fall through gaps in coverage while choosing a private plan (or while the state chooses one for them), and those who choose the "opt-out" employer provided health care plan that may not meet minimum federal Medicaid standards of coverage. (by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN) Read more
Response to Jax Times-Union Medicaid Reform Series: Omissions and Larger Questions Bear Addressing
Florida CHAIN responds in detail to the six-part editorial series: The Jacksonville Times-Union is to be commended for its series focusing on the Medicaid Reform program recently implemented in some Florida counties. While the series aims to provide an objective look at how the program affects beneficiaries and how the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) has "done its best-and better than anybody could have reasonably expected" in implementing it, some omissions bear addressing. . . . (by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN) Read more
Dental Plan Responds to CHAIN Reaction's Consumer Story
The June 4 CHAIN Reaction's "Real Story" featured Medicaid Reform consumer Charles Haire's substantial trouble accessing appropriate dental care in the plan he had chosen - a plan that had been marketed as offering the dental care he needed. After months of receiving substandard to potentially criminal service, he was finally able to resolve his issue only after threatening legal action. Click here to read the story. The article elicited a response from the President/CEO of Atlantic Dental, Inc., WellCare HMO's dental subcontractor. Read his letter followed by Florida CHAIN's point -by-point response to it. |
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Medicare Advantage Plans Under Fire
Medicare Advantage plans, health plan options that are part of the Medicare program and are offered by Managed Care Organizations, such as HMO’s and PPO’s, are feeling the heat of controversy and possible legislative action. These private insurance plans are generally paid a fixed rate per beneficiary by Medicare, regardless of how many or how few services the beneficiary actually requires. A study by the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Government spent on average 12-17% more paying Medicaid Advantage plans than it would have in paying traditional fee-for-service Medicare. In addition, there have been indications that Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled without their knowledge to the full plan while all they requested was enrollment in Medicare Part D plans. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) summarily terminated its contract with America’s Health Choice, citing the plan’s failure “to make services available to the extent that it posed an immediate and serious threat to the health of their members." A class action lawsuit has also been filed in Florida. (by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN) Read more and TAKE ACTION |
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Tobacco Tax Efforts Must Continue at Federal and State Levels
Advocates of children’s health care are following the debate unfolding in the US Congress on the reauthorization of SCHIP closely. Because the bi-partisan efforts center on funding children’s health care access through raising the federal tobacco tax, anti-smoking campaigners have also expressed strong support for the measure. While the federal efforts may result in adequate funding for health care coverage for many of the 700,000 uninsured Florida children, these other issues must be addressed so as to provide adequate coverage to the 2.2 million Floridians who are on Medicaid and the thousands more who rely on the Medically Needy program to receive the health care they need. (by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN) Read more and join Florida's efforts
Budget, Service Cuts Threaten Persons with Developmental Disabilities
The biggest 2007 Legislative Session news for individuals with developmental disabilities was the Developmental Disabilities Home and Community Based Waiver budget deficit and provisions the legislature passed to implement the new budget. Although there are about 14,000 individuals on the waiting list, the agency will only serve additional clients on the Home and Community Based Services Waiver if they are in crisis and sufficient funding is made available through attrition. In addition the legislature eliminated and reduced numerous services. Advocacy organizations are concerned for the health and safety issues that could result from these changes. There was no formal impact study done by the agency or the legislature to assess the affect of these changes. (by Margaret Hooper, Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, Inc.) Read more
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Town Hall Meeting Near Tampa Highlights Concerns about Medicaid Reform Expansion
Over a hundred people attended a town hall meeting in Ybor City, near Tampa, to discuss the effects of Medicaid reform pilots on consumers and providers. Speakers included Dr. Jack Hoadley, senior researcher of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute; Sarah Sullivan, of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid; Lynne Granger Boyden, of Eastside Speech Therapy; and Andrew Leone, of Florida CHAIN. Each discussed issues related to reform including how it has affected consumers and small providers, and the advocacy efforts taking place in the pilot counties to forego the expansion of the program unless and until negative issues affecting consumers and providers are resolved. Attendees included consumers, providers, University of Florida and Office of Program Policy and Government Analysis (OPPAGA) representatives, and State Representatives Ed Homan and Betty Reed. (by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN) Read more |
REAL STORIES FROM FLORIDA HEALTH CARE CONSUMERS
Medicaid Reform Beneficiaries Describe Glitches at Roundtable Diverse Consumers and Providers Share Gaps, Lapses
On July 25, Florida CHAIN, as part of the Medicaid Reform Advocates Coalition (MRAC), conducted the fourth in its series of Medicaid Reform Consumer Roundtables. Some of the more disturbing consequences of changes brought about by Medicaid reform have been experienced by individuals who rely on mental health services. In discussing access to providers, some participants also addressed the issue of transportation. Some providers described many additional burdens in getting needed services approved, and often providing services without guarantee of reimbursement form the plan. All Medicaid Reform roundtable participants reported having received bills for different services, ranging from ambulance transport to specialists' visits to being asked to pay for prescription drugs previously covered under Medicaid. (by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN) Read more
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 FLORIDA CHAIN RESPONDS TO THE MIAMI HERALD
Let Floridians craft a better health system
Published July 23, 2007 in Miami Herald’s Letters to Editor
Re the July 11 editorial Ailing health system needs an overhaul: The Miami Herald uses the documentary Sicko to illustrate what many already know -- the healthcare system in the United States is ailing. Although the editorial takes some swipes at the movie, it inadvertently makes a point: Many of those countries the World Health Organization ranks as better than ours in healthcare pay much closer attention to stakeholders' input than our government does.
An essential part of fixing our healthcare system is hearing from those for whom it is not working. Florida CHAIN (Community Health Action Information Network) has, for eight years, been working to link and amplify the voices of consumers, advocates and providers to make them audible to policymakers. Town-hall meetings, forums, media discussions and legislative visits have promoted civic participation and have brought the consumer voice back into the discussion. However, there is much work to be done.
Documentation of consumers' experiences is pivotal to monitoring any program's success. Take the aftermath of the recent Medicaid reforms in Florida. Legislators hastily passed a plan to privatize the delivery of Medicaid services.
Florida CHAIN and others have diligently monitored and documented dozens of consumer and provider experiences that demonstrate the program's shortcomings, including the lack of adequate input from consumers, their advocates and providers. Policymakers need to create significant opportunities for consumers to have a place at the table.
Florida CHAIN, Florida Legal Services and others urge the reinstatement of the state's Medical Care Advisory Committee. Though federally mandated, it has been dormant since 2000. It is supposed to provide government input needed to implement policy that does not shortchange care while increasing industry profits.
Moore's movie helps refocus attention on the shortcomings of healthcare in the United States, a country used to leading the way. If we don't like what the French, Canadians, British and others have to offer, let's create our own system that more closely resembles the kind of compassionate society we would all rather live in. Including real input from those affected is the right place to start.
LISA MARGULIS, executive director, Florida CHAIN
SCHIP Reauthorization Moves through Perilous Waters in Senate and House
TAKE ACTION NOW! THIS WEEK IS CRUCIAL!
Even if you've already done so, click here again!
Urge your U.S. Rep and Senators to support the SCHIP legislation under consideration in Congress this week, and to vote against any harmful amendments that fail to expand or improve coverage for America's 9 million uninsured children.
As Congress approaches its August recess, actions related to the reauthorization of the State Children Health Insurance Program have been swirling in both chambers. After passing through the Senate Finance Committee, a bill that would fund SCHIP with revenues from a tobacco tax will be voted on at any time by the full Senate. Though the bill enjoyed bipartisan support in Committee, some of the more staunchly conservative Republicans are echoing President Bush’s distaste for this Government-sponsored program that allows for millions of otherwise uninsured children to get health coverage.
The Senate’s version consists of a $35 billion increase, for a five-year total of $60 billion, while the House is considering an increase of $50 billion, for a total expenditure of $75 billion over the next five years.
The Senate debate is expected to include proposed amendments in some cases favored, and in others feared by children’s health advocates. The Florida U.S. Senators, Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson, are on record as being diametrically opposed on how to proceed.
In a letter to constituents, Sen. Nelson stated, “I view SCHIP reauthorization as an important opportunity for Congress to strengthen and extend this vital program. The reauthorization bill I am cosponsoring—the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2007 (S.1224)—would allow States to extend coverage under SCHIP to children in families with incomes at up to 300% of the poverty line.” At the same time, Sen. Martinez was quoted by the Tampa Bay Tribune as saying, "We should use government as a last resort. We shouldn't resort to government as the first option. ... I don't think there's any question that it's the first step towards socialized medicine. This is the first step towards a government-run health care system in America for all Americans."
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has been moving forward on a bill also largely funded by a federal tobacco tax increase, with additional funds raised through lower payments to Medicare Advantage companies that have reaped over 12% more in Medicare payments from the government than it would have spent on traditional Medicare.
On a conference call recently convened by the Florida Child Health Care Coalition, U.S. Representative Kathy Castor and her Senior Legislative Assistant, Courtney Christian gave advocates an insider’s view on the progress and obstacles affecting the reauthorization of SCHIP in the House.
On the call, attended by more than a dozen participants from organizations statewide, Rep. Castor urged participants to “get active by contacting the Florida delegation with a message aimed at reauthorizing SCHIP at a good level,” she said.
Advocates and consumers must act NOW, as both House and Senate bills are currently under active consideration and moving toward committee or floor votes.
TAKE ACTION NOW! THIS WEEK IS CRUCIAL!
Even if you've already done so, click here again!
Urge your U.S. Rep and Senators to support the SCHIP legislation under consideration in Congress this week, to vote against any harmful amendments that fail to expand or improve coverage for America's 9 million uninsured children.
Meanwhile, a wide array of groups have come together in support of SCHIP reauthorization and expansion, as evidenced at a recent activity at the Capitol sponsored by the Service Employee International Union. At that event, SEIU Healthcare Chair Dennis Rivera spoke in support of reauthorized funding for the hugely successful SCHIP and voiced the union’s support for a proposed increase in the tobacco tax to provide this funding, calling the measure a “clear solution for funding this crucial expansion of care for kids.” Sponsored by nearly 30 additional labor and health advocacy organizations, the event made it clear that a large, diverse group is standing together to help bring health insurance coverage to the nine million children who are currently uninsured in the United States. In addition, SEIU posted a video on YouTube urging SCHIP support.
Without congressional action, SCHIP will expire on September 30. President Bush has repeatedly threatened to veto any measure that would go beyond his proposed $5 billion budget proposal, stating his philosophical opposition to any government sponsored program and saying at a recent event in Cleveland, “The immediate goal is to make sure there are more people on private insurance plans. I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.”
(contributors: Lisa Tilson, SEIU; Karen Woodall and Linda Merrell, Children’s Defense Fund Florida; and Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN)
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KIDCARE
Back-to-School Outreach Seeks Uninsured Children
The Governor’s office in partnership with the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), Florida Department of Health (DOH), Department of Children and Families (DCF), Florida Healthy Kids Corporation (FHKC) and USF’s Florida Covering Kids and Families Initiative (CKF) are working together to reach out to as many uninsured families as possible during the back to school time period.
This time of year is a prime opportunity to enroll children into the Florida KidCare health care coverage program as they are entering into the school year and as parents are focused on what their children need in order to be successful throughout the year. Florida CKF under a contact from AHCA is working to coordinate four press conferences/enrollment events in the Panhandle, Pinellas County, Seminole/Orange County, and in the Heartlands in Avon Park.
Additionally, CKF is providing coordination with the agency staff at the local level for Back-to-School activities where Florida KidCare information can be disseminated. Many individuals and organizations are already committed to participating in events across the state. CKF is asking for information on such scheduled events so as to better outreach on KidCare. Opportunities at every event include staffing a Florida KidCare table, distributing applications and brochures, directly assisting families with filling out applications, etc. Visit www.floridakidcare.org and click on the Back to School calendar to see what events are in your area. Those organizations that do not see their event on the calendar should contact Jodi Ray at jray@health.usf.edu to receive an event form to submit with the necessary information.
The participation of as many key community leaders as possible will enable CFK to effectively reach more eligible families. This is important considering that:
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In Florida, 715,000 children are uninsured. Of those, 22 percent (160,000) are black, and 36 percent (258,000) are Hispanic.
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18 percent of black children are uninsured, and 27 percent of Hispanic children are uninsured, compared to 13 percent of white children.
In addition, children and families feel the consequences of being uninsured, with many families struggling with whether to fill a prescription or fill the refrigerator.
When kids don’t have health insurance, parents are sometimes forced to delay medical care or prescriptions for their sick children because they don’t know how they will pay for it.
Unlike general perception, most uninsured children live with an adult who works.
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350,000 children in the US are too sick to attend school or childcare everyday.
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Mothers are absent from their jobs from 5 to 29 days per year caring for ill children
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Employee absences when their children are sick costs business as much as $12 billion annually.
That is why it is important that the information about the Florida KidCare program reach as many families as possible, whether they are employees or customers or families being assisted with other programs. An inventory list will be updated weekly as new items become available.
IMPORTANT! Quantities are limited, so organizations interested in helping with this project are urged not to stockpile and order more materials than can be used between the beginning of August and the end of September. CKF will monitor the inventory to prevent excessive orders. The brochures and posters are grouped by color "families". Organizations ordering the "We Have Faith" poster, for example, may wish to order brochures and fans that complement it. Orders are filled by package size, not individual units (i.e., 100 posters would be in two orders of 50/package).
To ensure accountability, only the designated lead contacts may sign off on requests for KidCare materials. There is no shipping cost for the Department of Health, AHCA, DCF and the University of South Florida Covering Kids project.
For all other entities or information on ordering materials, please contact Jodi Ray of CKF at jray@health.usf.edu.
(Submitted by Jodi Ray, Florida Covering Kids & Families Initiative)
Nassau County Commissioners Continue Medicaid Reform Delay Effort
In a test of wills reminiscent of David and Goliath, the Nassau County Commissioners declined an invitation by State Rep. Aaron Bean to meet with the Director of the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), Dr. Andrew Agwunobi. According to a number of Commissioners, the meetings to discuss their concerns with expanding Medicaid Reform was to have taken place in Mr. Bean’s office on an individual basis. The invitation comes on the heels of the Commission’s formal request to Gov. Charlie Crist to delay the implementation of Medicaid Reform in Nassau County, where looming property taxes threaten to undermine delivery of basic services to many of the rural county’s Medicaid consumers.
Mr. Bean, representing Fernandina Beach, is a strong proponent of the Medicaid Reform plan that shifts Medicaid services from the state to private Managed Care Organizations.
In response, the commissioners voted to have the County Attorney draft a letter to Dr. Agwunobi inviting him to speak publicly on the issue in commission chambers at any time. According to Commissioner Mike Boyle, Rep. Bean’s office declined on behalf of Dr. Agwunobi. “I find it bizarre that they wouldn’t want to hear our concerns in open forum,” said Mr. Boyle in an exclusive interview with Florida CHAIN . “I mean, wouldn’t it be more efficient to get the whole thing out in the open in 1 hour instead of individually meeting with commissioners half an hour at a time? Our intent is not to be confrontational, but as commissioners we have fiscal obligations and we are concerned that the Governor’s tax relief program doesn’t explain clearly how it will affect county residents who are on Medicaid.”
The Fernandina Beach News Leader, on July 9th reported that, “Commissioners adopted a resolution at (their) regular meeting requesting that Crist give them time to discuss potential pitfalls, namely Medicaid recipients' lack of access to health care in Nassau County.” According to the paper, Mr. Boyle said, “implementation of such a program in a county that currently has no Medicaid providers would be irresponsible.”
The Governor has not issued a formal response to the Commissioners’ request to date, but was quoted recently as cautioning against predicting “doom” related to the Reform program’s effects. “We think this request to meet Dr. Agwunobi may be the Governor’s reply,” Mr. Boyle told CR. “This is a Governor that has made commitment to open government a priority of his administration. The commission chambers are a much better forum to discuss our concerns than individual meetings,” he said.
In refusing the invitations by Mr. Bean’s office to meet with Dr. Agwunobi, the Commissioners may have been mindful of Florida’s Sunshine Law that requires that all the public's business be conducted in the open, including discussions, deliberations and decisions between two or more officials.
(Submitted by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN)
Georgetown Study Exposes Medicaid Reform Prescription Drug Problems
In the third of a series of webcast presentations, Dr. Jack Hoadley, of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, reported on a specific set of challenges faced by Medicaid Reform consumers. The report, accompanied by the briefing “Uncertain Access to Needed Drugs: Florida’s Medicaid Reform Creates Challenges for Patients” depicts a system in which most Reform HMO’s take full advantage of their right to limit the drug benefits and, by doing so, often create additional obstacles to health care access for Medicaid consumers.
The study focused on HMO’s rather than Provider Service Networks (PSN’s), Hoadley explained, because “3/4 of Broward's and 2/3 of Duval's reform enrollees are in HMO’s. In addition, PSN’s still operate under the old fee for service model, so they continue to provide medicines according to the state’s formulary,” he said.
Conducted over a period of 3 months earlier this year, the study seems to indicate that Medicaid Reform has had a particularly troubling effect on those who suffer from mental illnesses. “Reform allows plans to make substitutions. In some instances mental health drugs, such as atypical anti-psychotics, are not covered by the plans and switching patients (to other medication available through the plans) causes them to become unstable. Different drugs may not work as well and the consequences of switching are greater,” he said.
The disabled, who often take multiple prescription drugs, are also disproportionately affected by Reform. The pressure on plans to maintain a lid on costs may, over time, create additional barriers to access to medicines.
