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CHAIN Reaction is a bi-weekly publication of Florida CHAIN (Community Health Action Information Network), a statewide consumer advocacy organization that works toward access to quality health care, empowering people to actively shape their world by participating in civic life and caring for each other’s well being.
Florida CHAIN: 3167-B Gardens East Drive, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410 info@floridachain.org www.floridachain.org
HMOs Threaten to Pull Out of Medicaid Reform, State Convinces Them to Stay – What Does It Really Mean?
The 3 Medicaid HMOs (operating a total of 4 health plans) which together have captured 60% of market share in the Medicaid Reform Pilot recently informed AHCA of their intent to stop enrolling beneficiaries and drop out of the experiment, in whole or in very large part. As of this writing, all but one had subsequently reconsidered that decision, but even if no HMOs leave Reform, these actions have raised serious questions about Reform.
Q. Why did these Medicaid HMOs say they were planning to drop out of Reform?
A. According to Florida Health News, which broke this story, Medicaid managed care industry reps. cited an anticipated cut in the rates (called capitations) that are paid to HMOs for the provision of all covered services. The Legislature did in fact cut funding for ALL Medicaid HMOs - including both Reform and traditional (i.e., non-Reform) Medicaid managed care plans - this past Session as a result of Florida’s ongoing budget crisis.
Q. So doesn’t the rate cut explain it?
A. Not fully. It is most important to note that, with one very minor exception, no HMOs announced their intention to pull the plug on their traditional non-Reform plans which, as stated above, also faces rate cuts. Yet it’s only within the Reform experiment that the situation is seemingly critical.
Q. What about the Reform experiment has made it less profitable than the traditional Medicaid managed care it is supposed to replace?
A. Several factors are likely at work. For one, the new Reform rates were supposed to go into effect September 1, but they clearly won’t be finalized until after that. Plans have expressed their exasperation over the ongoing inability of the State to tell them what rates they’ll be paid until those rates are practically in effect. Also, 2% of all payments are held back by AHCA to fund the highly touted but thus far inconsequential Healthy Behaviors program. Finally, 2008-09 is the first year that Reform capitation rates will be fully “risk-adjusted”, meaning that HMOs will be paid lower rates for covering healthier patients. Plans that have historically profited from selectively targeting healthy patients will therefore take a significant financial hit.
Q. What’s the significance of this being a crisis only within Reform?
A. It is only within Reform that HMOs have announced that the rates are insufficient to make their continued participation sufficiently profitable. It’s no secret that the primary goal of Reform was to control the growth in Medicaid spending. Under Reform, plans were given the unprecedented flexibility to vary the types and amounts of services they offer to enrollees. The promise was that this flexibility would create more choice, allowing plans to control costs through innovation and efficiency. But just the opposite seems to have occurred, as demonstrated by the drastic steps the HMOs were preparing to take in order to extract themselves from Reform in response to the rate cuts.
Q. Could the withdrawal of these HMOs from Reform really threaten the entire Pilot Program?
A. Unquestionably. Through the end of July, more than 120,000 (60%) of the 200,000 Medicaid beneficiaries currently participating in Reform were enrolled in one of these 4 plans. Fewer than 26,000 were enrolled in all of the other HMOs combined. The remaining HMO with the largest enrollment has fewer than 10,000 members at present. About 54,000 total are enrolled in one of 6 Provider Services Networks (PSNs).
Q. Does the fact that this crisis may be averted change anything?
A. Probably not, considering the way in which resolution occurred. Later in the same week, Florida Health News reported that AHCA had somehow found a way to reduce the rate cut from the previously anticipated 5 percent to 3 percent, possibly prompting some or all of the HMOs to reconsider. A careful comparison of Reform with non-Reform rates will be essential to determining how AHCA bailed out Reform, including the extent to which AHCA cross-subsidized Reform by taking money from elsewhere in Medicaid.
Q. Even as WellCare communicated to AHCA its intent to halt most of its Reform operations, the HMO did, however, indicate its willingness to continue serving SSI recipients in Broward County. Is this significant?
A. This may be the most telling turn of events of all. Wellcare has a checkered history, and as recently as last month was ordered to return funds to AHCA after unlawfully pocketing millions of dollars it should have spent on behavioral health care services for enrollees. (Medicaid HMOs are required to spend a minimum of 80% of behavioral health payments on direct care. This is known as the “80% Rule”.)
In this case, WellCare announced that it would now only serve SSI recipients (not children and families) and only in Broward County (not in Duval or surrounding counties). So in the same very letter in which it knowingly threatened the viability of the Reform Pilot, WellCare tried to hang on to the one group of beneficiaries it considered sufficiently lucrative.
Q. Why would a for-profit HMO want to serve only the group of enrollees with the most significant health problems in the Pilot, and then only in the county where it costs the most to serve them?
A. Wellcare wants to serve only Broward SSI recipients precisely because they will be paid significantly more to do so, and so can generate the most profit by reducing and restricting their access to care, as they have the flexibility to modify or limit benefits in ways that traditional Medicaid managed care cannot.
To understand this more clearly, consider the average rates paid for members of the four main groups of Reform in Year 1 of the Pilot (as calculated by the University of Florida’s Medicaid Reform Evaluation project). The average rate for Broward SSI recipients was 40% higher than for Duval SSI recipients, and 8 times higher than for children and families in either county. WellCare believes that they will be able squeeze enough savings from this particular group to make it “worth it”.
So Reform seems to have ushered in a form of “reverse cherry picking” in which there is incentive to enroll beneficiaries with the most serious health problems. That might be good, except that, now armed with the flexibility to impede and/or deny access to essential care, companies like WellCare are empowered to short-shrift enrollees to bolster their own bottom line. And with no meaningful encounter data available even after 2 years, the State is practically inviting WellCare to rip off taxpayers and imperil beneficiaries.
To better understand the situation, note that when WellCare was forced to return Medicaid funding it had unlawfully diverted under the 80% Rule, no Reform funds were returned, because the State does not even enforce the 80% Rule in Reform. So Reform HMOs presumably continue to bank that money. This sheds additional light on how they intend to continue profiting from beneficiaries with disabilities, particularly those with severe mental illnesses.
Q. What should happen next?
A. First and foremost, Florida CHAIN and other advocates are asking the Legislature to repeal the Medicaid Reform Pilot. In addition, our position is that real performance standards should be established, and that only those HMOs and PSNs that demonstrate that they can meet them should be approved to enter the Medicaid managed care market. Finally, Medipass must be preserved as an option, and that primary care providers must be provided with the resources and incentives necessary to effectively manage patient care and contain costs.
Submitted by Greg Mellowe,
Policy Director, Florida CHAIN
Florida Supreme Takes Amendment 5 Off Ballot
 On September 3, the Florida Supreme Court removed from the November ballot a proposed Constitutional amendment that advocates believed would rapidly shred Florida's health care safety net.
Amendment 5 proposed eliminating the portion of property taxes currently used to pay for schools in exchange for an increase in and expansion of the sales tax. It would have then been up to the Legislature to figure out some other way to make up the inevitable shortfall, requiring an increasingly sharp axe be taken to health and human services programs.
The Amendment was before the Supreme Court for a final decision after a lower court judge ruled that the language through which voters would need to sift was confusing and misleading.
The Supreme Court's decision was swift, unanimous and closed the door permanently on a serious threat to the already severely underfunded health care safety net.
For more information, from The Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy (FCFEP), click here.
Greg Mellowe, Florida CHAIN
Cover Florida Makes State Work Against Itself & Its Kids
On August 18th, the Governor’s Cover Florida theory surged significantly closer to becoming reality this month, as the State received bids from 9 insurance companies proposing to provide limited health coverage. This likely surprised some industry experts who predicted a less enthusiastic response. How many Cover Florida plans ultimately will be approved the level of coverage to be made available through them is another question.
We won’t know the answer until negotiations between insurers and the State are completed. The fact that the State set no affordability standards of any kind certainly gave plans additional flexibility (although one plan announced that it proposed a plan with $50 average monthly premiums.) Other concerns and questions about the lack of consumer protections and safeguards have been the topic of previous CHAIN Reaction articles.
However, a new and surprising concern entered the process at the 11th hour. Only a few weeks before proposals were due, the State issued more than 50 pages of answers to questions raised by interested parties. For the first time, the State clarified that it would allow insurers to offer coverage to families, not just to individuals. All other things being equal, this pronouncement was to be expected, as extending coverage to families (and particularly their children) will help bolster insurers’ bottom line, perhaps just enough for them to deem it worthwhile.
But all things are not equal. The Cover Florida legislation specifically required that enrollees must be between age 19 and 64, and also not eligible for KidCare. The State’s current position is that the KidCare eligibility requirement applies, but the age 19+ requirement does not. This is a problem because the State has not only declined to ask insurers how they plan to ensure that they don’t divert kids from the far more comprehensive and less expensive coverage available through KidCare, they’ve not even required that the screening occur at all.
Children in families with incomes at or below 200% of the poverty level ($42,400 for a family of 4) are eligible for KidCare. And for families above 200% of poverty, the same legislation containing Cover Florida also included another of the Governor’s priorities: lifting the cap on the number of such families permitted to buy into KidCare coverage (“full pays”). The average “full pay” monthly premium for 2008-09 is $117 per month.
Consequently, although it’s easy to understand the State allowing Cover Florida plans to divert kids from far better coverage, it’s not so easy to defend. Especially since the State seems to be working against itself and its extensive investment in reducing barriers to the meaningful coverage available through KidCare.
Submitted by Greg Mellowe,
Policy Director, Florida CHAIN
Census Report Quantifies Florida’s Persistent Health Coverage Woes
 Although the official U.S. census occurs only once every 10 years, the Census Bureau generates important demographic estimates by surveying representative samples of Americans throughout the decade. Earlier this month, the Bureau released one such set of estimates - on income, poverty and health insurance coverage in America – derived from the 2008 Current Population Survey.