One of the biggest ongoing problems Medicaid consumers face in trying to determine which plan is best for their needs, is that the Choice Counselors, who are supposed to help them decide, have no access to the plans’ Preferred Drug Lists (PDL’s). This issue, raised by advocates from the earliest days of Reform, prevents consumers from making informed choices at the beginning of the enrollment process. “They instruct callers to contact the plans to get the formularies,” said Hoadley. The problem with this is that most plans provide their formularies online, but many Medicaid consumers have no access to the Internet. “It is challenging to get the information from the plans, difficult to find and use the lists,” Hoadley said.
In response to a participant who asked why Choice Counselors had no access to the plans’ PDLs, Hoadly reiterated the positions taken publicly by Director of Medicaid Tom Arnold and Director of AHCA Dr. Andrew Agwunobi that, “Choice Counselors do not have the necessary training to provide callers with prescription drug information.” Hoadley added, however, that “Counselors who help consumers with choosing Medicare Part D plans do provide (PDL’s), so there is a federal precedent. Why not allow Choice Counselors to just provide lists of drugs available?” he said.
The reports by Georgetown University on the effects of Medicaid Reform in Florida are funded by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. Click here to access the full set of reports.
(Submitted by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN)
GAO Report Doubts Legality of Medicaid Reform Waiver
Parts of the waiver that allows for Medicaid Reform in Florida may be skirting the law, according to a recent legal opinion by the General Accounting Office (GAO). As reported by the Associated Press, “In a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt and congressional leaders, GAO General Counsel Gary L. Kepplinger expressed concerns that parts of Florida's federally approved Medicaid overhaul experiment may run counter to federal law guaranteeing benefits for certain parts of the Medicaid population.”
Affected may be children and pregnant women who may fall through gaps in coverage while choosing a private plan (or while the state chooses one for them), and those who choose the “opt-out” employer provided health care plan that may not meet minimum federal Medicaid standards of coverage.
According to the St. Petersburg Times, “Specifically, the report says the program violates standards by providing just a few health benefits while Medicaid recipients are deciding on their health plan and by subsidizing employer-provided health insurance without requiring it to offer top-notch benefits.
The federal government pays 56 cents of every dollar a state spends on Medicaid, so it imposes requirements on the quality of health care provided with the money.
The U.S. health department can waive those rules so that states can experiment with better programs, but the GAO opinion suggests Florida went too far by failing to provide minimum standards.”
The GAO’s 13-page report, focusing on Florida and Vermont Medicaid waivers, concludes: “Our analysis of Florida Medicaid Reform and the Vermont Global Commitment to Health raises several legal concerns. With respect to Florida, our concerns center on HHS’s decision to waive requirements to provide covered benefits and limit cost sharing without addressing statutory limitations on its authority to do so. This matter is most relevant to those enrolling in employer-sponsored or private health plans? Given these concerns, we believe that the Secretary should reexamine these demonstration projects and, as appropriate, either modify their terms or seek statutory authorization for them to continue in their present form.”
For a copy of the full report, click here.
(Submitted by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN)
Response to Jax Times-Union Medicaid Reform Series: Omissions and Larger Questions Bear Addressing
The Jacksonville Times-Union is to be commended for its series focusing on the Medicaid Reform program recently implemented in some Florida counties. While the series aims to provide an objective look at how the program affects beneficiaries and how the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) has “done its best-and better than anybody could have reasonably expected” in implementing it, some omissions bear addressing.
First, how was the program “sold” to the Florida Legislature? In 2005, then Governor Jeb Bush and AHCA enticed legislators on the idea that transferring Medicaid services to private HMO’s was good because: 1. It gave participants the option to choose among plans competing for their business. 2. It gave them the possibility to see specialists included in the plans that traditional Medicaid did not. 3. It gave incentives to adopt healthy lifestyles, and 4. It would control the raising cost of Medicaid. The legislators bought it and approved the program during a special session.
As the series illustrated, one year into Medicaid Reform:
1. “Medicaid beneficiaries can choose (or the state chooses for them after a 30 day window) among competing plans”. However, that benefit is obscured because many have to give up preferred physicians or specialists that aren’t in the same plan. A cancer patient, like Janet Barnett of Ft. Lauderdale, has to choose between her trusted primary care doctor and the oncologist because the latter is not in the same plan as the first. The editorial addresses this as a small inconvenience faced by almost everyone enrolled in managed care health insurance. But these are not the traditional private insurance populations. They are on Medicaid because private insurance is either unavailable to them or has failed them. This is a disabled and vulnerable population, often of low-literacy or without computers or transportation, not to be compared to those privately insured.
Also, choice counselors may be quick to answer the phone, but they don’t have key information such as what medications are covered by which plan.
2. There is no evidence that Reform entices doctors to take Medicaid patients. If anything, Reform is pushing them away, particularly specialists. This is a generalized problem in Florida, yes, but compounded for Medicaid patients who often have no reliable means of transportation. Medicaid Reform adds to the already low reimbursement rates that Reform doesn’t address, additional non-uniform administrative requirement by the plans.
3. Enhanced Benefits promoting healthy behaviors are a good idea but fail in the implementation. Medicaid beneficiaries get credits by keeping appointments, engaging in smoking cessation, losing weight, etc. In the best of circumstances, these behaviors- and a list of others- can add up to $125 a year in credits for over-the-counter items. The 3rd AHCA quarterly report of March 2007 indicates that the overall amount credited was $1.7 million, while the overall amount of credits used was $34,000. The Times-Union reports: “Business is picking up. More than 80,000 recipients had received $3.7 million in healthy behavior credits by the end of June, according to (Medicaid Director Tom) Arnold.” But how much of this credit was cashed in? Consumer roundtables and focus groups consistently show that the outreach was rushed, the pharmacies are uninformed, and the products available do not match the need. HMO’s fund this program with 2% of their Reform revenue and may wonder what will happen to the millions they are putting in if consumers don’t cash them.
4. To date, the only insight into the efficacy of Reform in managing cost has been provided by the huge administrative outlay of the “opt-out” and enhanced benefits components. Still, managing Medicaid costs should not be addressed in a vacuum and present reality should not be the standard by which we measure a good health care system. HMO’s make profits by providing fewer services. Medicaid patients, especially adults, are typically among the ones who need the most care. Is simply saying “that’s just the way things work” how we address the problem of health care delivery as a nation?
In its conclusion, the series borders on patronizing by assuming folks on Medicaid have been on it all their lives and don’t know how a managed care system works. But nowhere does it include the notion that Medicaid consumers, their advocates and providers should be formally included in the discussion of how to implement a better Medicaid Reform from the onset. The reestablishment of a Medical Care Advisory Committee that includes all stakeholders, federally mandated yet dormant since 2000, would be a good place to start.
The Times-Union might better serve Reform beneficiaries by asking the question “Why does it have to be this way?” - rather than accepting that what we have is the only thing we can aspire to, whether or not we are on Medicaid.
(Submitted by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN)
The response above has been submitted to the Times-Union.
Click here to see the response by AARP Florida Director Lori Parham, published in the Times-Union on July 31.
No excuses for Medicaid flaws
Recently, the Times-Union published an extensive series of editorials on Florida's ambitious Medicaid reform pilot project now under way in Northeast Florida.
The program hands the care of Medicaid recipients over to managed-care companies in an attempt to conserve scarce public resources, provide Medicaid recipients with more choice and use the private sector's skills to achieve better results.
These aspirations are admirable, but AARP is concerned about the results of the implementation. Indeed, some excuses by defenders of the Medicaid reform pilot project should be enough to make all of us scratch our heads. Read more
Click on the links below to read the Times-Union’s six-part Medicaid Reform editorial series:
Part one: Coping with reality
Part two: The glitch factor
Part three: Transitional pains
Part four: Risks either way
Part five: The golden eggs
Part six: The better option
Dental Plan Responds to CHAIN Reaction's Consumer Story
The June 4 CHAIN Reaction's “Real Story” featured Medicaid Reform consumer Charles Haire's substantial trouble accessing appropriate dental care in the plan he had chosen - a plan that had been marketed as offering the dental care he needed. After months of receiving substandard to potentially criminal service, he was finally able to resolve his issue only after threatening legal action. Click here to read the story.
The article elicited a response from Mr. Juan M. Ortiz, President/CEO of Atlantic Dental, Inc., WellCare HMO’s dental subcontractor. Below is his letter, followed by Florida CHAIN's point-by-point response to it.
ADI's Response to Florida CHAIN
Your article about “Phantom” Dental Care has just come to my attention and I would like for you to correct the record about a number of significant inaccuracies and confusing points in your article.
When this patient’s unfortunate case came to our attention we investigated the situation and terminated Dr. Smith as an ADI provider. Furthermore, ADI reported this case to the appropriate State agencies and is fully cooperating in their investigation into the activities of the dentists involved.
It was a direct violation of our contract with Dr. Smith to allow Dr. Bruggisser to see and treat an ADI patient. ADI’s contract with Dr. Smith, as well as all other participating providers, states that non-contracted and non-credentialed dentists, such as Bruggisser, are excluded from seeing and/or treating ADI members.
Another correction is that a porcelain crown fused to a metal base is a standard crown widely used by practicing dentists around the country. Most important of all, ADI has made sure that the patient in your article has received proper care and ADI has paid for the cost of his treatment.
You need to be cautious when discussing data drawn from our pediatric demonstration program in Miami-Dade. Paying for dental care with nontraditional formulas is still very new in the dental world and we are all still studying a variety of models; it’s a complex topic. One important thing you do need to know about our pediatric project is that our member satisfaction rate is very high at 80%. If you had taken the time to call us while preparing your article, we might have been able to clear up some of these errors and provide important additional information. Please feel free to call us in the future.
Juan M. Ortiz, President/CEO of Atlantic Dental, Inc
Florida CHAIN Responds to ADI
CHAIN Reaction very much appreciates Mr. Ortiz’ letter and is happy to respond:
To the first point, “Dr. Arthur Bruggisser was not and has never been an ADI provider.” We will take Mr. Ortiz’s word on this. However, even if true, a patient going in for service to a practice designated by their HMO would not necessarily know whether the doctor seeing him is the one who is authorized to see him or not. It bears noting that, as to the stringent contractual oversight indicated by Mr. Ortiz, Mr. Haire’s first attempt at care was at Broward Dental Clinic, with another ADI provider, Dr. Pine, as the only one contracted to do Medicaid related work. Dr. Pine limited himself to a general evaluation and then proceeded to recommend Mr. Haire to a number of specialists within the practice who provided estimates of work totaling over $12,000, which is a far cry from what is allowable under Medicaid Reform. ADI is to be commended for enforcing its contract but may have to find a better way to detect contract violations to begin with.
The second issue pertains to the porcelain fused to metal crowns that Mr. Ortiz says is a standard crown used widely. According to various sources, including “mynewsmile.com” “Years ago, (a crown) had to be fused to a metal framework in order to create a crown strong enough to resist breaking in use. But bonding technology developed since the 1980s has allowed dentists to bond these ceramic crowns directly to the teeth.” According to the Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA): "Despite the widespread use of nickel-based alloys, claims for the safety of these alloys have not yet been accepted universally. The allergenic effects of nickel on dental patients and the potential toxic effects of nickel and beryllium on laboratory technicians continue to cause concern within the dental profession. . . . Additional animal studies are needed to characterize the acute and chronic toxicities of nickel compounds." Animal studies?
Regarding the assertion, “Most important of all, ADI has made sure that the patient in your article has received proper care and ADI has paid for the cost of his treatment.” we contacted Mr. Gary Van Den Heuvel, since he is the appointed spokesman for Mr. Haire, and he told us: “ADI made sure of no such thing. After 8 months of my unrelenting advocacy, they washed their hands of it. They stonewalled time after time. In the end WellCare, not ADI paid for the cost of treatment. The treatment plan contract was drawn up by WellCare and is being overseen and paid for by WellCare.”
Regarding including mention of the pilot pediatric program in Miami Dade, studying a variety of models, as Mr. Ortiz mentions, is important. What consumer advocacy organizations would rather see is not using the most vulnerable among us as test subjects while AHCA and managed care companies determine what is most cost effective rather than appropriate care for the patient.
Finally, it’s true: we did not call ADI and we will make sure to do so in the future in the hope that we will not get the same response as that of a colleague from an established South Florida publication who wrote an article on this issue. When he attempted to contact ADI he was told to go find his facts elsewhere.
Medicare Advantage Plans Under Fire
TAKE ACTION NOW!
Congress must listen to the voices from across the country whose stories call for cutting the overpayments and holding plans accountable for their actions. Tell your senators and representative it's time to stop the overpayments and insist that private plans compete fairly.
Medicare Advantage plans, health plan options that are part of the Medicare program and are offered by Managed Care Organizations, such as HMO’s and PPO’s, are feeling the heat of controversy and possible legislative action. These private insurance plans are generally paid a fixed rate per beneficiary by Medicare, regardless of how many or how few services the beneficiary actually requires.
A study by the Congressional Budget Office estimates that over the last year, as Medicare Advantage plans have reaped the benefits of changes to Medicare rules, the Government spent on average 12-17% more paying Medicaid Advantage plans than it would have in paying traditional fee-for-service Medicare.
In addition, there have been indications that Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled without their knowledge to the full plan while all they requested was enrollment in Medicare Part D plans. All of this is generating governmental action at various levels.
According to the Tampa Bay Tribune, “CMS drafted the new rules in the last week of June, following congressional hearings on abusive marketing practices in Medicare Advantage plans. A number of major carriers, including Tampa's WellCare Health Plans, were accused of letting contract sales agents make misleading statements to win enrollments and commissions.”
“I have received many complaints from my constituents about this,” said U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor on a recent telephone conference call related to the reauthorization of the State Children Healthcare Insurance Program (SCHIP). The two issues are connected because a House plan would raise part of the SCHIP funds needed to expand the program from revenue collected by requiring reimbursements from Medicare Advantage plans.
According to the New York Times, “The House bill calls for major changes in Medicare. It would, for example, halt a 10 percent cut in payments to doctors, scheduled for January, and would reduce payments for private insurance known as Medicare Advantage plans. Medicare typically pays the private plans more than it would cost to care for the same people in traditional Medicare. Many private plans offer additional benefits.”
Medicare Advantage in Florida faces additional problems. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) summarily terminated its contract with America’s Health Choice, citing the plan’s failure “to make services available to the extent that it posed an immediate and serious threat to the health of their members." According to the Tampa Bay Tribune, “During the night (of July 20), the government shifted AHC's approximately 12,000 members to a subsidiary of UnitedHealthcare, SecureHorizons. Beneficiaries were notified by overnight letter that they are now enrolled in a preferred provider plan, MedicareComplete Choice.”
TCPAlm.com reports that, “About 8,000 Treasure Coast residents who used to get their Medicare benefits through America's Health Choice Inc. are scrambling to decide whether it's in their best interests to stay with a new private insurer assigned by the government or seek out other policies. They have until Sept. 30 to decide whether one of two SecureHorizons plans is a good fit for their medical needs.”
UnitedHealthcare, owner of SecureHorizons, is not without its own problems. Again, according to the Tampa Bay Tribune: “A Pinellas Park attorney, Joseph Saunders filed a class action suit Monday in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court, alleging that UnitedHealthcare of Florida committed fraud and breach of contract by enrolling his mother into a HMO when all she wanted was one of the company's Medicare Part D drug plans. The company compounded the fraud, the suit claims, by refusing to disenroll her when she asked.”
(Submitted by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN)
(Alert from Medicare Rights Center)
TAKE ACTION NOW!
Congress must listen to the voices from across the country whose stories call for cutting the overpayments and holding plans accountable for their actions. Tell your senators and representative it's time to stop the overpayments and insist that private plans compete fairly.
More information:
Families USA has just issued a special report, Whose Advantage? Billions in Windfall Payments Go to Private Medicare Plans. Their Power Point presentation on Medicare Advantage delivered to the Congressional TriCaucus (the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus) is also available online.
Read stories submitted by beneficiaries, family members, counselors, caseworkers, and insurance sales agents to Medicare Rights Center’s Medicare Private Health Plan Project in the past two months.
Tobacco Tax Efforts Must Continue at Federal and State Levels
Advocates of children’s health care are following the debate unfolding in the US Congress on the reauthorization of SCHIP closely. Because the bi-partisan efforts center on funding children’s health care access through raising the federal tobacco tax, anti-smoking campaigners have also expressed strong support for the measure.
These have included the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society among others which quickly point out that increasing the cost of tobacco products, especially cigarettes, relates directly to the drop in smoking rates, especially among youth. In this sense, the federal tobacco tax would "kill two birds with one stone."
While the federal tax effort has gained momentum and its goals of greater health care coverage for children are admirable, every state that would benefit from increased SCHIP funding also faces numerous other obstacles to health care. In Florida, current efforts at raising the state tobacco tax are not only aimed at children’s health. The Healthy Florida Alliance (HFA), a partnership of organizations dedicated to improving the well being of Floridians and enhancing health care access by reducing tobacco consumption, proposes using revenue raised by a state tobacco tax to also include expanding Medicaid and Medically Needy eligibility, as well as increasing the reimbursement rates of physicians who care for Medicaid patients.
While the federal efforts may result in adequate funding for health care coverage for many of the 700,000 uninsured Florida children, these other issues must be addressed so as to provide adequate coverage to the 2.2 million Floridians who are on Medicaid and the thousands more who rely on the Medically Needy program to receive the health care they need.
Join the efforts of the HFA by printing and submitting the linked Endorsement Form.
HFA members to date include: American Lung Association, American Heart Association, Florida Medical Association, Florida Academy of Family Physicians, ACORN Florida, Florida CHAIN, National Council of Negro Women, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Hispanic Health Initiatives, Centers for Independent Living Broward and Miami-Dade, Lupus Foundation, Florida PIRG and more.
(submitted by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN)
To learn more about the Healthy Florida Alliance and the campaign to increase the cigarette tax by $1/pack to help fund increased health care access, visit www.healthyfloridaalliance.org
Budget, Service Cuts Threaten Persons with Developmental Disabilities
The biggest 2007 Legislative Session news for individuals with developmental disabilities was the Developmental Disabilities Home and Community Based Waiver budget deficit and provisions the legislature passed to implement the new budget.
The Developmental Disabilities Home and Community Based Waiver is an option that Florida provides to 30,000 individuals with developmental disabilities. These services go beyond the Medicaid state plan and allow people to live in the community. The program offers consumers and families an alternative to costly and restrictive institutional care.
Although there are about 14,000 individuals on the waiting list for these services, the agency will only serve additional clients on the Home and Community Based Services Waiver if they are in crisis and sufficient funding is made available through attrition. In addition the legislature eliminated and reduced services as outlined below.
The new Agency for Persons with Disabilities appropriations language includes the following service reductions, eliminations and changes:
-
Residential Habilitation services will be limited to 8 hours per day. Additional hours may be authorized for persons who have intensive medical or adaptive needs and if such hours are essential for avoiding institutionalization, or for persons who possess behavioral problems that are exceptional in intensity, duration, or frequency and present a substantial risk of harm to themselves or others.
Another way the legislature voted to control costs was in a tiered, capped system that will be implemented upon federal approval. Senate Bill 1124, the Conforming Bill, outlines a four-tiered waiver system
TIER ONE is limited to individuals who have service needs that cannot be met in tiers two, three, or four for intensive medical or adaptive needs and that are essential for avoiding institutionalization, or who possess behavioral problems that are exceptional in intensity, duration, or frequency and present a substantial risk of harm to themselves or others.
TIER TWO is limited to individuals whose service needs include a licensed residential facility and greater than 5 hours per day in residential habilitation services or clients in supported living who receive greater than 6 hours a day of in-home support services. Total annual expenditures under Tier Two may not exceed $55,000 per individual each year.
TIER THREE includes, but is not limited to, individuals requiring residential placements, individuals in independent or supported living situations, and individuals who live in their family home. Total annual expenditures under Tier Three may not exceed $35,000 per individual each year.
TIER FOUR is the family and supported living waiver. Tier Four shall include, but is not limited to, individuals in independent or supported living situations and individuals who live in their family home. An increase to the number of services available to individuals in this tier shall not take effect prior to July 1, 2008. Total annual expenditures under tier four may not exceed $14,792 per year.
Advocacy organizations are concerned for the health and safety issues that could result from these changes. There was no formal impact study done by the agency or the legislature to assess the affect of these changes. The Florida Developmental Disabilities Council will be sponsoring a study to assess the impact of the service reductions.
(Submitted by Margaret Hooper, Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, Inc.)
Town Hall Meeting Near Tampa Highlights Concerns about Medicaid Reform Expansion
Over a hundred people attended a town hall meeting in Ybor City, near Tampa, to discuss the effects of Medicaid reform on consumers and providers in the pilot counties of Broward and Duval. The program included a presentation by Dr. Jack Hoadley, senior researcher of the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, on how reform has changed access to prescription medicines for Medicaid beneficiaries (see related story for complete information on the Georgetown report).
Lynne Granger Boyd discusses effect of
reform on small providers
 Other speakers at the event included Sarah Sullivan, of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid; Lynne Granger Boyden, of Eastside Speech Therapy; and Andrew Leone, of Florida CHAIN. Each discussed issues related to reform including how it has affected consumers and small providers, and the advocacy efforts taking place in the pilot counties to forego the expansion of the program unless and until negative issues affecting consumers and providers are resolved.
State Representatives Ed Homan (left)
and Betty Reed greet attendees
 Among the attendees were consumers, providers, University of Florida and Office of Program Policy and Government Analysis (OPPAGA) representatives, and State Representatives Ed Homan and Betty Reed. Dr. Homan, an orthopedic surgeon, exhorted those present to become activists against the expansion of Medicaid Reform by writing letters to the media and their representatives and demanding meetings at legislators’ district offices. Medicaid Reform can expand beyond the pilot counties only if the Legislature allows it by a vote expected next year.
The event was co-sponsored by the Tampa Bay Healthcare Collaborative and Florida CHAIN and was organized by Enid Gildar, a Speech Language Pathologist in private practice in Hillsborough County.
(Submitted by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN)
Attendees at Town Hall meeting in Tampa on Medicaid Reform
REAL STORIES FROM FLORIDA HEALTH CARE CONSUMERS
Medicaid Reform Beneficiaries Describe Glitches at Roundtable
Diverse Consumers and Providers Share Gaps, Lapses
On July 25, Florida CHAIN, part of the Medicaid Reform Advocates Coalition (MRAC) conducted the 4th in its series of Medicaid Reform Consumer Roundtables. Recognizing that, a year into the pilot program, issues arising concern not only beneficiaries but Community-Based Organizations that provide services to different constituencies, the roundtable also included a number of such providers. Throughout the evening, participants answered a series of questions ranging from changes in delivery and accessibility of services, to being billed for services, to the Enhanced Benefit component of Reform.
Some of the more disturbing consequences of changes brought about by Medicaid reform have been experienced by individuals who rely on mental health services and the delicate balance of therapy and medication that allows them to function.
Sharon Grad described how her daughter Lori, who suffers from severe mental illness, was bounced from one institution to another as her condition worsened, because the plan she was enrolled in would not pay for services she had previously received. “The police took my daughter to Tamarac Pavilion, where she had gone before and was covered by Medicaid. After one day they discharged her because the Reform plan she is in does not cover her there. She was sent by ambulance to a psychiatric hospital where they kept her for a week and discharged her with medication that caused her to pass out. So we called her primary care physician, who had no availability at that time and suggested we take her to Coral Springs Hospital. Unfortunately, what my daughter needed at the time was a psychiatrist to evaluate her medications. But no psychiatrist under her plan could see her at Coral Springs Hospital, so she was kept under observation for three days, and eventually they sent a psychologist. Talking is not what she needed,” she said.
Another participant, Betty Antoine, who is her mother’s caregiver, described how, after getting a list of doctors her mother could see from a Choice Counselor, she found that none of the providers were taking Medicaid patients in the plan she had chosen, “Except for one that was on vacation, so my mother could not see him for two weeks.”
In discussing access to providers, some participants also addressed the issue of transportation, which, under the terms of Reform, must be provided by the Managed Care Companies at the same level or better than by Medicaid.
For Howard Kaplan, who relies on public transportation, getting the needed bus pass was previously provided by Medicaid “like clockwork, on the 19th of every month.” Now that he is enrolled in a Reform plan, it’s become a monthly nightmare. “First the health insurance company told me to contact the transportation subcontractor who is located in Brevard. They sent me forms that I have to fill out every month and told me to fax them back to them, but both of the fax numbers they gave me are down.” In addition, Kaplan now has to have lab work done at facilities that are much further away than before Reform, and require bus transfers.
For Lori Lotter, who is homeless and relies on very limited income, Medicaid Reform has meant that now she has to co-pay $2 each way to and from her medical appointments using transportation company her HMO provides, which in her situation makes a big difference.
On the question of Enhanced Benefits, the program that allows Medicaid beneficiaries to accrue credits for positive health behaviors that they can cash in for over the counter pharmacy products, the response from participants covered the gamut: some had not heard nor received information about it, some who did and tried to cash their benefits at local pharmacies found that the latter had no idea about the program or what products are covered, and two participants had no trouble cashing in their credits.
Kaplan raised an issue that is common to many Medicaid recipients: not being able to rely on the internet to facilitate navigating through the Reform system. “I went to my local Walgreen’s with my enhanced benefit statement and the tech there told me to contact AHCA to find out what products are available,” said Kaplan. “I called AHCA and they told me to look the list up on line. When I told them (like many beneficiaries) I had no computer and asked them to send me the information on paper they told me they couldn’t because it is 700 pages long.”
Some providers described many additional burdens in getting needed services approved, and often providing services without guarantee of reimbursement form the plan. “If the person you are talking to is suicidal, we will provide the services they need whether their HMO approves them or not,” said Sheryl Hidalgo of Henderson Mental Health Center. In addition, Henderson staff take it upon themselves to arrange for client transportation to and from medical services, often providing transportation without getting plan reimbursement. “Before, Medicaid reimbursed us. Now plans require that severely ill patients make their own transportation arrangements, which is not realistic, so we try to do it for them,” said Hidalgo.
Yvonne Gamble, a nurse at SOS Children’s Village, a foster care services provider, has approximately 70 children in her care. She referred to “the nightmare of keeping up with what plan each child is in,” as these are constantly changing and many children who are not required to be enrolled have been, because of communication glitches between AHCA, DCF and Child-Net, the various agencies required to keep track of health care for foster children.
All Medicaid Reform roundtable participants reported having received bills for different services, ranging from ambulance transport to specialists' visits to being asked to pay for prescription drugs previously covered under Medicaid.
One person who did not attend the roundtable but was interviewed previously was Janet Barnett. A retired nurse familiar with navigating the system, she was recently diagnosed with carcinoma of the liver. Being forced to choose a plan under Reform, she chose the one that included her oncologist over the one that included her primary care physician. As part of her treatment, she was required to undergo a cath-lab (the insertion of a tube through the artery to detect and repair arterial blockages), because of severe heart murmurs. “The one most important thing people with my condition are warned about is to avoid stress,” said Barnett. “You can imagine the stress I felt when I received a bill from the cardiologist for the procedure because the plan wouldn’t pay for it,” she said.
This was right before having to go back in to receive massive chemotherapy directly to the liver to combat the disease.
(Submitted by Andrew Leone, Florida CHAIN)
Florida CHAIN Seeks Stories
Florida CHAIN welcomes contributions from health care consumers who are interested in sharing their experiences with readers of CHAIN Reaction. If you have a story to share, please contact Andrew Leone at 954/684-9895 or andrewl@floridachain.org |
State Events & Notices
North Florida
Central Florida
East Central Florida
West Central Florida
Southwest Florida
Southeast Florida
Florida Audio & Web Events
Statewide Notices
National Events & Notices
Conferences & Events
Audio & Web Events
National Notices
Campaigns & Initiatives
STATE EVENTS & NOTICES
NORTH FLORIDA
13th Annual Children's Week (2008)
March 29-April 6
In addition, local events and activities will take place throughout the state Feb-April. Contact jason@childrensweek.org
Notices
CENTRAL FLORIDA
FL CURED Summit
Aug 6-8 Gaylord Palms Resort, Orlando
If you want to influence how the State of Florida can lead the charge to find cures, then join your colleagues to share information, ideas, and inspiration for finding cures. Attend the Florida Department of Health's second annual Florida Center for Universal Research to Eradicate Disease (FL CURED) Summit for a 'Meeting of the Minds.' This premier Summit focuses on building collaborative partnerships between industry, academia, government, and media. Join fellow experts in one of four interactive workshops and develop recommendations for the 2008 Florida legislative session.
Florida Immigrant Coalition Annual State Congress
Sept 21-22 Orlando
Sept 21 will offer participants several choices of trainings and workshops aimed at building the skills and knowledge of immigrant advocates, legal service providers and Coalition members. CLE credits will be available to attorneys attending legal trainings. During Sept 22’s Strategy Session the organization will induct new groups, elect new Board members and endorse a statewide plan of action for the upcoming year. Look for more information shortly.
Supported Employment and Benefits Management Training
Oct 18-19 Gainesville (Registration Deadline – October 16)
for Individuals with Disabilities, their Family Members and Support Coordinators. For information, contact 850/386-2022 or diamondw@wilres.com.
EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA
WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA
Tampa Bay Healthcare Collaborative Quarterly Membership Meeting
Aug 9 9:30-11:30 am Hillsborough County American Red Cross Tampa Bay Chapter, 3310 W. Main St, Tampa
The special topic will be Electronic Health Records. This technology has helped better meet patient expectations, expedites many tedious work processes (such as prescription writing and creation of chart notes), and creates new ways we can improve the health of our patients. The Collaborative will also conduct business and get committee updates. Please invite colleagues and/or partner organization reps who could benefit from the learning opportunity and introduction. The Collaborative welcomes the opportunity to continue to collaborate. More information: director@tampabayhealth.org, 813/685-3232, 727/204-9895
Statewide Property Tax Reform Discussion
Aug 16 10:00am-2:00pm Orlando-Teamsters Local 385, 126 N Kirkman Rd
Join a broad base of organizations from around the state to strategize about HOW to engage your organization, friends and neighbors in a discussion about the proposed Constitutional amendment on property tax reform and FloridaOrganizing committee participants: Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, Florida Consumer Action Network, Florida Education Association, Florida fcfep@yahoo.com Please see articles below that illuminate concerns: http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070701/COLUMNISTS0205/707010322/1138/OPINION; http://www.sptimes.com/2007/06/29/Hillsborough/Budget_layoffs_strike.shtml
Supported Employment and Benefits Management Training
Dec 6-7 Fort Myers (Registration Deadline – Dec 4)
for Individuals with Disabilities, their Family Members and Support Coordinators. For information, contact 850/386-2022 or diamondw@wilres.com.
Events
Southeast Florida Cancer Control Collaborative (SFCCC)
Aug 2 9:30-2:00 pm Univ. of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, 1475 NW 12th Ave, Miami-Rom 1301
Partnership Showcase & Agenda: If you are interested in doing a brief (10 min.) presentation about your organization, or if you have suggestions for the agenda, please email sfccc@med.miami.edu before July 18th. The meeting will include workgroup session (before lunch) to discuss upcoming activities. The 4 workgroups are Disparities, Risk Reduction, Synergy, and Quality of Life/Palliative Care.
Health Care Forum
Aug 13 2:00-4:00 pm South County Civic Center, 16700 Jog Rd, Delray Beach
Discuss vital information about health care for today's retired Americans. We wish to implement policies that ensure seniors and people with disabilities access to affordable prescription drugs. The main goal for this forum is to discuss HR676 and how it will establish a single payer health care system in America. Call Florida Alliance for Retired Americans at (561) 792-8799 with any questions.
2007 Florida Conference on Aging
Aug 13-16 Miami InterContinental Hotel
Outstanding Keynote Speakers, Leadership Academy, Pre-Conference Intensives, Over 50 Workshop Sessions, CEUs for many professions, Registration includes many meals, Single day/full conference registration available.
Florida Health Care Coalition 2nd Annual South Florida Conference
Empowering Healthcare: A Look at Consumer, Purchaser and Provider Roles
Aug 15 Signature Grand, Davie
Contact: 305/599-2070
Supported Employment and Benefits Management Training
Sept 27-28 Miami (Registration Deadline – Sept 25)
For Individuals with Disabilities, their Family Members and Support Coordinators. For information, contact 850/386-2022 or diamondw@wilres.com.
Breast and Ovarian Cancer: Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment
October 12 9:30 am-4:00 pm Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Diagnostic Treatment Ctr
The Cancer Committee of the Jackson Health System and the Univ of Miami Sylvester Cancer Center is hosting this full day educational Town Hall Meeting on focusing on risk factors, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, survival and new discoveries. Presenters will include Surgeons from the Division of Gynecology Surgery, a Radiation Oncologist, a Geneticist, and other health care professionals. Breakfast and lunch will be served. Reservations can be made by contacting APazos@um-jmh.org or DEvans@um-jmh.org, or by phone at 305/585-6038 (ext. 2). This meeting is free and open to the general public and all medical staff.
Promoting Oral Health for South Florida: A Community Dialogue
Registration deadline: Oct 8
Oct 15 8:30–3:30 pm Jungle Island (formerly Parrot Jungle) between downtown Miami & South Beach
Health Foundation of South Florida and Broward Regional Health Planning Council are hosting a community dialogue for public and non-profit health and human services organizations serving South Florida. Hear and discuss with national and local experts best practice models and lessons learned in oral health, one of the Foundation’s new priority areas. The community dialogue will provide the opportunity to make recommendations to the Foundation as it determines goals and strategies with respect to its five-year oral health promotion funding plan. Complimentary continental breakfast and lunch will be provided. For information, call 954-561-9681 ext 277.
REMOVING THE BARRIERS: Training for Trainers to remove health care barriers for women who partner with women
Oct 19 9 am–1pm SunServe, 1480 SW 9th Ave, Ft. Lauderdale
This training is designed to educate and bring awareness to health care providers about the health care needs of women who partner with women, to improve practitioners’ skills and create systemic change to allow women who partner with women to truly feel comfortable in a health care setting. The training gives tools to dismantle the barriers within practices and/or institutions. RTB certified trainers help providers work to increase their comfort level discussing and develop a common language around sexuality, and create an environment where all their patients, regardless of sexual orientation or behavior, feel comfortable and safe to share information. The training can also be done through a free home study course. For $15, the Oct 19 on site training will provide 4 contact hours for physicians, nurses, social workers as well as psychologists, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists. RTB provides 2 contact hours for physicians, nurses, social workers and other medical professionals taking home study. Contact RTBtraining@aol.com
Supported Employment and Benefits Management Training
Nov 15-16 Miami (Registration Deadline – Nov 13)
for Individuals with Disabilities, their Family Members and Support Coordinators. For information, contact 850/386-2022 or diamondw@wilres.com.
Notices
Submit Florida KidCare Back to School events info
Please send information about Back to School events/activities that you are sponsoring or participating in posted on the Florida KidCare Community Calendar. Please complete the attached form and submit it by fax to 850-224-0615 or e-mail gregoryd@healthykids.org with Florida Healthy Kids at least 1 week prior to the event/activity. All events/activities posting will be updated every Monday and can be accessed through the Florida KidCare website, www.floridakidcare.org
Palm Beach County Offering Discount Rx Cards
Palm Beach County commissioners have joined a growing number of local governments offering their residents discount Prescription drugs. The county will participate in a free program that lets county residents receive discounts at more than 57,000 pharmacies across the country. Under the plan, residents get discount cards that can be used at participating pharmacies. They pay a negotiated rate for their prescription, if it's lower than the pharmacy's retail price. Cards are expected to be available for residents in about eight weeks. The county is considering several ways of distributing them.