The significance of this report was accentuated by tables created by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families and the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities comparing the newly reported figures (2-year averages for 2006 and 2007) with those from 2000-01 (also 2-year averages). The comparisons and the Census data itself provided some surprising revelations about how low-income Floridians, particularly children, fared during a long period of economic growth:
· Nationwide, the number of uninsured kids increased by almost 100,000, from 8.3 to 8.4 million between 2000-01 and 2006-07 (although the number did drop to 8.1 million in 2007.)
· Florida took an even bigger step backwards from an average of 623,000 uninsured children in 2000-01 to 778,000 in 2006-07. That’s a 19% increase to more than three-quarters of a million children.
(NOTE: These figures should be contrasted with the 2007 Florida Children’s Health Insurance Study, which estimated that 548,000 Florida kids were uninsured that year, and that the percentage without coverage declined from 15.0% in 2002 to 12.6%.)
· The 156,000 more uninsured kids represented the second highest percentage increase of any state, behind only Texas. Florida also saw the greatest increase by far in terms of actual numbers of uninsured kids.
· 541,000 kids who were uninsured in 2007 had incomes below 200% of the poverty level. One out of every 8 Florida children was both low-income AND uninsured in 2007.
· Overall, although only 3 states experienced statistically significant decreases in the number of total uninsured individuals over the 6 years, Florida still sank faster than most others, with the 7th-highest percentage increase (+3.7% to 20.7%).
Our persistent struggle to make headway in health coverage is not the whole story revealed by the report. Even as Floridians fell further behind in health coverage, they made limited progress or held steady in other areas relative to other states. For example:
· Although Florida ranked an expectedly low 36th in 2006-07 median family income, median income increased by $1,663 from 2000-01, the 14th largest increase among all states.
· The overall poverty level was virtually unchanged over the 6 year period, with about 12% Floridians living in poverty.
So economic expansion and even somewhat increased incomes weren’t enough to stem the tide of Florida’s seemingly intractable uninsurance crisis. Hopefully, the impact of recent and forthcoming initiatives to increase coverage will be reflected in future reports.
Submitted by Greg Mellowe,
Policy Director, Florida CHAIN
MediPassage to Nowhere?
Even as the 3 HMOs with the most enrollees in the Medicaid Reform Pilot announced plans to drop out of the experiment, the State is gearing up to implement a change in the law that will push other Medicaid consumers into these same HMOs without their consent.
These consumers are currently enrolled in MediPass, a program within Medicaid in which primary care providers directly coordinate and monitor the care of their patients, making appropriate referrals to and authorizations for specialty and hospital care (albeit for a woefully inadequate fee).
Tucked into a Medicaid bill enacted last legislative session is a provision requiring that MediPass enrollees in 23 counties (those with at least 2 managed care choices) who want to remain in MediPass directly inform AHCA (which oversees Medicaid) of their choice during their annual open enrollment period. Any MediPass enrollee who doesn’t do so will be automatically switched into a Medicaid HMO. Some consumers may not even know they were switched until their care is disrupted. Until now, consumers stayed in MediPass unless they requested a change. In the future, they’ll have to “opt in” to MediPass every year.
AHCA had earlier stated that this change would go into effect this October, although in a recent response to an inquiry by Florida Legal Services, AHCA indicated that they have laid little of the necessary groundwork, such as securing federal approval or drafting the notices to be sent to consumers. A number of important policy issues also remain unresolved.
In August, more than 40 organizations jointly submitted a letter to AHCA Secretary Holly Benson asking for consideration of several recommendations, including allowing anyone switched to a Medicaid HMO to switch back to MediPass - for any reason - for 90 days. The letter also asked that AHCA continue to pay medical claims during the transition from MediPass to an HMO to ensure continuity of care, as well as contact consumers directly to explain this change and conduct other outreach activities.
Meanwhile, inaccurate information may already be circulating as well. Although this involuntary switch can only occur in counties with at least 2 Medicaid managed care options, a list confirmed earlier by AHCA includes 6 counties that do not meet this criterion: Hardee, Indian River, Martin, Monroe, Okeechobee and St. Lucie. MediPass enrollees in these counties should NOT be involuntarily switched to an HMO.
Florida CHAIN has developed a flyer intended to help consumers and advocates understand this important change, especially the right to remain in MediPass, based on the information currently available. Our flyer and website will be updated as we learn more.
Submitted by Greg Mellowe,
Policy Director, Florida CHAIN
How to Move a Mountain
Every successful change made in the world has been made when people work together for the common good. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may have been responsible for curb cuts to make sidewalks accessible to wheelchairs, but it also helped mothers get strollers from one block to the next. When one group benefits, we all benefit.
When advocating for funds or for more services, most individuals and groups speak up and write letters to anyone who will listen to sad stories about “their needs.” People who can’t see want the ability to have affordable and dependable transportation so they can work. People with mental illness want affordable and safe housing. The list goes on and on. But it’s challenging to come up with a list of politicians who really want to develop a platform based on funding solutions for a minority of people when they can promise tax cuts to the multitudes who simply don’t see themselves as being affected by budget cuts to schools or social services.
Seniors are everywhere in Florida -- the cities, the rural areas, the rich and poor counties. What do senior citizens in Florida want and need? They want affordable housing that they can continue living in as the cost of living continues to rise and their ability to care for themselves declines. They want to get to the grocery store safely when they can no longer drive. They want doctors, hospitals, and rehabilitation facilities that are staffed adequately to treat them effectively when they have a medical crisis. Individuals with chronic health needs and disabilities have more in common with seniors than they may realize!
The question becomes “Why are we not courting this political goldmine?” When retirees discover they can not move their adult children with disabilities to Florida because the services back home aren’t available here; when they see that building accessible housing benefits not only the person with a spinal cord injury who is in a wheelchair today, but also perhaps their spouse after a stroke; when they see a bus isn’t just for those who can’t afford a car, but also for those who can’t see to drive anymore, attitudes change.
When we change our attitudes, we are no longer a community functioning by “us versus them.” We find ourselves no longer fighting for the minute scraps thrown to us according to what is politically advantageous at any given time. We become a community where individuals look at the hardships of others and see themselves and find empathy. We look at what we have in common, not at what separates us or what makes us different. Only then can we join together and find a way to meet the needs of the community, the city, the state, and finally the richest country in the world, where there really is enough to go around.
So, when planning for the next advocacy campaign, when seeking to find someone with time to serve on a Board, when looking for fellow stakeholders to gather input, it’s important to remember that by expanding the circle, there just might be found a political goldmine that can move mountains one step at a time.
By Debbie Richards, M.S.W., Program Manager
Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, Inc.
“Contract for Florida’s Mental Health/ Substance Abuse System Reform Campaign” Expanded to Statewide Effort
All mental health/substance abuse system reform advocates in Florida can now participate in the campaign for the “Contract for Florida’s Mental Health/Substance Abuse System Reform.”
The Mental Health America of Greater Tampa Bay web site listing the candidates who receive a copy of the “Contract”, along with notations of their response, has been expanded from the 7 counties in the Tampa Bay Region to all 67 counties in Florida. When the Florida Election Canvassing Commission confirms the results those remaining general election candidates will be listed on the page for the county where all or a part of that district is. Click Here to see that initial page.
“Advocates throughout the state that want to communicate with candidates about the ‘Contract’ now have a central web location to refer voters to for information on the candidate’s positions about mental health/substance abuse system reform,” said Scott Barnett, Executive Director of Mental Health America of Greater Tampa Bay.
Barnett continued that he will provide the language of transmittal letters to candidates used in the Tampa Bay Region so advocates do not have to start from scratch. “We will help in any way we possibly can,” says Barnett.
The primary effort received almost a 10% return of signed “Contract” from candidates. “There was even a $100.00 to our education campaign from one of the candidates,” Barnett added. “That is a decent return for a first time effort. In any event, we know we educated all the regional candidates about our issues and the importance of repairing the damage to social services done by the 2008 legislature.”
Submitted by Scott F. Barnett, J.D., LL.M.
Executive Director,
Mental Health America of Greater Tampa Bay
Hispanic Health Initiatives
In Florida, almost half of the 3 million uninsured adults are Hispanic. Central Florida has continued to see the rates of the uninsured increase and the availability of culturally competent services decrease.
One agency, Hispanic Health Initiatives, Inc (HHI), is the only health services facility in Central Florida created to specifically address the needs of the Hispanic community. Since its inception in June of 2000, this volunteer-driven, community-based organization has worked to connect medically underserved families with free or low-cost health care services.
As a leader in the community, HHI serves as the bridge between the minority community and the health care providers who serve them. Cancer and diabetes related forums, health fairs, and screening events are designed to provide hundreds of families each year with linguistically correct and culturally sensitive health information.
HHI’s services emphasize preventive medicine, disease management and behavioral changes known to promote healthy lifestyles. HHI attributes its success to a board of directors, staff, and volunteers that mirror the community they serve and programming that is designed to educate and empower patients to make informed health decisions.
In 2007, ENFOQUE-Nuestra Salud (FOCUS -- Our Health) advocacy project was launched to complement HHI’s existing health awareness and education programs in cancer and diabetes. The campaign’s goal is to increase the voice of Hispanic consumers in the health care reform process and to create a sense of political consciousness within the community. In order to do this, HHI has begun providing health policy trainings to consumers and creating opportunities for community members, local leaders and the media to have dialogue on health care access issues in local town hall meetings.
If you have questions or would like more information about the Hispanic Health Initiative, contact Josephine Mercado, Founder and Executive Director, at
407-339-2001 or by e-mail at hhi2001@aol.com. Visit the Hispanic Health Initiatives website at www.hhi2001.org/1.html
As featured in this issue of the Families USA Minority Health e-newsletter
REAL STORIES FROM FLORIDA HEALTH CARE CONSUMERS
Mounting Hospital Bills Add to One Woman’s Financial Stress
At 49 years old, Carolyn Patmon was living a comfortable life in her Orlando home that she had finally paid off after 38 years. Her two daughters had grown up and moved out of the house, and her grandchildren were a constant source of joy. She loved to travel and had visited 7 countries and 28 states. As a local manager for a large printing business, Carolyn was healthy and financially stable.