Broward County Launches Prescription Drug Discount Card Program
Broward County has launched a program to help consumers cope with the high price of prescription drugs. The County is making free prescription drug discount cards available under a program sponsored by the National Association of Counties (NACo). The cards may be used by all County residents, regardless of age, income, or existing health coverage, and at any participating retail pharmacy. A national network of more than 57,000 participating retail pharmacies also will honor the NACo prescription discount card, including most chain pharmacies and many independents. Cards can be picked up free of charge at many Broward County government facilities, including parks, libraries, transit facilities, the downtown Governmental Center and the County's four Family Success Centers. For more information, residents can call toll free 1-877/321-2652, or visit NACo's site at https://naco.advancerx.com or visit www.broward.org/humanservices and click on "NACo Rx Program". Unlike many other card programs, there is no enrollment cost or membership fee. The average discount is 20 percent. Cardholders are eligible for higher discounts on a three-month supply of some medications through mail service. Cardholders also can save on pet prescriptions at participating retail pharmacies. The NACo discount card program dovetails with Medicare Part D.
FLORIDA AUDIO CONFERENCES AND WEBCASTS
STATEWIDE NOTICES
Prescription Discount Cards Offered through Publix Pharmacies
A national health care discount network has introduced a prescription drug discount card for all Florida residents, offered through Publix pharmacies. United Networks of America (UNA) offers 25-45 percent discounts. The card is available at all Publix pharmacies — the supermarket has signed on as preferred provider — or on the Internet at floridarxcard.com.The card is not an insurance plan; there are no monthly premiums. People without health insurance, seniors who have fallen in the Medicare "find this helpful.
Local Youth Leadership Initiative
Human Services Coalition (HSC) is partnering with the national nonprofit AmeriCorps program Public Allies to develop young diverse leaders in Miami-Dade County. HSC will kickoff the Public Allies program in October, placing 15 local men and women between the ages of 18 and 30 to work with nonprofits as apprentices for 10 months. During that time, the Allies will participate in leadership and professional skills training and work on a team service project. They will also facilitate community dialogues about local issues. Each Ally will receive full health benefits, a monthly stipend of $1500 and $4,700 at the end of the program to help fund their education. The project is also funded in part by Allegany Franciscan Foundation and The Children’s Trust. HSC will recruit applicants for the 15 positions over the summer and look for partner organizations to host each Ally. For more information about becoming an Ally or hosting one, contact 305-576-5001 x32.
NATIONAL EVENTS & NOTICES
CONFERENCES AND EVENTS
ACHI’s 2008 Spring Training for Health Champions
Session Proposals Due: Aug 10
Conference Dates: March 5-7, 2008 Atlanta
Topic Tracks: Minimizing Chronic Disease: Strategies for Social Determinants; Maximizing Coverage: Proven Programs and Innovative Proposals; Harnessing Data: Health Assessments to Health Outcomes; Delivering Community Benefit: Management Tools and Community Strategies (co-sponsored by Catholic Health Association and VHA, Inc.); Breaking Silos: Public Health and Health System Partnerships
Charting New Frontiers in Rural Women's Health
Aug 13-15 Washington DC
This conference is to share information and best practices to increase awareness of the needs of women and families living in rural and frontier areas and gain hands on experience with programs that work. Target audiences are rural health care professionals, providers, consumers, government agencies, rural communities, community leaders, community clinics and rural businesses, hospitals, etc.The goals are: to present the latest sex- and gender-specific research and programs; to improve the health status of women, especially rural women; to translate sex- and gender-specific research into clinical practice by sharing effective programs/tools to address the research and social concerns of women living in rural areas; to share with national and regional change agents strategies to enhance effective outreach to rural women and their families and increase support for women's programs and services; to provide hands-on workshops to teach participants how to implement programs in their own community. CEUs offered.
Women of Color: Addressing Disparities, Affirming Resilience, and Developing Strategies for Success - Minority Women's Health Summit
August 23-26 Washington DC
The goal of this summit is to build on knowledge gained in previous conferences and identify distinct health issues disproportionately impacting minority women. In addition, the summit will highlight successful models of health promotion and prevention. The summit will offer skills-building workshops where participants will be given the resources to better reach their target populations. Over 500 participants, including community- and faith-based organizational leaders, public health advocates, and minority women's health coalition directors, are expected to attend.
Active Living Research Conference Seeks Abstracts
Abstract submission deadline: Sept 17
April 9-12 Washington DC
The theme of this year's conference is "Connecting Active Living Research to Policy Solutions." Abstracts on all topics related to active living policies and environments are welcome. In addition to policy-relevant research, Active Living Research welcomes abstracts about children and adolescents at greatest risk for obesity—African-American, Latino, Native American, Asian-American and Pacific Islander children and adolescents living in low-income communities.
7th Annual Diversity Challenge at Boston College: Race and Culture Intersections in Scientific Research and Mental Health Service Delivery for Children, Adolescents, and Families
October 2007
Presentations should focus on developments in research, professional practice, education or social justice initiatives as they pertain to promoting the mental health and redressing the mental health disparities for racial and ethnic minority children, adolescents, and families. Researchers, practitioners, educators, medical service providers, employee assistance personnel, government agencies, spiritual healers, and providers of community services are encouraged to submit proposals.
Community Benefit 101: The Nuts and Bolts of Planning and Reporting Community Benefit
Oct 3-4 St. Louis
Whether you are new to community benefit or want to bring colleagues from finance, planning or other departments up to speed, sign up for the Catholic Health Association's "Community Benefit 101." This program will cover: the CHA accounting and reporting framework which is included as part of the new IRS 990 H, why community benefit is so important today (including recent federal and state government initiatives), what counts as community benefit, how to plan and evaluate effectiveness of community benefit programs and how to tell the community benefit story. Organizational teams are encouraged to attend.
SOPHE 58th Annual Meeting - Partnerships to Achieve Health Equity
Oct 31–Nov 3 Alexandria, VA
Abstracts are now being accepted online for workshops, symposia, oral presentations, and posters for Society for Public Health Education's 58th Annual Meeting. SOPHE is pleased to be partnering with CDC's Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program and Eta Sigma Gamma for its 40th Annual Meeting. Sub-themes include health systems change; social determinants of health and transdisciplinary approaches to health education; health communications, health literacy and technology; cultural competence in bridging differences, and; evaluation and dissemination of evidence-based approaches. For more information, contact lvillejo@mdanderson.org
Creating a Culture of Wellness
Nov 27-29 Washington, DC
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will host this 2007 National Prevention and Health Promotion Summit. This groundbreaking event will unite health professionals, business entrepreneurs, and government leaders at all levels who are dedicated to health promotion, chronic disease prevention, health preparedness, birth defects, disabilities, genomics, and wellness.
National Congress on the Uninsured: From Practical Local and Regional Solutions to State and National Health Reform
Dec 10-12 Washington, DC
The challenge of the un- and underinsured in America puts great social and economic stress on the nation's health system. The goals of The National Congress are to: define the issue; identify and assess various federal and state health reform proposals; analyze the roles of Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP in expansion of coverage; describe and compare various international approaches to the issue; identify voluntary, charitable initiatives across the country to address the issue at the local level and assess current obligations and practices of healthcare providers to render care to uninsured patients.
AUDIO AND WEB EVENTS
What Would It Take to Eliminate the Disproportionate Burden of HIV/AIDS Among African-Americans?
Aug 2 1:00 pm ET
Webcast: Today's Topics in Health Disparities. The Kaiser Family Foundation hosts a discussion of the racial disparities in HIV/AIDS, with a focus on the African- American community. African-Americans account for more people estimated to be living with AIDS and HIV-related deaths than any other racial/ethnic group in the U.S. Today, African-Americans make up about 12 percent of the U.S. population, but account for half of all new AIDS cases. And, despite medical advances, the HIV death rate is still significantly higher for African-Americans than for other groups.
Families USA SCHIP Conference Call
Aug 3 2:00 pm ET
An update on SCHIP reauthorization and strategy for when Congress returns after Labor Day.Review of what happened in the Committees of both chambers of Congress, and the policy gains and where ground may be lost.
Evaluating the Impact of Community-based Programs to Build Support (ACHI)
Aug 16 1:00 pm CT, 2:00 pm ET
Chronic Disease Management: An Evidence-based Program that Works
Sept 5 12:00 Noon ET
The Stanford Patient Education Research Center has developed and evaluated a self-management program for persons with chronic disease which has been embraced by the Administration on Aging as its leading evidence-based prevention program. The self-management model helps chronically ill persons gain confidence in their ability to control their symptoms and to take charge of their health problems.
Sister Breast Cancer Study
This is an NIEHS funded breast cancer research study to find the environmental and genetic causes of breast cancer. They are recruiting women who have never had breast cancer, live in the US or PR, are 35-74 years old and have a sister whose had breast cancer. They work with thousands of volunteers and community based organizations to recruit the remaining 13,000 women to reach their goal of 50,000 enrolled participants by the end of this year. Women who participate answer questionnaires, provide a few samples (blood, urine, dust and toe nail sample) and do telephone interviews all from home and over the phone. No medical intervention or changes to their habits are required. Sister Study especially encourages minorities and older women to participate in this important research. Free brochures and other recruitment materials. www.sisterstudy.org or www.estudiodehermanas.org 800-948-7552 ext 4366
CAMPAIGNS & INITIATIVES
SCHIP Reauthorization Press Conferences in States
Throughout August, coalitions in states will host major media events with governors and other state officials to demonstrate support for the reauthorization of SCHIP. Events are already being planned in states including Florida. Organize a news conference to demonstrate support for SCHIP. Contact Covering Kids & Families for help planning . Find out how you can help get uninsured kids covered. Find out What You Can Do to get involved. Call or e-mail your regional contact. Order Free Materials including fliers, posters and bookmarks to distribute at your events. Register as an Event Planner to let us know what you're doing and access additional resources available exclusively to Event Planners. Read the online planning checklist to learn what you can do this week to prepare for your event.
Healthy Child Campaign
Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) have made tremendous progress in improving children’s health insurance. Yet nine million children in America, almost 90% living in working households and a majority in two-parent families, are still uninsured. Millions more are underinsured. As Congress prepares to consider reauthorization of SCHIP in 2007, there is a special opportunity for our nation and leaders in all parties to take the next logical, incremental, smart and achievable step to ensure health and mental health coverage for all children in America as a significant down payment on health coverage for all. Because of this, the Children's Defense Fund proudly endorses the All Healthy Children Act (S. 1564/HR 1688). Over 1,000 organizations have signed on. Has yours? Learn more. Click here to TAKE ACTION and for toolkits.
PhRMA Expands Partnership for Prescription Assistance; Launches Website, National Campaign To Support SCHIP Reauthorization
America’s pharmaceutical research companies have launched a national education campaign to improve awareness of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). To increase awareness of the program and support its reauthorization by the U.S. Congress, PhRMA’s new national television and print advertising campaign emphasizes the critical role SCHIP has played to improve the health and lives of millions of children across the nation. PhRMA also is expanding its Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) program to include SCHIP enrollment information. The PPA, sponsored by PhRMA and its member companies, is a national clearinghouse for more than 475 patient assistance programs that provide free or nearly free medicines to low-income, uninsured and underinsured patients. More than 40 of these assistance programs focus on the medication and health care needs of children. To help make it easier for parents to learn about these available programs, including SCHIP, the PPA has launched a new Web site: http://kids.pparx.org
August
Cataract Awareness Month: August
American Academy of Ophthalmology
(415) 447-0213
eyemd@aao.org www.aao.org/eyemd
National Immunization Awareness Month: August
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(800) 232-2522
npiinfo@hmhb.gov www.cdc.gov/nip/
September
National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month: September
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
(800) 729-6686
info@samhsa.gov www.recoverymonth.gov
National Cholesterol Education Month: September
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Health Information Center
(301) 592-8573
nhlbiinfo@nhlbi.nih.gov hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/cholmonth
National Sickle Cell Month: September
Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc.
(800) 421-8453
scdaa@sicklecelldisease.org www.sicklecelldisease.org
Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month: September
National Ovarian Cancer Coalition
(888) OVARIAN (682-7426)
nocc@ovarian.org www.ovarian.org
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month: September
National Prostate Cancer Coalition
(888) 245-9455
info@fightprostatecancer.org www.fightprostatecancer.org
National Suicide Prevention Week: September
American Association of Suicidology
(202) 237-2280
info@suicidology.org www.suicidology.org
STOP A Suicide Today Day: September 10
Screening for Mental Health, Inc.
(781) 239-0071
AKeliher@MentalHealthScreening.org www.stopasuicide.org
National Farm Safety & Health Week: September 16-22
National Education Center for Agricultural Safety
(888) 844-6322
halversc@nicc.edu www.nsc.org/necas
Reye's Syndrome Awareness Week: September 16-22
National Reye's Syndrome Foundation
(800) 233-7393
nrsf@reyessyndrome.org www.reyessyndrome.org
Take a Loved One for a Check-up Day: September 18
Office of Minority Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(800) 444-6472
info@omhrc.gov www.healthgap.omhrc.gov
Hearing Aid Awareness Week: September 30 - October 6
International Hearing Society
(734) 522-7200
acmarkey@ihsinfo.org www.ihsinfo.org
October
"Talk About Prescriptions" Month: October
National Council on Patient Information and Education
(301) 656-8565
ncpie@ncpie.info www.talkaboutrx.org
Healthy Lung Month: October
American Lung Association
(800) LUNG-USA (586-4872)
info@lungusa.org www.lungusa.org
Let's Talk Month: October
Advocates for Youth
(202) 419-3420
tom@advocatesforyouth.org www.advocatesforyouth.org
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month: October
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month Board of Sponsors
nbcamquestions@yahoo.com www.nbcam.org
National Family Sexuality Education Month/Let's Talk: October
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
(212) 541-7800
education@ppfa.org www.plannedparenthood.org
National Child Health Day: October
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Maternal and Child Health Bureau
(301) 443-2170
www.mchb.hrsa.gov
NDSD Mental Health Screening TM: October 11
Screening for Mental Health, Inc.
(781) 239-0071
ndsd@mentalhealthscreening.org www.mentalhealthscreening.org
National Mammography Day: October 19
American Cancer Society
(800) ACS-2345 www.cancer.org
Respiratory Care Week: October 11
American Association for Respiratory Care
(972) 243-2272
marketing@aarc.org www.aarc.org/resources/rc_week/
November
American Diabetes Month: November
American Diabetes Association
(800) DIABETES (342-2383)
askada@diabetes.org www.diabetes.org
Diabetic Eye Disease Month: November
Prevent Blindness America
(800) 331-2020
info@preventblindness.org www.preventblindness.org
Lung Cancer Awareness Month: November
Lung Cancer Alliance
(800) 298-2436
info@lungcanceralliance.org www.lungcanceralliance.org
National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month: November
Alzheimer's Association
(800) 272-3900
info@alz.org www.alz.org
National Family Caregivers Month: November
National Family Caregivers Association
(800) 896-3650
info@thefamilycaregiver.org www.thefamilycaregiver.org
National Healthy Skin Month: November
American Academy of Dermatology
(888) 462-DERM (3376)
mediarealtions@aad.org www.aad.org
National Hospice Palliative Care Month: November
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
(703) 837-1500
jradulovic@nhpco.org www.nhpco.org
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month: November
(877) 272-6226
information@pancan.org www.pancan.org
Prematurity Awareness Month: November
March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
(888) MODIMES (663-4637)
askus@marchofdimes.com www.marchofdimes.com
Prematurity Awareness Day: November 13
March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
(888) MODIMES (663-4637)
askus@marchofdimes.com www.marchofdimes.com
Great American Smokeout: November 15
American Cancer Society
(800) ACS-2345
www.cancer.org
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Awareness Week: November 18-24
(888) 964-2001
iffgd@iffgd.org www.aboutgerd.org
December
World AIDS Day: December 1
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
unaids@unaids.org www.unaids.org/en/default.asp
New listings, in order of submission deadlines
Deadline: Aug 24
The mission of the Avon Foundation Breast Care Fund is to link medically underserved women to breast health education and screening services. Funding is awarded to organizations providing access to clinical breast exams, mammograms, and education to low-income, minority, underserved, underinsured, and uninsured women. All programs must utilize the three-part approach to breast cancer early detection including regular screening mammography, clinical breast examination, and breast self-examination. Successful programs should have culturally-competent educational strategies, dedicated staff with specialized language and communications skills, and participation from members of the targeted community.
Health Care Costs Special Topic Solicitation: Research to Inform Policies
Deadline: Aug 6
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, through Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization, is issuing a special topic solicitation for proposals to conduct research and analyses on the complex causes and potential solutions to rising health care costs. This solicitation is in support of the Foundation’s activities to increase health care coverage.
Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Scholarship Program
Deadline: Aug 13
This project supports several focus areas of Healthy People 2010 specifically, Access to Quality Health Services; Educational and Community-Based Programs; Health Communication; and Public Health Infrastructure.
Hospital Accountability Project: When Health Insurance Falls Short
Web Conference Call: Aug 8 (register separately from proposal)
Preliminary Proposal Registration Deadline: Aug 17 (required)
Preliminary Proposal Deadline: Aug 31
Community Catalyst project to improve health access and reduce medical debt for low- and moderate -income underinsured individuals and families, using funds from the settlement of a class action lawsuit over hospital billing practices. Subgrants of $65,000-$680,000 will be made to advocate-led collaboratives.
Evidence-Based Disease and Disability Prevention Program: National Resource Center
Deadline: Aug 17
The types of activities funded under the cooperative agreement include technical assistance to AoA demonstration grantees in the development of evidence-based disability and disease prevention programs and practices; assistance to additional parts of the aging services network in the development of similar programs; development of a comprehensive knowledge base focused on intervention models for the elderly that prevent the progression of disability; identification and/or construction of manuals and resources to help implement related programs; assistance to AoA in developing, hosting, and co-sponsoring national and\or regional training meetings or symposia on Evidence-Based Disability and Disease Prevention for the Elderly; and other related tasks.
The National Institutes of Health: Behavioral and Social Science Research on Understanding and Reducing Health Disparities: R01 & R21
Letter of Intent due: Aug 20
Application deadline: Sept 19
Purpose. To encourage behavioral and social science research on the causes and solutions to health and disabilities disparities in the U. S. population. Health disparities between, on the one hand, racial/ethnic populations, lower socioeconomic classes, and rural residents and, on the other hand, the overall U.S. population are major public health concerns. Emphasis is placed on research in and among three broad areas of action: 1) Public policy, 2) health care, and 3) disease/disability prevention. Particular attention is given to reducing “health gaps” among groups. Proposals that utilize an interdisciplinary approach, investigate multiple levels of analysis, incorporate a life-course perspective, and/or employ innovative methods such as system science or community-based participatory research are particularly encouraged.
Allegany Community Outreach Grants
Deadlines: Sept 1, March 1
ACOR is a grant program of Allegany Franciscan Ministries, Inc. It provides short-term support to local community projects. The grant award range is $1,000-$5,000; limited numbers of grants. Priority to organizations for projects that strive to: improve the health, wellness and quality of life through a holistic approach to education or direct service; bring about systemic change and promote self-sufficiency; benefit a disenfranchised segment of society; Sponsoring organization strives to incorporate the viewpoint and participation of individuals who are direct recipients of its services (e.g. service recipients are represented on the governing board).
Rural Health Network Development Program
Deadline: Oct 18
To support the development of rural health networks, whose purpose is to increase access to care by overcoming the fragmentation and vulnerability of providers in rural areas. Grant funds are used to support activities that strengthen capabilities of these networks.
Health Research with Diverse Populations (R01)
Closing: Multiple Receipt Dates
The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to invite grant applications for biological, behavioral, social, addictive, and mental health research related to the health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and other diverse populations.
Continuing listings, in order of submission deadlines
Collaborative Partnerships in Cancer Prevention and Control Programs for American Indian/Alaska Native People
Application deadline: Aug 6
The goal of the program is to develop/strengthen collaborative partnerships among 1) American Indian/Alaska Native health facilities/ tribal organizations, 2) state/local health departments and 3) organizations working with cancer control which will result in improved screening access and outcomes.
The Case Foundation: Make It Your Own Social Action Awards
Brief application deadline: Aug 8
The mission of the Case Foundation is to achieve sustainable solutions to complex social problems by investing in collaboration, leadership, and entrepreneurship. The Foundation’s Make It Your Own Awards challenge individuals to join together to create innovative ideas and solutions that can lay the groundwork for long-term social change. The awards will be presented to passionate individuals, or individuals working with local organizations, who develop ideas to transform their communities. Twenty finalists will each receive a $10,000 grant to help make their ideas into reality. The final four (chosen by the votes of the online community) will receive an additional $25,000 grant. The top 100 finalists will get $100 from the Case Foundation to jump-start their ideas.
NCMHD Community-Based Participatory Research Initiative in Reducing and Eliminating Health Disparities: Intervention Research Phase; RFA-MD-07-003
Application deadline: Aug 31
The goal of this NIH funding is to support disease intervention research in reducing and eliminating health disparities using community-based participatory research that is jointly conducted by health disparity communities and researchers.
WHO Foundation: Women Helping Others
Deadline: second Tues of Sept
The WHO Foundation: Women Helping Others supports grassroots nonprofit organizations in the United States and Puerto Rico serving the overlooked needs of women and children. Specific projects and programs addressing health, education, and social service needs are the Foundation's priority. To qualify for funding a nonprofit organization must have been incorporated for a minimum of three years prior to application. Preference is given to organizations with an operating budget of $3 million or less. Visit the website listed above for more information.
Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida Winter Grant Cycle
Deadline: Sept 14
The mission of the Blue Foundation is to enhance access to quality health-related services for Floridians, with a particular focus on the uninsured and underserved. The foundation strategically focuses grant allocations toward philanthropic, community-based solutions designed to improve program capacity and reduce barriers to access. A priority focus for 2007 is to maximize impact in community-based health clinics and outreach services. This focus will help to address the vast challenges associated with providing access to and lasting outcomes connected with populations presently not receiving effective health-related prevention or treatment services. The greatest percentage of the Blue Foundation funding will be to identify, nurture, and sustain such activities to benefit underserved and uninsured populations. For the 2007 grant cycles, requests will generally be considered for proposals from $10,000 up to $100,000. Multi-year commitments of up to three years may be made.
Tobacco Policy Change: A Collaborative for Healthier Communities and States
Application deadline for planning grants: Sept 14
Application deadline for implementation grants: March 14
Tobacco Policy Change: A Collaborative for Healthier Communities and States, a national initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, provides resources for local, regional, and state-based organizations and tribal groups to advocate for effective policies that decrease tobacco use and exposure. This initiative is issuing a special solicitation that will build on previous success in attracting new partners whose constituencies are most directly affected by tobacco use and exposure. Grantees are expected to apply their advocacy skills and experience to advance tobacco and other public health policies in their communities. Organizations from Florida are among those able to apply.
Florida KidCare Marketing/Outreach Mini Grants
Phase 2 Hit the Mark Deadlines: Sept 27
The Florida Healthy Kids Corporation to invite all interested parties to participate in the Marketing and Outreach Mini Grant program: Back to School Campaign.
Health & Society Scholars
Deadline: Oct 12
This Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program is designed to build the nation's capacity for research, leadership, and policy change to address the broad range of factors that affect health. Its goalis to improve health by training scholars to rigorously investigate the connections among genetic, behavioral, environmental, economic, and social determinants of health; and to develop, evaluate, and disseminate knowledge and interventions based on integration of these determinants. Scholars must have completed their doctoral training by the time of entry into the program and be citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its territories. Up to 18 scholars will be selected for two-years with annual stipends of $83,000 in year one and $86,000 in year two.
Identifying and Reducing Diabetes and Obesity Related Health Disparities within Healthcare Systems
Closing: Multiple Receipt Dates
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), issued by National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, solicits Research Project Grant (R01) applications from institutions/ organizations conducting research designed to identify healthcare system factors leading to disparate diabetes and obesity health outcomes.
Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization
Deadline: Rolling
Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization, a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, supports policy analysis, research, evaluation, and demonstration projects that provide policy leaders timely information on health care policy and financing issues. The current Call for Proposals is intended to support projects that examine significant issues and interventions related to health care financing and organization and their effects on health care costs, quality, and access. An additional emphasis is on projects that explore or test major new ways to finance and organize health care that have the potential to improve access to more affordable and higher quality health services.
United Healthcare Children's Foundation Helps Underinsured Children
The Foundation offers support for children nationwide with assistance grants for medical services not fully covered by health insurance. Parents and caretakers can apply for up to $5,000.00 for health care services that will help improve their children's health and quality of life. Eligible children must be 16 or younger. Families must meet economic guidelines, live in the U.S. and be covered by a commercial health insurance plan. Examples of the types of medical services covered by include speech therapy; physical therapy and psychotherapy; medical equipment such as wheelchairs, braces, hearing aids and eye-glasses, and orthodontic and dental treatments. The Foundation has helped more than 375 families and provided nearly $1 million in financial assistance
Donors Forum of South Florida on-line database
The new online searchable Donors Forum of South Florida database has up-to-date information about funders in South Florida. This resource— which is also available in hard copy — presents continuously updated information about the giving interests and procedures of funders with a track record of investing in the South Florida area and working collaboratively with others. To order, email leot@donorsforumsf.org or call 305/371-7944.
Directory Of Health Policy Fellowships
This Kaiser directory contains new listings for undergraduates, graduate students and professionals searching for summer, school-year, or post-doctoral positions.
Florida CHAIN Website Resources
Organizations and Services
Manuals, Guides and Toolkits
Technology and Audio Visual Materials
Audioconferences and Webcasts
Media Programming
Web Sites, Web Features
Videos and Films
Periodicals and Books
Reports and Studies
New Listings
New Listings: Medicaid
New Listings: SCHIP
New Listings: Medicare
New Listings: Federal Budget
New: Health Insurance, Health Care Costs
New: Health Equity Issues
New: Other Health Issues
Florida Reports
Medicaid
SCHIP
Medicare
Federal Budget/Health Care
Health Insurance, Health Costs, Health Care Reform
Health Equity Issues
Other Health Issues
FLORIDA CHAIN WEBSITE RESOURCE UPDATE
Florida CHAIN has advocacy tools available online.
Florida CHAIN has updated its website to include more comprehensive and organized information on Medicaid Reform. Click here to view our fact sheet, PowerPoint, and Medicaid Roundtable video clips. Other available resources include Georgetown studies on Medicaid Reform and contact information of members of the Medicaid Reform Advocates Coalition.
The Florida CHAIN web site now includes resource information in Spanish.
ORGANIZATIONS AND SERVICES
Newly posted resources are at the top of the list.
National Health Law Program (NHeLP) Resources
Language access continues to be a significant barrier to health care for individuals with limited English proficiency. Over 23 million individuals—almost 9 percent of the population—speak English less than “very well” and likely need assistance communicating in the health care arena. In an attempt to provide tools for health care providers and others, NHeLP has released a series of reports outlining promising practices for providing language services in health care settings. In mid-April, the National Health Law Program and the American College of Physicians released Language Services for Patients with Limited English Proficiency: Results of a National Survey of Internal Medicine Physicians. Other resources include Providing Language Services in State and Local Health-Related Benefits Offices: Examples from the Field, which outlines how state and local benefit offices can provide language services and Language Services Resource Guide for Healthcare Providers which offers information on how to provide language services including translator agencies, training programs, and health care symbols.
The Partnership for Prescription Assistance
is a service sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry that offers a single point of access to more than 475 patient prescription assistance programs, including more than 180 programs offered by pharmaceutical companies. Through referrals by organizations, more than 260,000 people in Florida have received assistance with their prescriptions medicines. They have launched a national campaign to raise awareness about the importance of SCHIP and its reauthorization, including a website and TV and print ads. They also have updated their FAQs and Fact Sheet to include SCHIP.
Refugee Health Information Network
RHIN is a national collaborative partnership, managed by refugee health professionals, whose objective is to provide quality multilingual, health information resources for those providing care to resettled refugees and asylees. RHIN places its greatest emphasis on identifying, collecting, and making quality available materials that have been produced in refugee languages. Sources of these materials include federal, state and local public health agencies; national organizations; health care agencies; community-based organizations; academic institutions and international organizations. RHIN also strives to identify news and events, as well as other information resources useful to health providers serving refugees.
The Prescription Project
This project is led by Community Catalyst in partnership with the Institute on Medicine as a Profession. Funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Project seeks to eliminate conflicts of interest created by industry marketing by promoting policy change among academic medical centers, professional medical societies and public and private payers. In addition the Project will advance state and national level policy solutions. The Project will sponsor a wide range of activities to achieve its goals, including research and policy analysis; national and community-based forums; outreach to the media; and meetings with key decision-makers, including deans of medical schools, health care administrators, business leaders, policy makers and consumers. These include the Prescription Project Weekly Reader, a readable, relevant way to keep members and friends of the Project informed about what is happening at the intersection of medical conflict-of-interest issues and prescription drugs.
A Healthier US Starts Here: CMS Prevention and Wellness Initiative
This spring and summer, as part of the "A Healthier US Starts Here" initiative the US Department of Health and Human Services and CMS will join with local officials and partners, to raise awareness of the importance of preventing chronic disease and illness, promote Medicare preventive benefits and provide information about how beneficiaries can take action to maintain and improve their health.
New Coalition, Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, Launched
Any serious policy proposal that aims to improve health care in America and control rising health care expenditures must address chronic disease. That’s why a broad group of patients, providers, community organizations, business and labor groups, and health policy experts has joined together to form the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) – a national, bi-partisan coalition committed to raising awareness of the policies and practices that save lives and reduce health costs through more effective prevention and management of chronic disease.
IPUT, Informed Parents United Together: Advocating for Universal Education and More!
This nonprofit agency works at an individual local network level to educate parents
and increase their advocacy for Inclusion of children and adults with disabilities in General Education environments. Check out the IEP Tool Box.
Together Rx Access
is a prescription savings program sponsored by 10 pharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer. It provides savings on a wide range of prescription products at the pharmacy counter to eligible patients without prescription coverage. For more information, call 1-800-444-4106
Medicare Rights Center (MRC) has an Rx Hotline for Nonprofit Professionals as one component of its comprehensive independent source of health care information and assistance for older adults and people with disabilities. It helps with understanding or explaining the Medicare prescription drug benefit to clients. Call RxHelp, a national hotline dedicated for nonprofit professionals serving the Medicare population, operated from 10 am to 6 pm EDT. Dial 877/RXHELP-0 (877/794-3570).Other services include: a telephone hotline; a database of case advice; education and training; public policy work; electronic newsletters; and communications with local and national media outlets. To help you understand your Medicare health plan choices, the Medicare Rights Center offers Medicare Interactive (MI), a web-based Medicare counseling tool.
Training Alliance for Communities of Color
This website is from National Health Policy Training Alliance for Communities of Color, a partnership between Families USA, the Joint Center Health Policy Institute (HPI), the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, and the National Medical Association (NMA). Their mission is to empower community leaders, elected officials, and journalists from communities of color with pertinent information about health policy developments in order to: expand their capacity to address and catalyze action on crucial health and health care issues; bolster the skills of leaders from communities of color to play a more influential role in shaping and creating health policies that are of relevance to their respective communities; and engage diverse leaders in national health policy development.
Access to Benefits Coalition
The nonprofit ABC is dedicated to ensuring that Medicare beneficiaries with limited incomes know about and make the best use of all available resources for accessing prescription drugs and reducing their costs. ABC is working through local community coalitions to inform beneficiaries and their families, as well as the professionals who serve them, about Medicare Part-D. Extra Help is provided online or in person; find out if you or someone qualifies by going to BenefitsCheckUpRx?. Publications include: Applying for the Low-Income Subsidy: A Tool Kit for Advocates; and Pathways to Success: Meeting the Challenge of Enrolling Medicare Beneficiaries with Limited Incomes
The National Hispanic Resource Help-Line 1/800-473-3003 provides support for Latinos throughout the nation who need information about educational, health and human service providers. To become part of their database, click here.
Southeast Florida Cancer Control Collaborative (SFCCC)
SFCCC works to reduce the cancer burden and cancer disparities in Southeast Florida, including Broward, Indian River, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties. The SFCCC includes representatives from more than 60 public and private organizations, agencies and health care providers, as well as cancer survivor and advocacy groups. SFCCC aims to increase awareness about cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment among populations at high risk. The Collaborative meets quarterly at various locations in the region.
MANUALS, GUIDES, TOOLKITS
Newly posted resources are at the top of the list.
Toolkit: Medicare Private Fee-for-Service Plans
The toolkit contains links to resources on general information about Medicare private fee-for-service plans, advantages and incentives of using the plans and the difficulties that beneficiaries have faced with the plans, including enrollment fraud. The toolkit also includes a list of experts and Web sites for further information on the plans. (7/12/07, Alliance for Health Reform)
Medicare Advantage Tutorial on the basics of Medicare Advantage and types of MA plans, as well as trends in MA enrollment, characteristics of beneficiaries and the impact of MA plans on traditional Medicare. And an updated Medicare Health and Prescription Drug Plan Tracker with MA plan enrollment data for June, containing local, regional and national data on MA plans and stand-alone Medicare prescription drug plans. (7/17/07, Kaiser Family Foundation)
Race Matters
This toolkit was created to help advocates and leaders address race and power structures within their work to help create equitable opportunities for all. (Voices for America's Children and The Annie E. Casey Foundation)
A Patient-Centered Guide to Implementing Language Access Services in Healthcare Organizations
The guide was created to assist health care organizations in better serving their clients with limited English proficiency and decrease disparities in access to health care. (DHHS Ofc. of Minority Health)
Helping Pediatric Practices Implement Parental Depression Screening
A new online manual helps pediatric clinicians successfully screen parents for depression, discuss with them the impact depression can have on their children, and refer parents for counseling. Rates of major depression peak during women's childbearing years. Research has shown that maternal and paternal depression can affect parenting behaviors and, ultimately, harm children's health and development. Because pediatricians have frequent contact with parents, they have opportunities to screen for depression and intervene when necessary. Accumulating data about the adverse effect of parental depression on child health, development, and behavior have provided an impetus among pediatric practices for changing clinical care.
The Basics of Medicare and Medicaid
The primers help explain Medicaid and Medicare, including an overview, how they work, who they serve and how they are funded. The Medicare primer is new, and the Medicaid primer has been updated with the most current information (Kaiser Family Foundation, "The Basics of Medicare and Medicaid," (3/19/07, Kaiser Family Foundation)
Medicare Rights Center Part D appeals manual
This free, comprehensive, easy-to-understand guide is for advocates who help people with Medicare get the drugs they need.This 25-page manual offers a complete overview of the entire appeals process, real-life case examples from MRC's Client Services department, a glossary of important Part D appeals terms, a sample appeals protocol for advocates, and links to important resources and documents. All in consumer-friendly language
Five Guidelines for Developing Customer-Friendly Websites
This new Covering Kids & Families publication is intended to help state agencies and other organizations do a
better job of helping people find information on the Web about Medicaid, SCHIP and other government services by producing a customer-friendly site.