Then one day, she suffered a debilitating accident at work that required numerous hospital stays and eventually prevented her from returning to her position. In her early 50’s, Carolyn began to suffer from a series of chronic problems originating from that fateful fall at work, including degenerative disc disease and carpel tunnel syndrome that resulted in partial paralysis of her hand. While Carolyn had worked her entire life, she found herself bedridden for almost 15 months after her initial accident and suddenly had to rely upon social security disability payments to make ends meet.
Although Carolyn’s home was paid for, she still found it difficult to pay all of her bills on her new small fixed income. Carolyn was approached by several predatory mortgage lenders and agreed to take out a home equity loan to pay off some outstanding bills. Then in 2006 and 2007, a series of unexpected surgeries placed her in financial peril, despite her social security disability insurance. Surgery to remove a ruptured gall bladder led to pancreatitis and pneumonia and an extensive hospital stay.
Then her doctor prescribed a series of back surgeries to implant an electronic stimulator to treat her constant back pain. Shortly after the back surgery, her doctor performed surgery to treat her carpel tunnel syndrome and a torn rotator cuff. All of these necessary surgeries were covered by her disability insurance through her health plan, WellCare. However, the co-pays added up to an unaffordable amount.
Before being admitted to the hospital for each of her surgeries, Carolyn asked the hospital what she would be responsible for financially. When they told her about the high co-pays, Carolyn told them it was beyond her means. She was even contemplating stopping her attendance at her bi-weekly physical therapy sessions because she knew she couldn’t afford the co-pay, but, the outpatient center told her not to worry about it. Regardless, they then sent her a bill anyway.
With the hospital bills adding up to over $3,000 dollars, Carolyn has recently had to take on a part-time job to make the payments, meet her expenses and try to save her home from pending foreclosure. Working while being ill has been a daunting experience for her. Earlier this year, she joined up with a community group called ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) to fight against predatory lending. The organization is now trying to help people like Carolyn who have high medical debt and are faced with bill collectors each day.
Submitted by Laura Goodhue, 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 lisam@floridachain.org
State Events
North Florida
Central Florida
East Central Florida
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Southwest Florida
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Florida Audio and Web Events
Statewide Notices
National Events
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National Audio and Web Events
National Notices
National Campaigns
STATE EVENTS & NOTICES
NORTH FLORIDA
Developing Effective Farmworker Outreach Programs
Sept 9 1:00 pm - Sept 10 4:00 PM Comfort Suites, Tallahassee
Delivered by Farmworker Health Services, Inc., a national leader in farmworker health outreach. Space is limited to 20 participants. RSVP by Aug 20. View Event Fees View Event Summary View Event Agenda
Notices
CENTRAL FLORIDA
100Ideas.org, Inc. Statewide Autism & Developmental Disabilities Discussion
Sept 15-16 Orlando, Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Studios
With 1 in 150 children diagnosed with Autism and nearly 100 hundred more being diagnosed each day, we must all come together to find comprehensive solutions to help families deal with this growing issue. Floridians are invited to come together in an informal discussion that will provide parents,advocates, elected officials, and decision makers an opportunity to provide input and opinions on issues relating to Autism and the Developmentally Disabled Community. No cost; registration required.
EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA
WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA
Events
Taking Advocacy to the Next Level: Reaching Your Goals
Sept 9 9:00 am-12:00 noon St. Anthony's Carillon Outpatient Center, 900 Carillon Pkwy, St. Petersburg
This half-day session will focus on cutting edge strategies groups can utilize to achieve real change in Florida and your local communities. Key building blocks include establishing an advocacy agenda, tools for grassroots advocacy, identification of opportunities, and organizing campaigns. Special attention to how groups can align their work and unite efforts around a common goal. The session promises to be a useful and practical tool for individuals and groups committed to grassroots advocacy and change, designed for community advocates, grassroots organizers, and organizational advocacy leaders. Presented by Children's Campaign with Allegany Franciscan Ministries, and Nonprofit Leadership Center of Tampa Bay. Fees: $35.00.
Florida’s People – Florida’s Promise Town Hall Meeting
Sept 24 9:30 am-11:30 am The Children's Board Tampa
The purpose of this new initiative of a broad cross section of endorsers representing state and local interest groups is to encourage state elected leaders and legislative candidates to find fresh solutions to the state's darkening revenue picture and long-term challenges, and to lay out potential cost-saving ideas and revenue options to ensure funding for core services while simultaneously benefiting the business community and Florida's economy. Legislators and candidates are invited to discuss ideas to preserve vital services during an unprecedented period of budget woes. Seating is limited! Call 1-877-926-8300 to reserve a seat. Breakfast free of charge.
National Academy State Health Policy 21st Annual State Health Policy Conference
Oct 5-7 Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina
NASHP's annual conference will help you navigate the choppy seas of health policy. It is your chance to meet with policymakers from other states, learn about promising programs and best practices, and gain new insights on how to tackle health care needs with 4 plenaries (including State Reforms, and The State of Health Care in Florida) and 25 workshops planned. It is a dynamic gathering of state executive branch agencies, legislators, and legislative staff. Open dialogue and idea exchange are hallmarks of the conference.
Looking Back, Looking Ahead: Medicaid Reform in Florida - Year 2
Oct 15 9:00 am-4:00 pm Marriott Tampa Airport
Researchers at Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute, with support from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, the Florida Health Policy Center, and the Florida Philanthropic Network, will host this event to examine Florida's experience with Medicaid reform. Contact jwt24@georgetown.edu or 202-687-2471 .
The Biggest Challenge Remains: Addressing the Most Intractable Cost Problem Facing American Employers
Feb 3-4 Tampa Waterfront Convention Center
Cutting-Edge Employer Case Studies on the Preeminent Issues of Keeping Employees Healthy and Productive....and at an Affordable Cost. Topics will include: Wellness Programs, Managing Vendors, Control Cost Drivers, Predictive Modeling, Transparency, Demand Management, Power Data / Technology, Educate for Results, Disease Management, Benefit Design, Health Promotion, Consumer Directed. Contact: info@HBCE.com or call 941-484–1430 .
Notices
Pinellas residents can get free discount drug cards, which may not be used in conjunction with any health insurance plan, including Medicare and Medicaid, but will help those seeking discounts on drugs.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
SOUTHEAST FLORIDA
Events
Balancing and Understanding Emotional Well Being
Sept 10 9:00 am-4:30 pm Palm Beach Community College Humanities and Technology Building, Rm 103, Boca Raton
Open to the Public –Free Admission. To register call 561-862-4705 or ccesouth@pbcc.edu
Florida’s People – Florida’s Promise Town Hall Meeting
Sept 18 9:30 am-11:30 am Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, West Palm Beach
The purpose of this new initiative of a broad cross section of endorsers representing state and local interest groups is to encourage state elected leaders and legislative candidates to find fresh solutions to the state's darkening revenue picture and long-term challenges, and to lay out potential cost-saving ideas and revenue options to ensure funding for core services while simultaneously benefiting the business community and Florida's economy. Legislators and candidates are invited to discuss ideas to preserve vital services during an unprecedented period of budget woes. Seating is limited! Call 1-877-926-8300 to reserve a seat. Breakfast free of charge.
2008 United States Conference on AIDS
Sept 18-21 Ft. Lauderdale/Broward Convention Center
This is the largest AIDS-related gathering in the United States. Over 3,000 workers representing all fronts of the HIV/AIDS epidemic—from case managers and physicians, to public health workers and advocates, PLWHAs to policymakers—come together to build national support networks, exchange the latest information and learn cutting-edge tools to address the challenges of HIV/AIDS.
Community Forum on the Health Care Crisis
Sept 20 9:00 am-4:00 pm FIU Wolfe University Center, Biscayne Bay Campus
For more information or to make special arrangements,contact Biscayne Institutes of Health and Living, Inc. at (305) 932-8994
Dialogue on Health Across Cultures: A Workshop on Cultural Competency in Cancer Care for South Florida
Sept 20 Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale/Davie
The Southeast Florida Cancer Control Collaborative invites you to attend its cultural competency workshop. The program is designed for participants to: gain a better understanding of the diversity of cultural values, attitudes and beliefs that impact health behaviors and the use of health care services in South Florida; educate health care providers about the importance of a culturally sensitive environment, materials and resources; and increase awareness of race, ethnic and gender disparities, as well as language and cultural barriers in accessing cancer care. More info: MGonzalez16@med.miami.edu or 305-243-4821 .
Notices
New coordinator of the Worksite Wellness Forum
A new coordinator of the Worksite Wellness Forum, and co-chair of the Worksite
Wellness Committee of the Consortium for a Healthier Miami-Dade, has been elected.
She is Gabrielle Solomon, MPH. Gabrielle recently joined the Health Foundation of South Florida. To let her know what programs you would like to see presented in the future, you can contact her by phone at 786-888-5513 or by email at gsolomon@hfsf.org
Women Beyond Cancer is a national non-profit organization that provides free retreats for women dealing with cancer. Its Chairwoman lives in Miami Beach and is interested in letting others know about their services, and in being part of the Collaborative. Contact murfeebrwn@aol.com
FLORIDA AUDIO CONFERENCES AND WEBCAST
STATEWIDE NOTICES
New Florida Cancer Drug Donation Program
This program was created during the 2006 Legislative Session, to provide access to the drugs and supplies used to treat cancer to patients who are uninsured and do not qualify for Medicare, third-party insurance or any other state or federal programs. Section 499.029, Florida Statutes, authorizes the donation of cancer drugs and supplies by any person or entity to a participant facility for re-dispensing to an eligible recipient. Facilities holding an Institutional Class II Hospital permit in Florida may elect to participate in the CDDP by submitting a notice of participation to DOH. As a participant facility, the hospital pharmacy would accept donated cancer drugs and supplies from eligible donors, inspect the donated cancer drugs and supplies for authenticity, and dispense the drugs and supplies to eligible patients. Who are uninsured and are not eligible for third-party insurance coverage, Medicaid, or any other state or federal assistance. For more information about the Cancer Drug Donation Program, please visit the program website at www.doh.state.fl.us/mqa/ddc/cancer or E-mail: cddp_mqa@doh.state.fl.us
NATIONAL EVENTS & NOTICES
CONFERENCES AND EVENTS
Becoming the Healthiest Nation in a Healthier World
Conference: Sept 9-12 Sacramento
This annual National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) conference will be the year's largest gathering of state and local public health officials in the United States, jointly sponsored with Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO).