Amigos en Salud Online Disparities Toolkit
Pfizer has created a free toolkit to help community health centers reduce racial health disparities. The program, called Amigos en Salud/Friends in Health, involves training community health workers to be a bridge between minority communities and the healthcare system.
Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities: A Quality Improvement Initiative in Medicaid Managed Care ToolkitCenter for Health Care Strategies
The toolkit examines the experiences of a workgroup - comprising 10 Medicaid health plans and a state primary care case management association - that adopted strategies to identify and address racial and ethnic health disparities in birth outcomes and immunizations, asthma care and diabetes care. (January 2007)
New/Updated Resources Medicare Drug Plan Resources
In advance of the 2007 Medicare drug plans open enrollment period beginning Nov. 15, Kaiser Family Foundation has issued a series of new and updated resources based on ongoing research including consumer surveys:
Updated fact sheet providing state-specific data about Medicare drug plan options for 2007, including stand-alone drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans, and information on premiums, gap coverage, and availability to beneficiaries who qualify for full low-income assistance.
Updated Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit fact sheet, with a revised estimate that 4 million people will be affected by the coverage gap in 2006, as well as current enrollment and low-income subsidy participation and updated Medicare per capita drug spending.
Updated Talking About Medicare online consumer guide, reflecting 2007 benefit changes, to help people with Medicare and their families understand options and make decisions based on their personal situations; includes information about financial assistance for those with limited incomes, supplemental insurance options, and Medicare Advantage.
Fact Sheets and Primer on the Uninsured
The Kaiser Family Foundation has collected links to some resources on the topics of health coverage and the nation’s uninsured population to assist you in your work related to these issues:
The Uninsured and Their Access to Care
Covering the Uninsured: Growing Need, Strained Resources
Massachusetts’ New Law to Cover the Uninsured
Women's Health Insurance Coverage
The Uninsured: A Primer
Families USA is offering Making Public Programs Work for Communities of Color: An Action Kit for Community Leaders, from its Minority Health Initiatives Department. The kit provides community leaders with information, tools, and resources to engage in health advocacy and improve the health and well being of their communities. Emphasizing the importance of public programs in reducing racial and ethnic health disparities, the kit contains: a summary and statistics of racial and ethnic health disparities and the role public programs can play in reducing them; an overview of Medicaid (and SCHIP) and Medicare, including their relationships to communities of color; fact sheets on improving health coverage for racial and ethnic minority groups; state and local case studies on health advocacy; advocacy tools including a powerpoint presentation, and lists of organizations and publications. Contact: 202/628-3030 or rpanares@familiesusa.org.
The Medicaid Matters web site is a resource for people working across the country to protect Medicaid, the health insurance that 50 million rely on. It stores a ready-to-use toolkit of messages, materials and dissemination ideas. Users are able to download, at no cost, tested messages emphasizing the importance of Medicaid and the threat now facing the program. Messages are enhanced by high quality, full color photography. One set of materials is designed to be ready to print. Once downloaded, they can be forwarded to any print house or copy shop without any further formatting. The second set of materials is designed so that components of the product can be adapted to suit the needs of that organization or constituency that wishes to use them.
TECHNOLOGY AND AUDIO/VIDEO RESOURCES
Audio Conferences and Webcasts
Dated events listed chronologically; standing webcasts listed last
What Would It Take to Eliminate the Disproportionate Burden of HIV/AIDS Among African-Americans?
Aug 2 1:00 pm ET
Webcast: Today's Topics in Health Disparities. The Kaiser Family Foundation hosts a discussion of the racial disparities in HIV/AIDS, with a focus on the African- American community. African-Americans account for more people estimated to be living with AIDS and HIV-related deaths than any other racial/ethnic group in the U.S. Today, African-Americans make up about 12 percent of the U.S. population, but account for half of all new AIDS cases. And, despite medical advances, the HIV death rate is still significantly higher for African-Americans than for other groups.
Families USA SCHIP Conference Call
Aug 3 2:00 pm ET
An update on SCHIP reauthorization and strategy for when Congress returns after Labor Day.Review of what happened in the Committees of both chambers of Congress, and the policy gains and where ground may be lost.
Evaluating the Impact of Community-based Programs to Build Support (ACHI)
Aug 16 1:00 pm CT, 2:00 pm ET
Chronic Disease Management: An Evidence-based Program that Works
Sept 5 12:00 Noon ET
The Stanford Patient Education Research Center has developed and evaluated a self-management program for persons with chronic disease which has been embraced by the Administration on Aging as its leading evidence-based prevention program. The self-management model helps chronically ill persons gain confidence in their ability to control their symptoms and to take charge of their health problems.
Coverage to Supplement Your Medicare
Need Coverage to Fill the Gaps in Medicare? Check out Medicare Rights Center’s latest free educational web seminar.
A Future Vision for Well-Child Care: Re-thinking the "Who, What, and Where' of Preventive and Developmental Services
This is a new Commonwealth Fund E-Forum E-Forum offering synched slides and audio from a presentation by David A. Berman, M.D., of Stanford University. In the talk, identifying important new trends in well-child care, such as advanced access to care, and describing how pediatricians might redesign their office systems to better address preventive care needs. (5/10/07, Commonwealth Fund)
Health Status Disparities in the United States
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ Global Health Initiative has posted a webcast of their event held on April 4.
Learn how to get Durable Medical Equipment (DME) at home
Check out MRC’s latest educational web seminar, online now, for your convenience. Learn about when Medicare covers medical equipment to help you at home, and the best way to get it. Register online to view this audio-visual presentation.
Today's Topics In Health Disparities - Is the U.S. Making Progress in Reducing Disparities in Health Care Access and Quality?
This discussion provides an overview of key findings in the 2006 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Panelists focus on evidence showing the areas in which racial and ethnic disparities in health care have narrowed and discuss interventions that may explain some of the gains achieved. In Video Podcast Transcript (3/2/2007, Kaiser Family Foundation Broadcast Studio)
Media Programming
ABC Series Looks at Uninsured Kids
ABC World News has just completed a series of stories on the crisis of the nine million children in America, highlighting the various barriers that keep families from being able to get and keep health insurance for their children. You can view videos of the series, plus an interview with Children’s Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman: "Some Kids Die in Insurance Gap;" "Children's Defense Fund's Take;" "Red Tape and Bureaucracy in Health Care;" "Kids Go Uninsured as Politicians Argue"
Web Sites, Web Features & Databases
Newest postings are listed at the top of State and National Web Resources sections below
State Web Resources
First Steps: A Guide for Parents of Young Children with Developmental Disabilities
Florida Developmental Disabilities Council’s most popular publication ever has been revised and updated with critical info for any parent or family member of a young child with a developmental disability. The publication is a reliable source of info for parents at the beginning of a new journey. They will learn a new vocabulary, discover advocacy skills they never knew they had, and meet new people who will become important in their life as friends, teachers, doctors, therapists and caregivers. This is a valuable tool to help guide parents in the initial steps of their journey as well as a resource they can visit again and again as they, their child and their families grow through the coming years together. The publication is available in both English and Spanish, as well as in a full color version and a black and white version – both are in Acrobat Reader format (PDF) and available in two sections – Chapters 1 to 5 and Chapters 6 to 10 – for your convenience downloading the publications.
Summary of health-related bills passed by the 2007 Florida Legislature
Florida Health News, free online non-profit news service
The Florida Health Policy Center has announced the launch of an independent, free, non-profit news service: Florida Health News Inc. FHN will post health-related stories reported around the state, highlight the Florida impact of national stories, and track state health legislation. The news service also will feature original coverage of major health policy developments and a free Monday-through-Friday news service. You can visit the site and subscribe to the e-mail news service by clicking on the link: www.FloridaHealthNews.org. To send your comments, story tips and news of conferences and other events, or get more information, contact pat.curtis@floridahealthnews.org or 850/556-1668.
Florida Health Insurance Coverage of Children 0-18 (2004-2005)
Kaiser Family Foundation has released information about this on-line resource.
Statehealthfacts.org Updates Data on Medicaid & SCHIP Coverage for Children
Statehealthfacts.org has updated information on eligibility levels for children in Medicaid and SCHIP and parents and pregnant women in Medicaid using survey data from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU). The latest information on Medicaid and SCHIP enrollment practices for pregnant women and children and renewal practices is also now available. Overall SCHIP spending for FY 2006 and Federal SCHIP spending data from FY 1998 through FY 2006 are also now available. Recent additions to the site include new information on children's demographics and health insurance status from analysis of the Census Bureau's March 2005 and 2006 Current Population Surveys. These additions include the distribution of children by race/ethnicity, the distribution of children by citizenship status, and health insurance coverage among low-income children living near poverty.
Florida Association of Community Health Centers (FACHC)
The following resources have recently been added to the FACHC web site:
Short Assessment of Health Literacy for Spanish-speaking Adults (SAHLSA-50) A new health literacy test than can be used to screen for low health literacy among Spanish speakers.
Health Coverage and Access to Care for Hispanics in "New Growth Communities" and "Major Hispanic Centers" A 2006 Report from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Spanish Language Mental Health Manual for Health Promoters Developed by the California- Mexico Bi-National Health Initiative.
Florida Health Care Website for Consumers
A new Web site for Florida health-care consumers officially launches today, courtesy of the Florida Hospital Association. The site offers links to information on doctors, hospitals and health-care plans as well as checklists to help consumers ask the right questions. It is intended largely as a portal to other, established sites. There are links to sites for Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, among others.
"2006 Kids Count” Report
The annual report measures each state in terms of 10 statistics, including infant mortality, teen birth rate and infants born with low birthweights. The report finds no change in U.S. infant mortality since 2000, less than a percentage point increase to 7.9% in 2003 in the percentage of infants born weighing less than 5.5 pounds and a decrease in the teen birth rate from 48 births per 1,000 girls in 2000 to 42 births per 1,000 in 2003. (6/27/06, Annie E. Casey Foundation)
State of Florida Health Care Consumer Websites
The recently expanded FloridaCompareCare.gov aims to improve care and reduce costs by giving citizens the tools to compare outcomes and prices between health care providers and medical services. Through this website one can see data on certain conditions and procedures related to quality of care, pricing and performance at the state’s hospitals and ambulatory (outpatient) surgery centers. In 2005, Florida became the first state to publicly report infection and mortality rates in each hospital. In July 2006, Florida became the first state to publicly report separate pediatric quality of care data. In addition, adult data can now be broken out specific to ages 65 and over. Additional new breakdowns include types of facilities.
FloridaHealthStat.com provides health care information to assist consumers, health care professionals, and researchers in making well-informed health care decisions and in researching the status of health care in Florida. MyFloridaRx.com provides consumers with the retail prices of the most commonly used prescribed drugs by pharmacy across Florida. For questions or comments regarding any of Florida’s consumer websites, contact 850/922-7036.
Medicaid Applications Online 24/7 and in Neighborhoods
Local partners can direct families to their area sites or online to apply for Medicaid and other benefits. The Web Application is generally preferable as the data makes it into the Florida system more quickly and there is a reduced chance of data entry errors.
Florida KidCare Applications can be completed online
Website Offers Free 24 Hour Health Information to Floridians to address concerns and inquiries
The Florida Department of Health (DOH) Secretary encourages health care consumers to visit www.FLHealthSource.com whenever they need information about a licensed health care professional. DOH’s Division of Medical Quality Assurance (MQA) maintains FLHealthSource.com. The site provides health care consumers with a host of information, including license status, office address, and disciplinary information for all health care professionals licensed in Florida. The site also provides additional information for the five profiled professions –medical doctors, osteopathic physicians, chiropractic physicians, podiatric physicians and advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs).
Statehealthfacts.org provides free, up-to-date, and easy-to-use health data on all 50 states, covering more than 500 health topics.
Florida Progressive Information Network (FLPIN)
offers a nonpartisan communication system designed to link progressive organizers with progressive activists. Individuals may sign up free of charge to receive alerts on a variety of progressive issues from other organizations participating in the Network. In order to make FLPIN work, it must be used on a regular basis. The more information put in, the more valuable it is as a tool. Link FLPIN to organization websites. A training manual is at www.flpin.net/alert.pdf. For more information or assistance, contact jen@floridahumanist.org
National Web Resources
Health08.Org, A Hub for Information about Health Care and The Presidential Campaign
With health care emerging as one of the hot topics in the 2008 presidential election, this new ad-free Kaiser Family Foundation Web site will provide analysis of health policy issues, the results of regular public opinion surveys, and news and video coverage from the campaign trail. It will feature original content produced by Kaiser as well as health-related resources from various campaigns, other organizations, and news outlets. The site will offer summaries of candidates' health reform proposals, basic facts and information about the health system, the results of Kaiser tracking surveys examining the public's views on health issues and their perceptions of the candidates' views on health care, syntheses of health news coverage, podcasts and video from the campaign trail, and interviews with candidates and other key players in the health reform debate
Think Cultural Health is a new web page that provides a wealth of resources and information on the issues of cultural competence in health care and health care disparities. (DHHS Office of Minority Health)
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's new disparities Web page includes publications and information listed according to racial/ ethnic group, as well as by topic area.
New Web Tool Provides Samples of Report Cards on Health Care Quality
With rising interest in information about the quality of care delivered by health care providers, HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has developed a new Web tool demonstrating a variety of approaches for health quality report cards. The new Health Care Report Card Compendium is a searchable directory of over 200 samples of report cards produced by a variety of organizations. The samples show formats and approaches for providing comparative information on the quality of health plans, hospitals, medical groups, individual physicians, nursing homes, and other providers of care.
National Cancer Institute Spanish Web Site
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has launched a new Web site, cancer.gov en español tailored to the needs of the U.S. Hispanic/Latino community. The Web site is completely in Spanish and is one of the latest tools developed by the NCI in its efforts to address cancer health disparities. It is intended to meet the needs of Hispanic/Latino cancer patients, their families and health care providers, who are either Hispanic/Latino or serve such patients.
Consumer Health Information for You and Your Family
Keeping up with the latest consumer health information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just got easier. FDA has a new Web page to provides comprehensive and timely consumer information. A free monthly e-newsletter, FDA Consumer Health Information will alert consumers to content contained on the page.
Facing Race 2007
The Applied Research Center (ARC) and COLORLINES Magazine have made various resources from their conference available on the ARC Web site, the ARC blog, and on the Facing Race wiki
US Racial Disparities Update
Kaiser Family Foundation issued a new data update that shows the percentage of whites, African Americans, and Hispanics in all 50 states and the District of Columbia that are uninsured, enrolled in Medicaid, and living in poverty. The data also provide a quick glance at disparities in rates of infant mortality, diabetes-related mortality, and AIDS cases between these racial and ethnic groups.
Faith Based Efforts and Resources
Families USA has posted a new page on the Minority Health Initiatives section of the Web
site with links to various to encourage faith leaders to become involved in health care advocacy.
Factline: Tracking Health in Underserved Communities
This website is sponsored by the National Library of Medicine and Meharry Medical College that highlights health disparities in underserved communities. Factline presents information about health disparities faced by women, members of minority groups, the elderly and others. The focus of the website is two-fold: presenting significant findings from scholarly research in public health on the subject of health disparities and providing bibliographic references to the literature in which these findings are established. The framework for the research is Healthy People 2010.
New Database for Medical Language Access
The Medical Leadership Council on Cultural Proficiency has unveiled a first-of-its-kind database designed to assist physicians and others in providing improved language access and culturally competent health care. With more than 350 initial entries, the searchable, internet-based, free-to-the-public database includes contact information for interpreters, nonprofit organizations, hospitals, public health departments and others that provide health information and services in languages other than English. Users, including physicians, nurses, social service workers, patients and the general public, can search for listings by county, by language, or by type of service.
Fact Sheets on Medicare, Long-Term Care Spending; Medicaid; Long-Term Spending Data
Fact sheets, Georgetown University Long-Term Care Financing Project: The Georgetown University Long-Term Care Financing Project has released two new fact sheets on Medicare and long-term care and Medicaid policy that aims to protect the incomes and resources of spouses of nursing home residents who are trying to enroll in Medicaid. The project also has updated its 2005 national long-term care spending estimates. (February 2007, Georgetown University Long-Term Care Financing Project)
2007 Federal Poverty Guidelines Now Available
The Southern Institute on Children and Families has made available the 2007 Federal Poverty Guidelines. Compiled from the 2007 HHS Poverty Guidelines, these guidelines provide income levels for families at 50%, 100%, 125%, 133%, 150%, 185% and 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. Information is provided for the continental United States and separately for Alaska and Hawaii.
Women's Health Insurance Coverage Fact Sheet
As the cost of health insurance continues to rise, women in particular may face difficult challenges affording coverage because they are disproportionately low-income and can have poorer access to employer-based insurance. This fact sheet describes the major sources of health insurance coverage for women ages 18-64, including employer-sponsored insurance and Medicaid. It provides information on the more than 17 million women who are uninsured and summarizes the major policy challenges facing women in the health insurance sector. (Feb 2007, Kaiser Family Foundation)
Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health
The Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI) presents the Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health. This resource is a no-cost, easy-to-use website that puts national, state, and regional survey findings right at your fingertips. You'll find: interactive data search tools; personalized technical help by email or telephone and information and examples to help you use data more effectively.
Metropolitan Quality of Life Data
Diversitydata.org allows visitors to explore how metropolitan areas throughout the U.S. perform on a diverse range of social measures via a dataset of socioeconomic indicators in the form of tables, thematic maps, and customizable reports. The data cover various racial/ethnic, income and nativity groups. Multiple data sources have been used to show data for numerous domains such as housing opportunities, economic opportunities, residential integration, and health.