Sixth National Conference on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations
Sept 21-24 Minneapolis
Held biennially since 1998, this is one of the most respected and well supported events on cultural competence and health disparities reduction in the United States. It is co-produced by Drexel University School of Public Health's Center for Health Equality, Resources for Cross Cultural Health Care, and the USDHHS Office of Minority Health Care. This year's theme is "Partnerships for the Future: Supporting Practitioners and Advancing the Field through Innovation, Policy and Research."
Second National Congress on the Un and Under Insured and the Congress on Health Reform
Sept 22-24 Washington, D.C.
Sponsored by California HealthCare Foundation, Century Foundation, Harvard Health Policy Review and Health Affairs. For more info/registration: contact 775-537-2311 or registration@hcconferences.com
Climb to New Heights-Metrics for Community Health Solutions
Oct 22-24 Seattle
The annual conference of Communities Joined In Action invites you to increase the skills of community health leaders to create integrated systems of care; learn to quantify and use powerful metrics to demonstrate improved health status and convert these measures into community supported plans to sustain positive health outcomes.
The Association for Community Health Improvement National Conference
March 11-13 Los Angeles
This annual conference hosts more than 450 professionals from hospitals, health systems, foundations, public health, and community health organizations for a gathering that stimulates real change and improvement in how community health programs are planned, run, and evaluated. There will be four tracks: Leading Community Health Assessments to Set Priorities, Programs, and Policie; Achieving Community Benefit Excellence; Improving Health by Addressing Our Social and Built Environments; Building the Skills of Community Health Leaders (for Today and the Future)
AUDIO AND WEB EVENTS
ACHI audio conference:
NOTICES
Medicare Rights Center Seeks Members for Consumer Action Board
The Medicare Rights Center is looking for people with Medicare to build state level coalitions, talk to legislators and work to extend the MRC’s mission, by joining MRC’s Consumer Action Board. The CAB is composed of community leaders throughout the U.S., who are committed to the principle that all Americans should have access to affordable, high quality health care. In addition to the Medicare drug benefit reform campaign, the CAB is focusing its efforts on the elimination of the two-year waiting period for individuals who are receiving Medicare because of a disability. The CAB serves as a national voice for people with Medicare, communicating practical policy positions to local communities, the media, policymakers and elected officials. E-mail or call 202-544-5591
Get Help With Back to School Medicaid & SCHIP Events
Register Your Event and Receive 50 Free School Supply Kits!
Cover the Uninsured and CKF offer fifty FREE Back-to-School supply kits will be available to the first 250 event planners who register their enrollment events. Each school supply kit is designed to fit into a student's three-ring binder and includes two pencils, an eraser and a plastic ruler. Visit the Event Planning Center to sign up and qualify. Get new ideas for events. Order free back to school materials. Get help from the with News Conferences . And more.
Social Determinants of Health: A Call For Papers
On Nov 8, 2008, The Lancet will publish a theme issue devoted to the social determinants of health. We invite submission of research papers, reviews, viewpoints, and comments with an emphasis on action-what the doctor, public-health worker, policy maker, and politician can do to reduce inequalities and tackle the broad interplay of economic and social forces affecting health.
CAMPAIGNS & INITIATIVES
2008
September
Healthy Aging® Month
Educational Television Network, Inc.
info@healthyaging.net
www.healthyaging.net/agingevents.htm
National Cholesterol Education Month
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Health Information Center
nhlbiinfo@nhlbi.nih.gov
hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/cholmonth
National Pediculosis Prevention Month/ Head Lice Prevention Month
National Pediculosis Association, Inc.
npa@headlice.org
www.headlice.org
Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
National Ovarian Cancer Coalition
nocc@ovarian.org
www.ovarian.org
Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
National Prostate Cancer Coalition
info@fightprostatecancer.org
www.fightprostatecancer.org
National Suicide Prevention Week – September 7-13
American Association of Suicidology
info@suicidology.org
www.suicidology.org
October
"Talk About Prescriptions" Month
National Council on Patient Information and Education
4915 Saint Elmo Avenue, Suite 505
Bethesda, MD 20814-6082
(301) 656-8565
(301) 656-4464 Fax
ncpie@ncpie.info
www.talkaboutrx.org
Healthy Lung Month
American Lung Association
info@lungusa.org
www.lungusa.org
Let's Talk Month
Advocates for Youth
tom@advocatesforyouth.org
www.advocatesforyouth.org
National Dental Hygiene Month
American Dental Hygienists' Association
media@adha.net
www.adha.org
National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Domestic Violence Awareness Project
National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
ck@pcadv.org
dvam.vawnet.org
National Mammography Day – October 17
American Cancer Society
www.cancer.org
National Health Education Week – October 20 - 24
National Center for Health Education
ray@nche.org
www.nche.org
November
American Diabetes Month
American Diabetes Association
askada@diabetes.org
www.diabetes.org
Lung Cancer Awareness Month
Lung Cancer Alliance
info@lungcanceralliance.org
www.lungcanceralliance.org
National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month
Alzheimer's Association
info@alz.org
www.alz.org
National Hospice Palliative Care Month
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
jradulovic@nhpco.org
www.nhpco.org
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
information@pancan.org
www.pancan.org
Great American Smokeout – November 20
American Cancer Society
www.cancer.org
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Awareness Week – Nov 25-Dec 1
International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders
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
Wal-Mart Foundation State Giving Program
Deadlines: Sept 25 and Dec 19
The Wal-Mart Foundation's State Giving Program awards grants at the state and regional level to programs that have a strong impact within the communities the company serves. Advisory Councils in all 50 states and the District of Columbia will determine how best to distribute State Giving Program funds. The program's priority funding categories include Health, with a focus on access to healthcare and the promotion of healthy lifestyles. Mminimum grant $5,000.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Partners Investing in Nursing's Future
Brief proposal deadline: Oct 2
Partners Investing in Nursing's Future (PIN) will address nursing issues at the local level through funding partnerships with community and regional foundations. The goal is to enable selected foundations to act as catalysts in developing the comprehensive strategies that are vital to establishing a stable, adequate nursing and nurse faculty workforce. Up to ten awards of up to $250,000 each will be made for projects lasting up to 24 months. Proposals for planning grants as well as implementation projects will be considered. Awards must be matched by at least $1 for every $1 provided by the PIN program.
Build-A-Bear Workshop Foundation Community Improvement Programs
Applications accepted throughout the year.
Provides support to nonprofit organizations that improve communities and positively impact lives. The grantmaking emphasis is on programs that help children and families, animals, or the environment. Average grant $2,500.
Continuing listings, in order of submission deadlines
Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida Announces Deadlines for 2008
Sept 12 (Winter Cycle)
The Blue Foundation board of directors has identified community-based health clinics and outreach services as a priority focus for the foundation's grantmaking. The greatest percentage of the Blue Foundation funding will be to identify, nurture, and sustain such activities to benefit uninsured and underserved population.
Unitarian Universalist Association: Fund for a Just Society
Deadline: Sept 15
The Fund for a Just Society, a program of the Unitarian Universalist Association, provides grants to nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and Canada that address issues of social and economic justice. The Fund supports organizations that use community organizing to bring about systemic change leading to a more just society and mobilize with those who have been disenfranchised and excluded from resources, power, and the right to self-determination. Consideration is given to projects that are less likely to receive conventional funding because of the innovative or challenging nature of the work or the economic and social status of the constituency. The maximum grant amount is $15,000; however, most grants range between $6,000 and $8,000.
Finding Answers: Disparities Research for Change
Brief proposals deadline: Sept 18
Submissions are for projects to evaluate interventions with the potential to reduce racial and ethnic health care disparities in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, depression and diabetes.
Department of Health and Human Services Understanding and Promoting Health Literacy (R21)
Letters of Intent Receipt Date(s): April 24, 2009; December 24, 2009
Application Submission/Receipt Date(s): Sept 24, 2008; May 25, 2009; Jan 25, 2010
2008-2009 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars
Deadline: Oct 3
This program is designed to build the nation’s capacity for research, leadership and policy change to address the multiple determinants of population health. The program is based on the principle that progress in the field of population health depends upon multidisciplinary collaboration and exchange. Its goal is to improve health by training scholars who have completed doctoral studies by Sept 2009 and have significant research experience. Up to 18 2-year stipends will be awarded.
GE Healthcare Charitable Giving Program
Deadline: Nov 1
The GE Healthcare Charitable Giving Program provides support to nonprofit organizations in the United States that focus on youth education and/or promote healthy lives. For the Youth Education grant category, the focus is on underserved communities with low graduation rates; core competencies (math, science, reading, writing); arts in education; and early childhood development programs. For the Healthy Lives grant category, the focus is on childhood obesity; women’s healthcare; and cancer, heart disease, and diabetes prevention and education programs. An application eligibility quiz is available on the website listed above.
Innovating Worthy Projects Foundation
Requests are accepted from Jan 1 through Aug 31
The Innovating Worthy Projects Foundation provides support to nonprofit organizations throughout the United States that are dedicated to providing direct care or services for children with special needs, acute illnesses, or chronic disabilities. Preference is given to small organizations that might not otherwise be helped. Grants support new ideas and approaches to providing services as well as equipment purchases.
Advancing technology to improve healthcare sevices: Verizon Foundation
Applications accepted: Jan 1 through Nov 30
The mission of the Verizon Foundation is to improve education, literacy, family safety, and healthcare by addressing Verizon's commitment to deliver technology that touches life. The Foundation supports nonprofit organizations that benefit communities in the locations the company serves within the United States. One of the Foundation’s priority categories is Education and Literacy, with emphasis on innovative, technology-based approaches to literacy and K-12 education. In addition, through the Safety and Health category, the Foundation supports initiatives that contribute to the safety and well-being of families, with emphasis on domestic violence prevention and technology for healthcare and healthcare accessibility.
The Humana Foundation
Proposals accepted: Nov 1-June 15
The Humana Foundation supports nonprofit organizations in communities where the company has facilities in states including Florida. The Foundation is committed to serving the needs of children, families, and seniors in their quest to build healthier lives and communities. Special consideration is given to proposals that focus on the following areas: health and fitness efforts that lead to better lifestyles; literacy activities that lead to improved health experiences; and the development of technology, tools, and resources that lead to healthy communities.
Research on Social Work Practice and Concepts in Health (R03)
Closing date for applications: May 7, 2009, Multiple deadlines
This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) issued by the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research solicits Small Research Grant (R03) applications from organizations/institutions that propose to develop empirical research on social work practice, concepts, and theory as these relate to the NIH public health goal of improving health outcomes for persons with medical and behavioral disorders and conditions.
Planning Grant for Oral Health Promotion across the Life Span (R21)
Closing date for applications: May 7, 2010, Multiple deadlines
This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) is intended to encourage and support meritorious oral health promotion research directed at improving oral health and preventing diseases and/or their sequelae across the lifespan.
Community Participation Research Targeting the Medically Underserved (R01)
Expiration Date: May 15, 2010
The ultimate goal of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) with a special review issued by the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), National Institutes of Health (NIH) is to solicit Research Project Grant (R01) applications that propose research on health promotion, disease prevention, and health disparities that is jointly conducted by communities and researchers and targets medically underserved areas (MUAs) and medically underserved populations (MUPs) as defined by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
Community Participation Research Targeting the Medically Underserved (R21)
Expiration Date: May 15, 2010
The ultimate goal of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), National Institutes of Health (NIH) is to solicit Exploratory/Developmental (R21) grant applications that propose research on health promotion, disease prevention, and health disparities that is jointly conducted by communities and researchers and targets medically underserved areas (MUAs) and medically underserved populations (MUPs) as defined by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
Community Participation in Research (R01)
Expiration Date: May 8, 2011
This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), National Institutes of Health (NIH) solicits R01 grant applications that propose intervention research on health promotion, disease prevention, and health disparities that communities and researchers jointly conduct.
The Effect of Racial and Ethnic Discrimination/Bias on Health Care Delivery (R01)
The Effect of Racial and Ethnic Discrimination/Bias on Health Care Delivery (R21)
The Effect of Racial and Ethnic Discrimination/Bias on Health Care Delivery (R03)
Expiration Date: May 8, 2011
Grant applications are encouraged from institutions/ organizations that propose to: (1) improve the measurement of racial /ethnic discrimination in health care delivery systems through improved instrumentation, data collection, and statistical/analytical techniques; (2) to enhance understanding of the influence of racial/ethnic discrimination in health care delivery and its association with disparities in disease incidence, treatment, and outcomes among disadvantaged racial/ethnic minority groups; and (3) to reduce the prevalence of racial/ethnic health disparities through the development of interventions to reduce the influence of racial/ethnic discrimination on health care delivery systems in the United States.
Kresge Foundation Grantmaking Programs in Health and Environment
Deadline: Open
Both the Health and Environment Programs address health and environment-related social issues, particularly those affecting minority, low-income, and other underserved communities.
United Health Foundation - Health Services Programs Supported Nationwide
Deadline: Open
United Health Foundation works to improve health outcomes for all Americans. Support is provided to nonprofit organizations that serve the health needs of people and communities throughout the US. The Foundation's priorities are: to enhance the quality of health and medical care services by providing reliable, scientifically-based information to support decisions made by health professionals, communities, and individuals; and to expand access to medical care and health-related services for individuals and families who live in challenging circumstances. Grants generally range from $1,000 to $50,000.
Educational Foundation of America
Rolling Acceptance
The mission of the Educational Foundation of America is to improve individual lives and surroundings through education and awareness, in hopes of bettering humanity and the world we inhabit. The Foundation provides grants to progressive nonprofit organizations throughout the United States that offer specific programs with broad impact. The Foundation’s areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the environment, reproductive freedom, theatre, education, medicine, drug policy reform, democracy, peace and national security issues, and human services. Online letters of inquiry are accepted at any time through the website listed above.
Johnson Foundation: Wingspread Conferences
Letters of inquiry accepted at any time.
The mission of the Johnson Foundation is to cultivate ideas that sustain community – people living in harmony with one another and their environment. The Foundation pursues this mission through Wingspread Conferences, small meetings of thoughtful inquiry convened in an atmosphere of candor and purpose. The Foundation co-sponsors conferences with nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, or government agencies that work in the following areas: education, media, family, democracy and community, and sustainable development and the environment. The conferences are held at Wingspread, the Foundation's headquarters and educational conference center located near Racine, WI.
Fulbright Scholar Award
Multiple deadlines
Applications continue to be accepted for some Fulbright Scholar awards for lecturing, research or combined lecturing/research awards in public health during the 2008-2009 academic year. Faculty and professionals in public health may apply for awards specifically in their field, as well as one of the many "All Discipline" awards open to any field.
Ladder to Leadership: Developing the Next Generation of Community Health Leaders
Application deadline: Varies
Ladder to Leadership: Developing the Next Generation of Community Health Leaders is a collaborative initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Center for Creative Leadership. The initiative aims to enhance the leadership capacity of community-based nonprofit health organizations serving vulnerable populations. It will develop critical leadership competencies for 270 early- to mid-career professionals through an innovative, sixteen-month leadership development curriculum
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
Florida
Children's Health Care
Medicare
Prescription Medications
Health Disparities
Other
Manuals, Guides and Toolkits
Children's Health Care
Medicaid
Medicare
Uninsured
Health Disparities
Other
Technology and Audio Visual Materials
Media Programming
Web Sites, Web Features
Florida
Children's Health
Medicaid
Medicare
Health Disparities
Other
Audio, Videos and Films: Web, Rent/Purchase. Theater
Periodicals and Books
Reports and Studies
New Listings
New Listings: Medicaid
New Listings: Children's Health Care
New Listings: Medicare
New Listings: Federal/State Budget
New: Health Insurance, Health Care Costs
New: Health Disparities
New: Other Health Issues
Florida Reports
Children's Health Care
Medicaid
Medicare
Federal/State Budgets
Health Insurance, Health Care Costs
Health Disparities
Other Health Issues
FLORIDA CHAIN WEBSITE RESOURCE UPDATE
Florida CHAIN Website Updated
www.floridachain.org was updated in August 2008. Find comprehensive information about Medicaid Reform including background information, evaluations, media coverage, consumer experiences, correspondence with AHCA, and more. Apply for Florida KidCare, access the KidCare renewal flyer, or view the KidCare Coordinating Council’s annual report. Discover resources for people who are uninsured. Find the contact information of Florida’s health committee members. Use our town hall meeting template to create your own town hall. Access health care resources in Spanish. Learn more about Florida CHAIN’s activities, board of directors, and partners. View Florida CHAIN’s publications. Just visit www.floridachain.org and mark it as one of your favorites. For feedback or suggestions, contact Lisa Margulis at lisam@floridachain.org or 954-986-6535 .
ORGANIZATIONS AND SERVICES
Newly posted resources are at the top of each Topics List.
Florida
(Florida) Hispanic Health Initiatives
In Florida, almost half of the 3 million uninsured adults are Hispanic. Central Florida has continued to see the rates of the uninsured increase and the availability of culturally competent services decrease. One agency, Hispanic Health Initiatives, Inc (HHI), is the only health services facility in Central Florida created to specifically address the needs of the Hispanic community. Since its inception in June of 2000, this volunteer-driven, community-based organization has worked to connect medically underserved families with free or low-cost health care services. Read more.
The Florida Discount Drug Card
is designed to lower the cost of prescriptions for Florida residents who are 60 and older and without prescription drug coverage or who fall into the Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage gap; OR under age 60, without prescription drug coverage, and with an annual family income of less than 300% of the Federal Poverty Level. Qualifying incomes include those below: $30,636 (individual); $41,076 (family of two); $61,956 (family of four). It can give eligible participants a discount on virtually all drugs and be used at all participating pharmacies.
Florida Relay Service 711
The Florida Relay Service is the communications link for people who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Deaf/Blind, or Speech Impaired. Through the Florida Relay Service, people who use specialized telephone equipment can communicate with people who use standard telephone equipment. To call Florida Relay, dial 7-1-1, or use the appropriate toll free numbers: 800-955-8771 (TTY); 800-955-8770 (Voice); 800-955-1339 (ASCII); 877-955-8260 (VCO-Direct); 877-955-5334 (STS); 877-955-8773 (Spanish); 877-955-8707 (French Creole) In emergencies, Relay users should call 9-1-1 directly or the emergency services center in their community. Note: 711 can't be accessed from many buildings with a switchboard system because the PBX system won't recognize it, and consumers need to dial 1-800-955-8771 from them. Florida Relay customer service is available 24 hours a day 365 days a year: 1-800-676-3777 (English); 1-800-676-4290 (Spanish)
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.
Children's Health
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.
Medicare
AARP's Public Policy Institute
This website offers an array of publications addressing health care issues that are now available online, including such titles as Quick Health Facts 2008: A Compilation of Selected State Data and Doors To Extra Help: Boosting Enrollment In The Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy.
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.
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
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.
Prescription Medications
The AZ&Me? Prescription Savings
This new AstraZeneca program provides medicines free of charge to community free clinics, community health centers and hospitals that serve the uninsured. AstraZeneca plans to provide medicines to hundreds of thousands of patients at approximately 150 facilities by the end of 2008. The new program builds on current AstraZeneca patient assistance programs by extending prescription drug assistance directly to the sites where uninsured patients interact with healthcare providers, supporting patients at one central place where they can get the medicine and care they need. In light of the updates to their patient assistance programs in the last year, AstraZeneca has decided to no longer participate in the Together Rx Access program after January 31, 2008. They offer AstraZeneca programs that provide medicines free of charge to those making up to $30,000 for an individual, or $60,000 for a family of four. More info: 1-866-325-8198
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.
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.