New Online Medical Dictionary Reference Tool
MediLexicon International Limited, corporate owners of Medical News Today, was pleased to announce on Nov. 11 the launch of a new medical dictionary tool. This dictionary search is a joint collaboration between MediLexicon and Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, who have provided the data.
Online Interactive Medicare Advantage Comparison Tools
Before making the switch to Medicare Advantage, beneficiaries can compare plans to determine their needs. Then they can review each plan using the “Guidelines for Considering Medicare Advantage” from the Center for Medicare Advocacy. More information about Medicare Advantage managed care plans is online at Medicare.gov. More recent FAQs on private fee-for-service plans is available through CMS.
Online Parent SCHIP Information
To assist in the growing problem of America's uninsured children, medical insurance hub HealthInsuranceFinders has added information to assist parents in finding and understanding all of their health insurance options: a State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) section with an overview of State Children Health Insurance Programs for each state.
State By State National Survey of Children’s Health Data Resource Center Dataset
The DRC Child Health Indicators version of the 2003 NSCH Dataset is now available. Added to the data sets are the 65 Child Health Indicators for the DRC online data query and the National Chartbook. Also included are Healthy People 2010 relevant indicators and key socio-demographic variables.
Comprehensive source of Hispanic data
Recent release from the Census Bureau with data and linkage to sources covering many areas.
Rural Communities Statistics and Information
The Rural Assistance Center has added to its Web site a new resource providing continuously updated demographics and statistics, documents and resources and contacts for all 50 states. RAC said the federally funded "State Resources" addition is designed to help health care providers and human services representatives in rural communities with activities such as locating and competing for funding opportunities and networking.
American Community Census Data Online
The new poverty, income, and health insurance data from the U.S. Census Bureau released on August 29, 2006 is available online. This year, it has more state and local data than in previous annual surveys.
State Level Data on Health Coverage & the Uninsured
Kaiser Family Foundation's interactive web tool includes the health insurance status of the state’s population (those with various types of health coverage or who are uninsured), and demographic information (such as income, race/ethnicity, age, gender) for those who are uninsured, have employer-based insurance, or Medicaid. Information about Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries can be found in those respective categories. Find data from other categories on the website that relate to Health Coverage & Uninsured.
The Johns Hopkins INFO Project's OneSource Database
This provides one-stop access to over 360,000 resources and six separate databases with a single mouse click or search term. OneSource users can quickly search for reports, articles, documents, posters and pamphlets, photos, web sites, Q&As and news articles through a single interface. An enhanced search and browse capability makes finding global family planning, reproductive health and population information faster and more simple than ever. Enter your terms in the search box. Select the resource type you want to look for, or search all six databases at once, and click Search.
Uninsured Tutorial, Module, and Reference Library
This KaiserEDU.org page contains comprehensive resources including links to key research, policy analysis, and the latest data and statistics on the uninsured.
Health Care Coverage in America: Understanding the Issues and Proposed Solutions includes a corresponding PowerPoint presentation. (Cover the Uninsured)
Immigrant Health Policy Reference Library
This new compendium summarizes data and research on immigrants’ health coverage and access to care. The library also includes a list of organizations that conduct analysis on the impact of major health policies on immigrants and presents research on specific populations, including Latino, African and Asian immigrants.
Medicaid Fact Sheets Tool
Compare your state's Medicaid program and the population it serves to other states and the nation by visiting Kaiser's new interactive online State Medicaid Fact Sheets tool.
Interactive Tools on Medicaid
The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured presents the State Medicaid Fact Sheets and the Medicaid Benefits Online Database, two interactive tools featuring the latest key data, information and services provided for each state’s Medicaid program. Both tools allow for easy access to the data which can then be printed, saved and emailed.
Healthcare Coverage Options Database: Assistance for Obtaining Health Coverage
This Web site provides information on health insurance options for low-income U.S. residents. The site includes comprehensive information on large-scale programs like Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and the federal Health Care Tax Credit Program, as well as hundreds of smaller state, federal, and private programs.
Videos and Films
PERx: Prescribing Evidence-Based Therapies
The film, featuring expert commentary from renowned medical opinion leaders, also has an interactive website (www.perxinfo.org) PERx illustrates how pharmaceutical industry influence affects the prescribing behaviors of clinicians, emphasize the ethical implications of these practices and offers strategies to enhance evidence-based practice. The program was funded through a multi-state settlement resolving allegations of violations to state consumer protection laws.
American Medical Association’s Educating Physicians on Controversies in Health (EPoCH) program has created several videos on minority health issues. The topics of the videos include health disparities, collecting data on race and ethnicity, racially targeted medicine, and language access.
Sicko
Opening with profiles of ordinary Americans whose lives have been disrupted, shattered, or ended by health care catastrophe, Michael Moore's new film makes clear that the crisis doesn't only affect the 47 million uninsured citizens—millions of others who dutifully pay their premiums often get strangled by bureaucratic red tape as well. After detailing just how the system got into such a mess (the short answer: profits and Nixon), we are whisked around the world, visiting countries including Canada, Great Britain and France, where all citizens receive free medical benefits. Finally, Moore gathers a group of 9/11 heroes – rescue workers now suffering from debilitating illnesses who have been denied medical attention in the US. He takes them to a most expected place, and in addition to finally receiving care, they also engage in some unexpected diplomacy. Opens June 29.
Covering Kids & Families Video
Parents' Action for Children, a 2006 national supporter, has created a flash animation video in partnership with Covering Kids & Families that promotes the availability of low-cost and free health care coverage for eligible families. Parents’ Action for Children plans to promote the video to their membership of more than 35,000 parents across the country who are working to improve the lives of children and families in their communities. View the video today! For more information, contact 202/338-7227 or coveringkidsandfamilies@gmmb.com
PERIODICALS AND BOOKS
Healthy Childcare’s Oct-Nov issue of is a special one devoted to the dental health needs of young children. Included are articles on preventing and treating dental injuries, the use of fluorides and sealants, foods for healthy teeth, and preparing children for visits to the dentist. This issue will be mailed in early October. Deadline for ordering is Sept. 10, 2007.
Healthy People 2010, Midcourse Review
Presents an assessment of the Nation's progress toward increasing the quality and years of health life and eliminating health disparities for all Americans. Identifies a set of 10-year health objectives to achieve during the first decade of the 21st century. [US Government Bookstore]
2007 Edition of Community Benefit Bibliography
This annotated bibliography on the ACHI website, is a compilation of the most recent community benefit publications, as well as a selection of classic resources.
Special Issue of Pediatrics Devoted to Analyses from the National Survey of Children's Health
A special issue of Pediatrics contains 15 articles whose new findings result from closer examination of data collected by the National Survey of Children's Health, conducted during 2003 and 2004. The articles focus on timely epidemiologic and public health issues at the national level as well as state-specific analyses that highlight elements of children's health in Alabama, Florida and Rhode Island. Included in the supplement are studies examining the health and well-being of adopted children, the prevalence of violent disagreements in families, disparities in dental insurance coverage among children, the impact of immigrants on breastfeeding practices, and the effect of inadequate sleep on children.
Inclusion: The Politics of Difference in Medical Research
While the prominence of inclusive research practices has offered hope to traditionally underserved groups, this book argues forcefully that it has drawn attention away from the tremendous inequalities in health that are rooted not in biology but in society. There is, for instance, a direct relationship between social class and health status, and a focus on bodily differences can obscure the importance of this factor. Only when connected to a broad-based effort to address health disparities, can a medical policy of inclusion achieve its intended effects.
States in Action: A Bimonthly Look at Innovations in Health Policy
This Commonwealth Fund bimonthly newsletter describes innovative state health programs from across the country. It is intended to help policymakers, administrators, and researchers as they work to stretch health care dollars and meet the needs of their residents.
Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis--and the People Who Pay the Price
Cohn, a senior editor at The New Republic, researched and wrote the book as part of his 2002 Kaiser Media Fellowship. The book weaves a series of originally reported narrative stories with a history of health insurance and a close-up look at the business of medicine in America. It ends by examining proposals for reform and comparing America’s health care system to some systems abroad. Susan Dentzer, senior health correspondent at the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, will moderate a discussion of the issues raised in the book with Cohn, and Michael Cannon, director of Health Policy Studies at the Cato Institute.
REPORTS AND STUDIES
New Listings
New Listings: Medicaid
Medicaid Documentation Requirement Disproportionately Harms Non-Hispanics, New Stat Data Show: Rule Mostly Hurts U.S. Citizen Children, Not Undocumented Immigrants
Newly available data from three states - Alabama, Kansas, and Virginia - show that white and African American children are much more likely than Hispanic children to have their Medicaid coverage delayed, denied, or terminated as a result of a citizenship documentation requirement that took effect last year. These data provide further evidence that the requirement, purportedly aimed at preventing undocumented immigrants from improperly obtaining Medicaid, is instead overwhelmingly affecting U.S. citizens who are eligible for the program. (July 2007, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
More Physicians Not Accepting New Medicaid Beneficiaries Amid Federal Cuts, Rising Costs
The growing number of physicians who do not accept new Medicaid beneficiaries because of costs "is a large, little-discussed hurdle to some ambitious efforts to broaden health care coverage," the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the Journal, many state Medicaid programs, "straining under surging costs, are balancing their budgets by freezing or reducing payments to doctors," resulting in physicians -- particularly specialists -- dropping out of the program, according to the Journal. A 2006 report by the Center for Studying Health System Change showed that almost half of all physicians polled said they had stopped accepting or were limiting the number of new Medicaid beneficiaries they will see. (7/23/07, Medical News Today)
Medicaid Efforts to Incentivize Healthy Behaviors
This resource paper examines key elements of incentive policies, including which behaviors are rewarded, the amount of the reward and nature of the reward. The paper also discusses development and early implementation of Medicaid incentive programs in Florida and Idaho. (July 2007, Center for Health Stategies)
State Approaches to Consumer Direction in Medicaid
This issue brief, developed through a national survey of Medicaid programs, describes how states are using a number of consumer-directed approaches to encourage Medicaid beneficiaries to make more cost effective choices in their health care. (July 2007, Center for Health Stategies)
New Listings: SCHIP
Why Millions of Children Eligible for Medicaid and SCHIP Are Uninsured: Poor Retention Versus Poor Take-Up
Report examines how poor retention in Medicaid and SCHIP contributes to the number of uninsured U.S. children. Sommers finds that the number of uninsured U.S. children would decrease by one-third if Medicaid and SCHIP retain all children who are enrolled in the programs and have no alternative coverage in a given year. (7/26/07, Health Affairs)
SCHIP Reauthorization: Key Questions in the Current Debate
The issue brief by the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured discusses key questions that are shaping the debate over SCHIP reauthorization. Additional resources on the SCHIP debate and current Medicare policy issues are available on the Foundation's Web site (7/25/07, Kaiser Family Foundation).
House SCHIP Legislation Would Repeal Dubious “45-percent threshold” Provision
The SCHIP-Medicare bill before the House would repeal the requirement that the President submit next year (and in succeeding years), and that Congress consider, proposals to keep general revenues from making up more than 45 percent of total Medicare funding. The 45-percent threshold is a misleading measure of Medicare's financial health. Medicare was designed to be financed in large part by general revenues (as well as payroll taxes), in part because payroll taxes are regressive. The effect of the threshold is to take certain options for improving Medicare financing off the table. For example, it prevents Congress from eliminating a modest share of Medicare's funding gap by closing abusive corporate tax shelters or scaling back the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. Reform options would be limited to increases in regressive payroll taxes and beneficiary premiums, as well as cuts in benefits and payments to health care providers. Medicare's financing problems are large enough that a combination of measures, including added general revenues as well as reforms in Medicare, are likely to be needed. (July 2007, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
CBO Estimates Show House “SCHIP” Bill Would Provide Health Insurance to 5.1 Million Uninsured Children
The coverage gains in the House plan are about 1.1 million higher than those under the bipartisan bill the Senate Finance Committee approved on July 19 by a 17-4 vote. CBO estimates that 4.6 million of the 5.1 million children who would obtain health coverage under the House bill have incomes below the current state eligibility limits for SCHIP and Medicaid. This contradicts claims that the bill represents a large expansion of public health programs. (July 2007, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
CBO Estimates Show Large Gains in Children’s Health Coverage Under Senate SCHIP Bill
CBO finds that on balance, the Senate Finance Committee legislation would extend health coverage to 4.1 million children who otherwise would be uninsured. However, the bill provides $15 billion less than Congress's budget plan permits and thus would cover significantly fewer uninsured low-income children than could be covered with the plan's full $50 billion. (July 2007, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
The Administration’s Dubious Claims About the Emerging Children’s Health Insurance Legislation: Myth and Reality
A number of recent Administration claims about the SCHIP legislation, such as that it would advance a “Washington-run, government-owned” health plan designed to pave the way for a single-payer system, do not reflect reality. (July 2007, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
New Bipartisan Survey Finds Americans Strongly Support Expanding SCHIP and Extending Health Coverage to More Uninsured Children
On each of the key issues in the SCHIP debate, the poll revealed that voters are in a very different place from the President. (July 2007, Lake Research Partners & American Viewpoint)
New Listings: Medicare
House Health Legislation Would Curb Medicare Overpayments to Private Plans, While Aiding Medicare Beneficiaries Overall
The House health legislation takes strong steps to address this danger by eliminating the excessive payments that private plans now receive under the Medicare Advantage program. In so doing, the House bill strengthens Medicare’s overall finances and thereby aids Medicare beneficiaries generally. It also eases pressure on beneficiary premiums and increases the access of vulnerable low-income beneficiaries to health care services by expanding and improving measures that help low-income seniors and people with disabilities pay the Medicare premium and cost-sharing charges. (July 2007, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
Congress Should Repeal Medicare Demonstration Project Designed to Promote Privatization, Rather than Yield Valid Results: Project Also Would Drive Up Premiums for Traditional Medicare
This analysis finds that while well-designed demonstration projects can provide important tests of new policy ideas, this project “stacks the deck” in favor of private plans over traditional Medicare in order to produce an ideologically preordained result. Consequently, it likely would do more to mislead policymakers and the public than to illuminate the policy debate. It also is likely to create hardship for large numbers of beneficiaries in the demonstration areas by causing premiums for traditional Medicare to rise significantly in those areas. (July 2007, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
Retiree Health Benefits, 2005: A Chartbook
Commonwealth Fund and the Center for Studying Health System Change offers this window into the state of retiree health coverage in the U.S. Based on findings from a survey of employee benefit managers in public and private firms that offer health benefits to retired workers. (July 2007)
Use of Health Services by Previously Uninsured Medicare Beneficiarie Ups Costs
Previously uninsured adults who enroll in the Medicare program at the age of 65 years may have greater morbidity, requiring more intensive and costlier care over subsequent years, than they would if they had been previously insured. (7/12/07, New England Journal of Medicine)
Large-Scale Survey Results On Impact Of Medicare Part D On Kidney Failure Patients
A survey of nearly 700 social workers from dialysis centers and transplant centers nationwide to determine how people with kidney failure were faring under the Medicare Part D prescription drug program found that patients with kidney failure are having serious challenges with Medicare Part D for several reasons. Most notably, these patients often reach the coverage gap, or 'doughnut hole,' phase of the program faster than other beneficiaries because their medication costs are often twice as high." "When kidney patients are in the coverage gap, they have difficulty affording the out-of-pocket costs of treatment and often forgo essential medications." (7/20/07, American Kidney Fund)
Evaluation of Phase I of Medicare Health Support Pilot Program under Traditional Fee-for Service Medicare
An early review of eight Medicare chronic care improvement demonstrations found the programs in their first six months have cost more than they have saved, according to a report by RTI Intl. The initiative is designed to test a pay-for-performance contracting model and intervention strategies to improve quality and satisfaction for chronically ill Medicare beneficiaries while achieving savings. (June 2007)
Use of Electronic Prescribing Could Save Medicare $29B Over 10 Years
Requiring doctors to electronically prescribe medication could save Medicare up to $29 billion over the next 10 years and prevent up to two million medication errors. The report recommends that Congress require doctors to e-prescribe all medications covered by Medicare and offer financial support to upgrade providers’ networks to comply with the necessary technology. (July 2007, Kaiser Network)
New Listings: Federal Budget
An Analysis of Leading Congressional Health Care Bills, 2005-2007: Part II, Quality and Efficiency
The U.S. health care system will become a high performance health system only with strong leadership from the federal government in partnership with the private sector. This report finds that proposals targeting reform of the payment structure for health care services are likely to lead to real improvements in quality and figure to be the most likely to produce health system savings. But none of the analyzed bills presents an overarching vision for the U.S. health system. (July 2007, Commonwealth Fund)
New Listings: Health Insurance, Health Costs
Increase in Prescription Drug Cost Sharing Associated With Lower Rates of Drug Treatment, Adherence
A review of previous studies indicates that an increase in prescription drug cost sharing is associated with a decrease in drug spending and use of pharmacies; and for some chronic conditions, higher cost sharing is associated with greater use of expensive medical services. (July 2007, Rand Corp., published in JAMA)
Health Security Watch - June 2007 Tracking Poll
Since February 2004, the Kaiser Health Security Watch has asked several questions to compare Americans’ health care worries to their worries about other possible problems. They have consistently found that more Americans are worried about their health care costs than about losing their job, paying their rent or mortgage, losing money in the stock market, or being the victim of a terrorist attack.
Not-For-Profit Hospitals Face Increasing Scrutiny From Lawmakers; IRS Report Finds Many Hospitals Spend Less Than 3% Of Revenue On Charity Care
Scrutiny of not-for-profit hospitals' tax exemptions is increasing, as an IRS report found that 45% of not-for-profit hospitals spend 3% or less of their revenue on uncompensated care and as state and federal lawmakers consider imposing restrictions on the hospitals. The CBO says that not-for-profit hospitals received more than $12 billion in tax breaks in 2002, and a recent CBO analysis of hospitals in five states found that not-for-profits provide only slightly more uncompensated care than for-profit hospitals. (7/20/07, Wall Street Journal)
Rising Healthcare Costs Challenges Employers
The rising cost of healthcare continues to be one of the primary challenges for employers. It is estimated that in 2005, just over 16% of the gross domestic product was spent on healthcare in the United States, up from 13.8% in 1993...commensurate with the increase in healthcare costs, employment-based health insurance premiums have more than doubled since 1997. (June 2007, Unum Group)
New Listings: Health Equity Issues
How Racism Hurts - Literally
Four years ago, researchers identified a surprising price for being a black woman in America. The study of 334 midlife women, published in the journal Health Psychology, examined links between different kinds of stress and risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Black women who pointed to racism as a source of stress in their lives, the researchers found, developed more plaque in their carotid arteries - an early sign of heart disease -- than black women who didn't. (7/15/07, Boston Globe)
American Lifestyle Detrimental To Hispanic Health
Mexican-Americans born and raised in the United States are more likely to suffer from conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol than those who emigrate from Mexico, according to a new study. The difference may be due to poor nutrition and less physical activity among native-born Mexican-Americans. Also individuals who leave Mexico for the United States may be fitter than the ones who stay behind. (July 2007, USC)
Tests of Trainee Doctors Find Signs of Race Bias in Care
Deeply imbedded attitudes about race influence the way doctors care for their African- American patients, according to a Harvard study that for the first time details how unconscious bias contributes to inferior care (7/20/07, Boston Globe)
Disparities in Infant Mortality: What’s Genetics Got to Do With It?
Since 1950...the United States’ international ranking in infant mortality has deteriorated...Overall patterns of racial disparities in mortality and secular changes in rates of prematurity as well as birth-weight patterns in infants of African immigrant populations contradict the genetic theory of race and point toward social mechanisms. (July 2007, American Journal of Public Health)
Blacks Receive Lower Rate of Hospice Care
Blacks receive hospice care at a disproportionately lower rate than whites in part because of cost, health insurance status and cultural factors. According to a 2005 survey by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, 82.2% of people receiving hospice care were white and 7.5% were black, compared with the entire U.S. population, which is 75% white and 12% black. (7/18/07, AP/Florida Times-Union)
New Listings: Other Health Issues
Health Care Opinion Leaders' Views on the Quality and Safety of Health Care in the United States
The keys to improving the quality and safety of health care include implementing a national quality agenda, reforming the way health care providers are paid, and integrating provider care, according to the latest Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey. The survey, conducted among a diverse group of health care experts from across the nation, found that more than half support the creation of a new public-private entity to coordinate quality efforts and form a national quality agenda. Moreover, nearly all experts agreed that fundamental payment reform is needed, while three-fourths said that greater organization and integration of provider care are necessary to effect improvements in quality and efficiency. (July 2007)
The Inverse Relationship Between Mortality Rates and Performance in the Hospital Quality Alliance Measures
If the lowest-performing U.S. hospitals performed as well as top-performers on specific quality measures, 2,200 fewer Americans would die each year, find researchers in a new study. (July 2007, Commonwealth Fund)
Closing the Divide: How Medical Homes Could Improve Care for All
As defined by the American Academy of Pediatrics, "A medical home is not a building, house, or hospital, but rather an approach to providing comprehensive primary care. A medical home is defined as primary care that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective." (7/20/07, Commonwealth Fund)
Review Finds Nutrition Education Failing
The federal government will spend more than $1 billion this year on nutrition education fresh carrot and celery snacks, videos of dancing fruit, hundreds of hours of lively lessons about how great you will feel if you eat well. But an Associated Press review of scientific studies examining 57 such programs found mostly failure. (7/4/07, AP)
America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007
The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics' 10th anniversary edition of this report provides the Nation with a summary of national indicators of child well-being and monitors changes in these indicators. In addition to providing data in an easy-to-use, non-technical format, the purpose of the report is to stimulate discussions among policymakers and the public, exchanges between data providers and policy communities, and improvements in Federal data on children and families.
Florida Reports
2007 Miami-Dade County Community Health Report Card: Health improvement through benchmarking, priority setting and leadership engagement
Intended as a “call to action” for area health care advocates and policy makers, the report assesses how well systems and institutions are meeting residents’ needs. It analyzes and synthesizes 93 health indicators, examines pervasive continuing racial and ethnic disparities, and sets targets for ten priority need areas including access to health care and coverage.
Waving Cautionary Flags: Florida’s Experience with Medicaid Reform: Reactions from Doctors and Patients
The latest briefing paper on Florida's Medicaid reform programs shows one out of four physicians are declining to participate and those who remain are seeing fewer patients. View the briefing paper Or view a presentation of the research. (May 2007, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, released by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, The Community Foundation in Jacksonville and United Way of Northeast Florida)
Florida Children’s Action Agenda 2007/2008 Available Online
Florida state Senators Nan Rich and Durell Peaden and Representatives Loranne Ausley and J.C. Planas have released the final recommendations of the 2006 Florida Children’s Summit. The Summit participants learned a lot, and the next Summit in Fall 2008 will reflect that. In 2008 they will spend substantially more time in workshops hashing out recommendations and will secure experienced workshop facilitators who are knowledgeable about the topics they are facilitating. Also, they will institute a process to ensure that when leaving the 2008 Summit - or very shortly thereafter - all will know the Summit recommendations.
Miami-Dade and Monroe County 2006 Health Profiles
Health Council of South Florida has released downloadable Health Profiles that provide answers to 10 commonly asked questions about county demographics, health needs, and resources.
Florida Health Insurance Coverage of Children 0-18 (2004-2005)
Kaiser Family Foundation has released information about this on-line resource.
Medicaid Changes: What will they mean for Broward and Duval counties, and beyond?
This document is Briefing #1 by researchers at Georgetown University’s Health Policy Institute engaged in a two-year evaluation of the Medicaid reform pilot counties for both Florida counties. The evaluation is assessing how these changes affect Medicaid beneficiaries’ ability to access needed care as well as the impact on community health providers.(September 2006, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute)
Report looks at uninsured in Florida
This report from the Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy at FIU documents and breaks down Florida's uninsured figures, finding 18.5% of the total Florida population uninsured. The report looks at employment and industry data related to lack of coverage, and proposes a partial solution.
Insuring All Children -- The New Political Imperative
This report discusses the history of SCHIP and its effect on access and quality, as well as the debate in Congress over reauthorizing and expanding SCHIP, which expires on Sept. 30, and the Bush administration's proposal to restrict program eligibility to children in families with annual incomes less than 200% of the federal poverty level. (7/5/2007, New England Journal of Medicine)
Comparing Public and Private Health Insurance for Children provides evidence that public health coverage is less expensive than private insurance and provides comparable, and in some cases better, access to health care for children. In considering the pending reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), some have recommended that Congress use federal funds to subsidize the purchase of private health insurance rather than to expand public health programs such as Medicaid or SCHIP. (5/11/07, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
Survey: Americans Overwhelmingly Support Tobacco Tax Increase to Expand Children’s Health Coverage: Broad Support Exists Irrespective of Party Affiliation, Gender, Race, Age, and Other Demographic Factors
A recently released poll reveals that American voters strongly support a large per-pack increase in the federal cigarette tax to expand health coverage to America’s uninsured children. By a more than two-and-one-half to one ratio (70 percent versus 27 percent), support exists for a 30-cent increase in per-pack cigarette taxes to pay for “health care coverage to uninsured children.” Significantly, that support is nearly identical (67-28 percent) for a 75-cent per-pack increase dedicated to the same purpose. Support for a 75-cent tobacco tax increase to expand health coverage for children is overwhelming irrespective of party affiliation, gender, race, age, and other demographic factors. (June 2007, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids)
Medicare
Whose Advantage? Billions in Windfall Payments Go to Private Medicare Plans is a project of the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus/ You can also check out the Power Point presentation on Medicare Advantage delivered to the Congressional TriCaucus. (June 2007, Families USA)
Estimating the Effects of Prescription Drug Coverage for Medicare Beneficiaries
Medicare Part D was enacted to subsidize the costs of prescription drugs for millions of Medicare beneficiaries. But, in doing so, the new benefit raises serious questions about costs and utilization—namely, how prescription drug coverage affects drug use and what the impact is on subsequent costs. Overall, the researchers found that people who lived in urban areas were more likely to have drug coverage, as were married people. Individuals with certain chronic conditions, like heart disease, cancer, arthritis, diabetes, and hypertension were also more likely to have coverage. Black people were less likely to have coverage, as were those in excellent health. The research team determined that, even when controlling for factors such as health status and income, people with drug coverage had substantially higher drug use because coverage reduces the effective out-of-pocket costs of prescriptions. (6/20/07, Commonwealth Fund)
Too Good to Be True: The Fine Print in Medicare Private Health Plan Benefits
Nearly 8.3 million of the 43 million Americans with Medicare receive their medical care through private insurance companies, also called Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. This report examines the effectiveness of these plans and concludes that private plans often fail to deliver coverage that a patient could obtain from original Medicare. (April 2007, Medicare Rights Center)
Curbing Medicare Overpayments To Private Insurers Could Benefit Minorities And Help Expand Children's Health Coverage
The budget resolutions approved by both the House and the Senate include up to $50 billion for expanded Medicaid and SCHIP coverage for millions of uninsured low-income children, provided these costs are offset. A proposal under consideration in Congress would help finance this expansion of children’s coverage by reducing the substantial overpayments to private health insurance companies that participate in Medicare. To defend these overpayments, private insurers claim that low-income and minority beneficiaries rely disproportionately on them for supplemental coverage. In fact, such beneficiaries are far more likely to get supplemental coverage through Medicaid. Moreover, at least half of the overpayments go to industry profits and expenses, not benefits. The overpayments also harm the 35 million people in regular Medicare by raising their premiums and weakening the program’s long-term finances. Reducing the overpayments and reinvesting the savings in better health care for low- and moderate-income seniors, people with disabilities, and children would produce a significant gain in health coverage for minorities as well as low-income Americans. (5/10/07, Center for Budget and Policy Priorities)
Federal Budget/Health Care
The Fight Over Appropriations: Myths and Reality: Most of the Growth Would Go for Military and Homeland Security; Increases Planned for Domestic Appropriations Are Small
Despite the Administration’s sharp criticism of the planned congressional appropriations levels, the overwhelming bulk of the $53.1 billion increase in appropriations that Congress plans for 2008 — 81 percent of it — consists of increases the Administration itself has requested in military and homeland security programs. The main dispute between the Administration and Congress is over a $21 billion difference in domestic appropriations. The Administration proposes to cut these programs $16 billion below the 2007 levels (after adjusting for inflation) and threatens to veto bills that do not contain these cuts. Congress would reject these cuts and instead provide a modest increase for these programs of $5 billion, or 1.4 percent. The main dispute between Congress and the Administration is thus whether to cut programs funded in domestic appropriations bills, not whether to make large increases in them. Under the funding levels that Congress plans, domestic discretionary programs would grow more slowly than revenues, and thus would not create pressure for tax increases. (6/21/07, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
Health Insurance, Health Costs
Survey Finds 43.6 Million Uninsured in U.S.
About 43.6 million people in the United States, or 14.8 percent of the population, had no health insurance in 2006, according to a survey by the CDC. The finding, based on a survey of 100,000 people, is lower than previous federal estimates of 46 million. The estimate is based on those who did not have insurance at the time of the interview. About 54.5 million people in the country, or 18.6 percent of the population, had no insurance for at least part of 2006. (6/26/07, New York Times)
Scant Drug Benefits Called Costly to Employers
Employers who shift more prescription drug costs to workers could spend more money on lost productivity and absenteeism than they would on drug costs, according to a study by the not-for-profit Integrated Benefits Institute. The three-year study, which is scheduled to be submitted for publication in a peer-review journal, looked at health and disability claims data for several thousand workers with rheumatoid arthritis at 17 companies. (6/27/07, New York Times)
Congressional Testimony-- Universal Health Insurance: Why It Is Essential to a High Performing Health System and Why Design Matters
The U.S. health care system performs poorly relative to other industrialized nations and relative to achievable benchmarks for health outcomes, quality, access, efficiency, and equity...Universal coverage is essential to placing the system on a path to high performance. But the way in which a universal coverage system is designed will matter greatly in terms of whether the overall health system is ultimately able to make sustainable and systematic improvements. (6/26/07, The Commonwealth Fund)
Health Insurance across Vulnerable Ages: Patterns and Disparities from Adolescence to the Early 30s
Young adults have the lowest rate of insurance coverage of any age group. This report finds that the safety net of public programs that cover adolescents disappears in young adulthood, leaving young adults vulnerable. Moreover, for low-income individuals, this problem often persists into their 30s because premiums in the private market are too high. (5/5/07, Pediatrics)
Immigrants in the U.S. Health Care System: Five Myths That Misinform the American Public
This report examines five common misconceptions about the effects of documented and undocumented immigrants on the U.S. health care system that have led to laws that restrict services for immigrants. The report discusses why the trends are false and makes recommendations to policymakers for immigrant health care reform. (6/7/07, Center for American Progress)
Health Insurance Status
Statehealthfacts.org has updated more than 50 health coverage topics to reflect a recent correction made by the U.S. Census Bureau to the March 2005 and 2006 Current Population Surveys. Health coverage data for key populations - the nonelderly, adults, children, and people living in poverty – have all been updated.(Kaiser Family Foundation)
New Resources on Children and Family Health Coverage
The State Children’s Health Insurance Program reauthorization debate is focusing on the role of Medicaid and SCHIP in covering uninsured children, while a renewed interest by states in expanding coverage to the rest of their uninsured residents is fueling even broader discussion. Several new resources were released in conjunction with the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured briefing on state coverage trends and initiatives. (May 2007, Kaiser Family Foundation)
Health Equity Issues
Closing the Divide: How Medical Homes Promote Equity in Health Care
When adults have both health insurance coverage and a medical home, racial and ethnic disparities in access to care and quality of care tend to disappear. In fact, the analysis, which was based on a Fund survey of more than 2,830 adults nationwide, found that regardless of race, the vast majority of adults with a medical home always get the care they need in a timely fashion. (6/27/07, Commonwealth Fund)
Disparities in Health Care Are Driven by Where Minority Patients Seek Care: Examination of the Hospital Quality Alliance Measures
Differences in Severity-Adjusted Pediatric Hospitalization Rates Are Associated With Race/Ethnicity
This report describes the disparities between minority and white children in hospitalization rates after emergency room visits. (6/6/07, JAMA)
2006 National Healthcare Disparities Report
The (NHDR) tracks disparities in both quality of and access to health care in the United States for both the general population and for AHRQ's congressionally designated priority populations.
Issue Brief: Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
Efforts to reduce the disturbing levels of racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care in the United States will continue to fall short unless the complex interplay of social, physical, and organizational influences is better understood and addressed through collaborative, interdisciplinary actions. Complex factors operating at the levels of individuals, interpersonal networks, organizations, communities, and society influence disparities in health and health care. Both race and socioeconomic status play important roles. Action in four major arenas is likely to have the most impact: 1) Individual socioeconomic circumstances; 2) Physical and cultural community environment; 3) Personal management of health; 4) Health care financing and delivery. The four arenas for policy action are a useful starting point, but disparities will not be eliminated by addressing these arenas one at a time. Instead, solutions will require multidisciplinary actors and cross-sector collaboration. (Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy)
Key Facts: Race, Ethnicity and Medical Care, 2007 Update
This updated quick reference source on health disparities presents the best available data and analysis, ncluding data on the uninsured and access to care by race/ethnicity as well as information about the isproportionate effect that specific conditions such as diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and asthma have on racial and thnic minority populations in the U.S. New in the 2007 Key Facts are demographic data on the racial/ethnic minority population in each state and the U.S. territories. This edition of Key Facts also includes data from the National Healthcare Disparities Report, examining changes in health care disparities over time. (Jan 2007,
Kaiser Family Foundation)
America's Health Rankings: A Call to Action for People and their Communities
The United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention?, have released this 2006 edition, to stimulate public conversation concerning health in our states, as well as provide information to facilitate citizen participation. Participation in all elements is encouraged: personal behaviors, community environment, clinical care and public and health policies. Florida's rank among states went from 40 in 2005 to 41 in 2006.
Other Health Issues
Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008
Health care remains the top domestic issue that the public wants presidential candidates to address, trailing only Iraq on the public's overall priority list, according to the latest in a new series of tracking polls on health care and the election. (June 2007, Kaiser Family Foundation)
Tracking Healthy People 2010 Revised
The original volume included detailed technical information on how the data for the objectives are derived, the major data issues affecting the interpretation of the statistics, and information on the primary data sources used to monitor the Healthy People 2010 objectives. For the 2007 revision of Tracking Healthy People 2010 the information on data issues, technical specifications, and major data sources has been updated to reflect changes since November 2000.
Health, United States, 2006
This 30th report on the health status of the nation is submitted by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to the President and Congress of the United States in compliance with Section 308 of the Public Health Service Act. The 559-page report was compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics served in a review capacity. The Health, United States series presents national trends in health statistics. Each report includes an executive summary, highlights, a chartbook, trend tables, extensive appendixes, and an index. Contents include: Fertility, Natality, Life Expectancy and Mortality; Health Behaviors, Status, Risk Factors, Determinants and Measures; Health Care Access, Utilization, System Influences, Expenditures, Resources and Personnel; Health Insurance Coverage and Payors; Uninsured Population; Age, Race and Ethnicity and Poverty; Alcohol and Drug Use; Physical Activity and Limitations; Dental Care and Access; and a Special Section on Pain. (November 2006, HHS, CDC, NHCS)
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