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
Health Disparities
Health Resources in Haitian Creole
Provided by Florida Association of Community Health Centers, Inc.
The National Resource Center on Public Health Preparedness Needs of Culturally Diverse Communities is a new online central clearinghouse of resources and an exchange site to facilitate communication, collaboration, and networking among key players working to empower and eliminate disparities for culturally diverse communities in emergencies.
African American Health Coalition (AfAHC)
During a time when our country faces tough economic decisions, many programs are being cut that provide information and health services to diverse communities. One such program, the African American Health Coalition (AfAHC), remains committed to providing services to the African and Hispanic-American population in Houston, Texas. Read more
National Resource Center on Advancing Emergency Preparedness for Culturally Diverse Communities
A joint initiative of the Drexel University School of Public Health's Center for Health Equality and the United States Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health, the site features hundreds of cross-referenced annotated resources in over 40 languages highlighting research, training and education opportunities, measurement and evaluation tools, effective risk communication strategies, and other successful programs and projects.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Other
Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease Promising Practices
The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, a diverse, national coalition of more than 100 partner organizations, is committed to raising awareness of policies and practices that save lives and reduce health costs through more effective prevention and management of chronic disease.
Community Clinical Oncology Program
State-of-the-art clinical trials in your community medical practice
CCOP is a network for conducting cancer prevention and treatment clinical trials by community medical practitioners. This network connects academic centers (Research Bases who design and conduct the trials) with community physicians (CCOP, MB-CCOP) who accrue patients to those trials.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
has released a new brochure, Women and Depression, about the many dimensions of major depression in women. It can be downloaded. The 13-page brochure highlights symptoms, causes, women of color, life stages, and treatment, with additional sections on seeking professional help, self-help, preventing recurrent depression, and helping other women. Bulk copies for community education can be purchased on-line.
MANUALS, GUIDES, TOOLKITS
Newly posted resources are at the top of each Topics List.
Children's Health
Monitoring and Assessing the Use of External Quality Review Organizations to Improve Services for Young Children: A Toolkit for State Medicaid Agencies
State Medicaid agencies typically contract with external quality review organizations (EQROs) to assess the quality of health services provided through Medicaid managed care plans. But only a handful of states are using these organizations to improve the quality of preventive and developmental services for young children. This toolkit shows state Medicaid officials how they can work with EQROs to evaluate and improve the quality of preventive and developmental services delivered to children enrolled in Medicaid managed care plans. (July 2008, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., and George Washington University)
First Focus Children's Budget 2008
This new publication informs readers of the sad state of funding for children's programs. Over the past five years, only one percent of every new, real non-defense dollar has been spent on children. The book provides an analysis of the over 180 federally funded programs that assist America's children. Downloadable book, fact sheet, powerpoint presentation. (2008, First Focus)
Alliance for Health Reform has developed an online toolkit on child health coverage. The toolkit provides links to resources that will improve the user’s understanding of how children get coverage in the U.S. and the importance of public programs and employer-sponsored health insurance to children.
Cover the Uninsured Storybook - The Success of SCHIP: How the State Children's Health Insurance Program Helps America's Working Families
This is a 15-page, downloadable booklet that shares the touching stories of 23 families that have benefited from coverage provided through SCHIP. Download it today to share with opinion leaders in your community. Order Free Materials: FREE English and Spanish promotional materials featuring the 1(877) KIDS-NOW hotline, which parents can call to find out if their uninsured kids are eligible for SCHIP or Medicaid, are available to augment your outreach efforts. Order fans, bookmarks, posters and more to distribute in your community while supplies last.
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.
Medicaid
Return on Investment Calculator for Medicaid Quality Initiatives
The Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) has launched the Return on Investment Forecasting Calculator for Quality Initiatives, a Web-based tool designed to help Medicaid stakeholders identify programs with the potential to both improve health care quality and control costs. It can generate realistic return on investment (ROI) estimates for quality improvement initiatives.
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)
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.
Medicare
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)
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
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.
Uninsured
The Opportunity for National Health Reform in 2009 is a PowerPoint presentation from Community Catalyst that provides a broad overview of the current health care environment, a history of prior reform efforts, and possible scenarios for the future. The presentation focuses on building the capacity of state consumer advocates to influence the national effort, facilitating state advocacy group participation in policy and design and implementation, promoting federal policy that supports state programs, and working to protect vulnerable populations. Click on the orange box labeled “The Opportunity for National Health Reform in 2009”
Community Benefit & Charity Care: State-by-State Maps
ACHI has updated national, state-by-state maps of hospital association and government Web sites and documents on community benefit and charity care. States are linked to either recent statewide reports on community benefit or charity care, or to state reporting requirements or guidelines. View the two maps here. Write to communityhlth@aha.org with suggested updates or additions.
Community Benefit Bibliography Updated
ACHI has updated its annotated bibliography of published community benefit articles. Among the additions are several new pieces written since mid-2007, some reflecting on upcoming changes in IRS reporting. Download the bibliography here
The Consumer Guide to State Health Reform
Community Catalyst and Families USA new Web-Based Guide to State Health Reform for Advocates. More and more states are prioritizing health care reform to address the coverage gaps that exist, the affordability crisis that continues to worsen, and the increasing costs of health care. Community Catalyst and Families USA are pleased to announce the release of a unique web-based guide to state health reform for consumer advocates working to strengthen and expand health care coverage in their states. A Consumer Guide to State Health Reform provides a detailed look at the building blocks of comprehensive health care coverage.
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
Health Disparities
Fact Sheet: HIV/AIDS among African Americans, contains the latest statistics on how HIV/AIDS has affected the African American community. (Updated August 2008, CDC)
Critical MASS Toolkit: Taking Community ACTION on Health Disparities
Designed to help communities and grassroots coalitions take charge in the fight against disparities, this toolkit was developed by Critical MASS to support individuals and communities like yours in efforts to: Understand the different causes and impacts of disparities in health; Learn where and how to look for data and patterns regarding health; Use group action as a strategy to address health disparities and related issues in communities
Medicaid and SCHIP: Critical for Latino Families Facing Financial Hardship is a new fact sheet that discusses how Medicaid is important to low-income Latino families, especially during economic hard times. The fact sheet argues that having access to Medicaid benefits prevents Latino families from having to compromise their health care or finances. (4/10/08, national Council of La Raza)
Disparities Toolkit for Collecting Patient Race, Ethnicity, and Primary Language Data
The updated version of this web-based toolkit is now available free of charge on the HRET Web site, thanks to HRET and AHA support. The new edition, which can be viewed online and downloaded as a PDF, is easy to navigate and offers important new material.
Women's Health Policy: Coverage and Access to Care Tutorial
The tutorial provides an overview of women's health care needs and concerns, and discusses important issues stemming from women's health coverage and access to care and reviews central policy challenges in improving women's access to care (Feb 2008, 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)
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)
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.
Other
The Community Health Promotion Handbook: Action Guides to Improve Community Health
Partnership for Prevention and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have worked together to bridge the gap between research and practice by developing these Action Guides.
Updated! State-by-State Community Benefit Requirements and Reports
ACHI has updated its interactive maps with state-by-state requirements and voluntary reports on hospital community benefit. Located on the Community Benefit Resources page, these maps are based on research by ACHI and by the Catholic Health Association. Visit the interactive maps to learn how each state is working to tell its community benefit story.
2008 Federal Poverty Guidelines
HHS has released its updated guidelines. (1/23/08, Federal Register)
Environmental Health Disparities Fact Sheets
These US EPA fact sheets address disparities in secondhand smoke exposure and asthma among African American and Hispanic American children. The intended audiences are parents and community-based organizations working on environmental health issues of specific minority populations.
GoingSmokeFree.org: A Toolkit for Implementing Smoke-Free Laws
The site is a clearinghouse for activities, events, and tools states and communities need to plan, implement and support new or expanded smoke-free laws. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in partnership with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, has created this free online resource to help states and communities implement smoke-free laws.
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.
Slides, Resource Links Added to Community Health Assessment Toolkit
ACHI has added a downloadable slide set illustrating the Community Health Assessment Toolkit's six steps, checklists, and other features. Use it as a quick orientation for yourself or share it to build understanding among your community partners. The slides are accessible without logging in. We've also updated and expanded the resource links in each step.
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 sites
TECHNOLOGY AND AUDIO/VIDEO RESOURCES
Media Programming
Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?
This seven-part series for PBS broadcast and DVD release will, for the first time on television, sound the alarm about our glaring socio-economic and racial disparities in health--and seek out root causes. While we pour more and more money into drugs, dietary supplements and new medical technologies, it turns out there is much more to our health than bad habits, health care or unlucky genes. The social conditions in which we are born, live and work profoundly affect our well-being and longevity. The series is part of an ambitious Public Impact Campaign conducted in partnership with leading public health, policy, and community-based organizations, pointing out that investing in our schools, improving housing, integrating neighborhoods, better jobs and wages, and giving people more control over their work, are as much health strategies as smoking diet and exercise.
Web Sites, Web Features & Databases
Newly posted resources are at the top of each Topics List.
Florida
Florida Medicaid Reform Evaluation Project
The website provides information on the evaluation and access to key publications, talks, and presentations produced by the MRE team. The University of Florida (is conducting a five-year evaluation of the state’s Medicaid Reform Demonstration Project under a contract with AHCA, Florida’s state agency for health policy and planning. The evaluation will be conducted over the period of Florida’s Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration waiver (July 1, 2006 – June 30, 2010), as approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by the Department of Health Services Research, Management and Policy at UF. The overall objective is to assess whether Florida's Medicaid Reform accomplishes its stated objectives of delivering quality healthcare services while achieving better health outcomes and enrollee satisfaction at a more predictable lower cost. For further information, contact (352) 273-6073 or mre@phhp.ufl.edu
Florida's Community and Migrant Health Centers Brochure UPDATED 9/07
A low literacy brochure describing services offered at Florida's CHCs with a map of all CHC locations and phone numbers. English Brochure Spanish Brochure Haitian Creole Brochure
Annie E. Casey Foundation: 18th KIDS COUNT Data Book
This is the recently released new edition of this national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the United States. By providing policymakers and citizens with benchmarks of child well-being, the Foundation seeks to enrich local, state, and national discussions concerning ways to secure better futures for all children. Information is also available in an online database that enables users to generate custom graphs, maps, ranked lists, and state-by-state profiles. Both the book and the online database can be accessed on the website listed above.
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.
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.
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
Children's Health
Healthy Counties Database on Youth Obesity
A new resource containing more than 100 profiles of model policies, programs and initiatives that counties nationwide enacted to prevent childhood obesity. (June 2008, National Association of Counties)
Children’s Health Coverage Conversation Guide
Children’s Defense Fund offers help with opportunities to talk about important issues with your friends and family, such as children's health coverage. Health coverage is going to be discussed on the campaign trail, on the nightly news and as a key reason why working Americans are having a difficult time paying their bills. Beware, there is a lot of misinformation out there! This guide provides helpful responses you can use to explain why health coverage for all children is a step forward for children that will improve the lives of all of us.
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.
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.
Medicaid
Medicaid Calculator
You can show your state officials that cutting Medicaid is a big mistake with this revised and updated Medicaid Calculator from Families USA. Simply click on your state and use the worksheet to find out how much your state stands to lose in jobs, wages, and business activity.
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)
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.
Medicare
Understanding Advance Beneficiary Notices
Usually, health suppliers and providers have an idea of whether or not Original Medicare will pay for your health services. However, there are some services that are only covered in specific circumstances and a supplier or provider might not know if Medicare will cover it for you. An Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN) is a notice that suppliers and other medical providers are required to give you when they offer you services or items that they know or have reason to believe Medicare will not pay for in this individual case, even though Medicare may cover it at other times. Read the full article from Medicare Rights.
Finding out What Has Been Covered: Understanding Medicare Summary Notices (MSNs) and Explanations of Benefits (EOBs)
The MSN is a summary of all claims Medicare has processed for you during the previous three months. The MSN is not a bill. It will contain information about submitted charges, the amount that Medicare paid, and the amount you may be responsible for. If you have a Medicare private health plan, your plan may also send you this information in an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) notice. The EOB will contain similar information fields to the MSN but these fields’ titles may vary among plans. Read the full article from Medicare Rights.
Know What You Should Pay for Outpatient Services with Original Medicare
Much of the time, payment for Original Medicare-covered services is a smooth and easy process. If you have Original Medicare and you see a provider who agrees to accept the Medicare-approved cost of services, you simply pay the provider a coinsurance. However, there are several factors that can complicate the situation. Avoid problems by knowing when you can be asked to pay for Medicare-covered services, how much you should be charged, and what your providers’ responsibilities are to submit claims to Medicare. Read the full article from Medicare Rights.
CMS Updates Web Site to Help Medicare Beneficiaries Better Compare Drug Plans Price, Coverage, Quality
CMS has launched a revised version of the Medicare Drug Plan Finder Web site that allows beneficiaries to sort plans offered in their communities by annual costs based on prescriptions, monthly premiums, coverage levels in the so-called "doughnut hole" and other factors and view the information in one chart. (October 2007, CMS)
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.
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)
Uninsured
Ask the Experts: High-Risk Pools
In this webcast, panelists discuss how high-risk pools work, including their funding, the benefits they provide, and the premiums that are charged to enrollees. Panelists also discussed how high-risk pools are a factor in helping stabilize the individual insurance market, as well as what role they might play in a reformed health care system. (7/15/08, KFF)
Election Year Health Reform Messaging (ppt presentation)
This election season we are working hard to promote comprehensive health care reform. But how do we talk about health care in a way that resonates with voters? Drew Westen, psychologist and author of “The Political Brain”, and Celinda Lake, political strategist and President of Lake Research Partners, recently completed cutting-edge research that identifies persuasive narratives, messages, and counter-responses to support health care reform. This project, funded jointly by Families USA, Herndon Alliance, and AARP, developed and rigorously tested a set of principled stands on health care reform. Rather than just produce a set of key words or phrases, the project developed a menu of narratives and the counter-responses to predictable attacks on the narratives.
Interactive Online Side-by-Side Comparisons of Presidential Candidate Health Care Proposals
The online tool allows users to customize side-by-side comparisons by selecting as many as four candidates for comparison that can then be formatted into a printer-friendly format. [Kaiser Family Foundation]
Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured Updates Medicaid Benefits: Online Database with 2006 Data
Using this tool, Medicaid benefits can be compared across the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the US Territories or by specific service. The online tool contains Medicaid benefits survey data from 2003, 2004 and 2006 with information about benefits covered, limits, co-payments and reimbursement. It includes an interactive map, an expandable list of benefits, and the ability to compare data across the three survey periods.
Families USA’s State Coverage Expansions Resource Center
Many states are taking steps — expanding public programs, launching new state programs, and reforming private insurance — to make it possible for more people to get coverage. This new Resource Center will help you find out what the states are doing. Click here. The State Coverage Expansions map guides you to information on key state expansions, with fact sheets, links to legislation, and links to state advocacy groups. Comparing State Expansions is a series of tables that show you the key elements of these new proposals/laws state-by-state. How are states financing their expansions? Who is covered? What benefits do they get? Will small businesses be helped? All this and more is covered in the tables. If your state is doing similar efforts that are not yet on our map, click here to call or send Families USA an e-mail.
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.
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)
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.
Health Disparities
Health Literacy Website
The average American adult reads at a middle school level; but, most medical information printed and spoken by doctors is at a college level or more. This disconnect can cause major problems. To combat this, the Jefferson County Health Department has begun to work toward improving health literacy. They have partnered with East Central Missouri Area Health Education Center (ECMO-AHEC) in creating a health literacy internship for a recent pre-med high school graduate. Through this internship, the Department has begun to change their written materials to a reading level all people can understand. Also, they have been working toward staff education so they can ensure that their patients understand the medical information told them. Finally, they have created a health literacy website. This website includes information for patients, providers, and public health professionals, as well as a page linking to even more health literacy resources.
State Expansion Resource Center from Minority Health Initiatives at Families USA features states that have expanded, or are working to expand coverage, on a more comprehensive scale. Here too you will find the most recent headlines.
Unified Health Communication 101: Addressing Health Literacy, Cultural Competency, and Limited English Proficiency
is a free online learning experience designed to help health professionals improve their patient-communication skills, increase their awareness and knowledge of factors that affect their communication with patients, and implement patient-centered communication practices. The course, developed by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), comprises five modules and is estimated to take a total of 5 hours to complete. The course may be completed at the user's own pace and may be taken for credit (CEU/CE, CHES, CME, and CNE) or not for credit.
Guide to Health Programs (Guia de Programas de Salud)
This easy-to-use bilingual guide in Spanish and English is available for free to anyone looking for basic information on health insurance, nutrition, and other public programs. (California HealthCare Foundation, October 2007)
“Race, Ethnicity and Health Care” tutorial
Online from Kaiser Family Foundation.
Systematic Review of Current Disparities Research Interventions Identifies Successful Strategies for Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care
Complete body of reviewed research available through new interactive tool. (10/11/07, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
The Context of Health: What Are We Really Doing To Change It?
Healthy People 2010 recognizes that communities, States, and national organizations will need to take a multidisciplinary approach to achieving health equity—an approach that involves improving health, education, housing, labor, justice, transportation, agriculture, and the environment. [95-slide ppt]
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
Other
CDC Launches CDC-TV On-Line Video Resource
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched CDC-TV, a new online video resource that will cover a variety of health, safety and preparedness topics. The premiere series on CDC-TV is "Health Matters."
Health, United States, 2007
is a compilation of more than 150 health tables. Nearly one in five U.S. adults - more than 40 million people - report they do not have adequate access to the health care they need, according to the annual report on the nation's health released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report also contains a special section focusing on access to care, which shows that nearly 20 percent of adults reported that they needed and did not receive one or more key services in the past year including medical care
America's Health Rankings: A Call to Action for People and Their Communities
This report ranked states' overall health based on 20 well-being factors, including poverty levels for children, violent crime, obesity, and racial and ethnic health disparities. The report indicated that health disparities remain between minorities and whites. In addition, the report shows that Hispanics have the lowest percentage of access to routine dental care and colon cancer screenings. (November, 2007, United Health Fdn., American Public Health Assn., Partnership for Prevention)
Latest Health Policy Facts and Data
The Kaiser Family Foundation has launched Kaiser Fast Facts, featuring QuickTakes and Kaiser Slides - two sources of facts, data and slides about the nation's health care system and programs.
Tracking the Presidential Candidates on Health Care
The Kaiser Family Foundation's health08.org website offers resources for following health care developments during campaign season. The website serves as a hub of information about health and the election, including original content produced by Kaiser and easy access to health-related resources from the campaigns, other organizations and news outlets.
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.
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.
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.
Audio, Videos and Films: Web, Rent/Purchase, Theater
A new podcast from The Commonwealth Fund highlights the success of remote simultaneous medical interpreting (RSMI), a new translation method being used at New York City’s Bellevue Hospital. Like the translation service used at the United Nations, RSMI allows the doctor and patient to speak into enhanced telephones while an off-site interpreter translates.
The Deadliest Disease in America, is a documentary produced by URU The Right To Be, Inc, which chronicles the stories of four individuals who experienced racism while seeking medical care. The film serves as a vehicle to foster discussion about the U.S. health care system and what strides are being made to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities. For more information, to view the trailer, and to see a list of conference tour locations, click here.
Viewpoints: The Health Care Debate
This new series online from Kaiser Family Foundation Broadcast Studio features interviews with leaders of organizations representing health care providers, insurers, policymakers, employers, labor unions and consumers sharing their views on shortcomings in the nation's health care system and how it could be improved.
The Alliance for Health Reform recently hosted a briefing, Racial and Ethnic Disparities: States and Feds to the Rescue?, which examined what states and the federal government are doing to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities, and how they can continue narrowing the health gap. For more information and to view the webcast or listen to the podcast, click here.
The Kaiser Family Foundation hosted a webcast, State Initiatives to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, that examined current state efforts to improve access to care and health outcomes for minority populations in Massachusetts, Georgia, and Ohio. Panelists on the webcast also discussed how these initiatives fit into a state’s larger reform efforts and the role of the federal government. For more information and to view the webcast, click here.
The Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust and the National Minority Health Forum’s webcast of the recent two-day meeting, Health Equity and Justice Now!, includes the opening session and panel discussions covering a range of topics such as health care costs, health disparities, health quality, health equity, and social justice. To view the webcast, click here.
The Partnership for Quality Care hosted a summit, “Confronting the Chronic Care Challenge,” that focused on improving value in delivering care to patients with chronic conditions. In particular, the second panel of the summit focused on changing delivery systems to reduce inequities in health care. To view the entire summit or specific panels, click here.
Sick People or Sick Societies?
We are healthier than ever before, and we live longer, but improvements in health are not distributed evenly. The rich outlive the middle classes, who outlive the poor. Swedes and Japanese live longer than Canadians, and Canadians, longer than Americans. Freelance journalist Jill Eisen discovers that the reasons have little to do with our health care systems. FREE download available for limited period.
Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?
This seven-part series for PBS broadcast and DVD release will, for the first time on television, sound the alarm about our glaring socio-economic and racial disparities in health--and seek out root causes. While we pour more and more money into drugs, dietary supplements and new medical technologies, it turns out there is much more to our health than bad habits, health care or unlucky genes. The social conditions in which we are born, live and work profoundly affect our well-being and longevity. The series is part of an ambitious Public Impact Campaign conducted in partnership with leading public health, policy, and community-based organizations, pointing out that investing in our schools, improving housing, integrating neighborhoods, better jobs and wages, and giving people more control over their work, are as much health strategies as smoking diet and exercise.
Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?
Hosted by the Black Women’s Agenda, the workshop featured a panel discussion of this PBS documentary produced by California Newsreel. View the entire panel discussion online.
Partnerships to Achieve Health Equity
This Society for Public Health Education summit featured a series of plenary sessions dealing with the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities by focusing on health behavior dissemination, research, and implementation. Videos and transcripts available online.
Can Tax Credits Be a Linchpin for Health Reform? Lessons from the Factory Floor
In a policy field notoriously beset by ideological and partisan division, one of the few ideas enjoying support across the philosophical spectrum is the use of federal income tax credits to cover the uninsured. The only credit of this sort now available-the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC), serving workers displaced by international trade-aids no more than 15 percent of eligible households. (4/1/08, Urban Institute)
PERIODICALS AND BOOKS
Social Epidemiology: Strategies for Public Health Activism
By tracking the distribution of disease and pinpointing relevant risk factors, social epidemiology reveals how social problems are intrinsically linked to the health of populations. The practice also takes into account the psychosocial, biological, and medial determinants of disease and health.
Health Disparities in the United States: Social Class, Race, Ethnicity, and Health
"Clearly articulates the problem of health disparities and how socioeconomic status and race and ethnicity are interwoven. Barr has brought together a vast amount of material in a conceptually meaningful way that hopefully will be digested by those in training to be medical professionals."
The Public Health Observatory Handbook of Health Inequalities Measurement
This new South East Public Health Observatory handbook primarily focuses on the measurement and interpretation of health inequalities.
Ahora Hablo! Medical Edition,"Simple Steps to Communicate with Spanish-speaking Patients
Unlike other medical Spanish books on the market, this book is pocket-sized and includes vocabulary for dental and vision care as well as many specialized areas such as obstetrics and cardiology. It retails for $9.95. It is being picked up independent and college book stores as well as hospitals and clinics. For more information: m.h.graham@ahorahablo.com or call 414-331-7178
Florida Dept of Health Women’s Health Newsletter
The FL Dept of Health website has a Women’s Health page with a new quarterly Women’s Health Newsletter. The April-June 2008 will be online.
REPORTS AND STUDIES
New Listings
New Listings: Medicaid
Older Americans Have Limited Access to Home and Community-Based Services under Medicaid
Florida is doing a subpar job of using Medicaid long-term care funds to provide care to older and disabled adults in their homes and communities, where they prefer to get care, rather than nursing homes according to a new report by AARP's Public Policy Institute. Florida ranks 41st in the nation in achieving a good balance of care between community-based and nursing-home care, the report finds. (August 2008, AARP)
Study: Medicaid Beneficiaries Get Better Care at Community Health Centers
Community health centers provide significantly more preventive care to Medicaid beneficiaries and the uninsured than do other primary care facilities, which researchers said has saved the publicly funded health centers billions of dollars yearly, according to a new study. (August 2008, George Washington University Medical Centers)
New Listings: Children's Health Care
A Needed Lifeline: Chronically Ill Children and Public Health Insurance Coverage
This new report shows that having health insurance makes an enormous difference in whether kids receive the care they need, especially if they have chronic health conditions like asthma or diabetes. Read the press release, download and share this report, or view the interactive map with state-by-state data. (August 2008, RWJF)
Detour on the Road to Kids Coverage
A year ago, the Administration issued a new rule to drastically limit the number of children eligible for health care through the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), to take effect August 2008. However, the Administration just announced that it does not plan to enforce the rule at this time; instead, it will continue to negotiate with states on an individual basis to urge them to comply. This report explains how states have dealt with these new rules, as well as the lack of CHIP funding since full funding was blocked by President Bush and his allies in Congress last year. The good news: states remain committed to children's health coverage and some are finding ways to expand CHIP despite the Administration's harsh policies. The bad news: the Administration's policies are putting health coverage for children at risk, even though the economy is in shambles and we should be talking about strengthening the safety net, not making it weaker. (August 2008, Families USA)
New Listings: Medicare
The Medicare Part D Coverage Gap: Costs and Consequences in 2007
Ten percent of patients taking medication for diabetes stopped taking their medication when they reached the gap, and an additional 5 percent stopped taking one of multiple drugs they were taking in the class. Terminating use of drugs used to manage diabetes could pose serious and immediate health concerns. (August 2008, Kaiser Family Foundation)
How Medicare Prescription Drug 'Doughnut Hole' Affected Beneficiaries In 2007
In 2007, about 3.4 million Medicare beneficiaries reached the so-called "doughnut hole," or gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage, during which time they were responsible for their medication costs,(August 2008, KFF, Georgetown University, NORC/University of Chicago)
Many Older Adults Cannot Find Most Beneficial Prescription Drug Plan On Medicare Web Site, Study Finds
About three-fourths of older adults with basic computer skills could not find the most beneficial prescription drug plan on the Medicare Web site, and could not take the necessary steps to enroll to receive home health care services, according to a new study. (August 2008, JAMA)
CMS Releases National Hospital Quality Measures, Mortality Rates
CMS for the first time released mortality rates for Medicare beneficiaries at individual hospitals on its Hospital Compare Web site. CMS also added more than two dozen new measures of quality to the site. The data cover mortality rates for three conditions -- heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia -- which are "widely viewed as yardsticks of a hospital's overall performance." (August 2008, CMS)
Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Monthly Premiums To Increase By 12% To $28 In 2009
CMS has said that average Medicare prescription drug benefit premiums would be $28 per month in 2009, an increase of 12% over this year's monthly premium. (8/18/08, CQ HealthBeat)
New Listings: Federal/State Budgets
New Listings: Health Insurance, Health Care Costs
Public Views on U.S. Health Care System Organization: A Call for New Directions
The vast majority of survey respondents--nine of 10--feel it is important that the two leading presidential candidates propose reform plans that would improve health care quality, ensure that all Americans can afford health care and insurance, and decrease the number of uninsured. People are frustrated with the way they currently get health care: 47 percent of respondents said they experienced poorly coordinated medical care in the past two years, meaning that they were not informed about test results or had to call repeatedly to get them, important medical information wasn't shared between doctors and nurses, or communication between primary care doctors and specialists was poor. Visit ChartCart to download the survey charts. (8/7/08, Commonwealth Fund)
Organizing the U.S. Health Care Delivery System for High Performance
describes strategies that could create an organized, efficient health care system while simultaneously improving care and cutting costs. Specifically, it calls for: Payment reform to ensure that health care providers and hospitals are paid for delivering high-quality, patient-centered, coordinated care; Patient incentives that encourage people to go to the health care professionals and institutions that provide the most efficient, highest-quality care; Regulatory changes to remove barriers that prevent physicians from sharing information that is essential for well-coordinated care and safe transitions for patients; Accreditation of providers and health systems based on six attributes of an ideal health care system; Provider training on how to deliver team-based care; Government infrastructure support - for example, to aid the adoption of health information technology or performance improvement activities; Use of health information technology--providers should be required to implement and use electronic health records within five years. (8/7/08, Commonwealth Fund)
Graying of America Means More Doctor Visits
Government statistics on how Americans use health care services show that Americans averaged nearly four visits apiece in 2006 to doctors' offices, hospital outpatient departments, and hospital emergency departments. The number of those visits was 26 percent higher than in 1996, a rate of growth that far exceeded that of the U.S. population, which was 11 percent. "The rise in visits can be linked to both the aging of the population, as older persons have higher visit rates than younger persons in general, and an increase in utilization by older persons." (August 2008, CDC)
Individuals with Chronic Disease Often Go Without Treatment
Many Americans with chronic diseases are forgoing needed care because they lack health insurance coverage, according to a new report,which says it is the first in recent years to address the prevalence of chronic conditions among the uninsured. It estimates that of the country's 47 million uninsured, 11.4 million are working-age adults suffering from at least one chronic condition, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes or asthma. Controlling for sociodemographic conditions, the study found that chronically ill individuals without insurance were four to six times more likely to have problems accessing care than those covered by private plans or one of the government entitlement programs. (August 2008, Annals of Internal Medicine)
Survival Tactics by Safety Net Providers May Mean Less Free Care
The free clinics, hospitals, and community health centers that provide care to people without insurance or other financial means are having to respond to a tougher health care marketplace by adopting the strategies of their more well-heeled competitors, in some cases curtailing free care as a result, according to a new study. (August 2008, Center for Studying Health System Change)
Losing Ground: How the Loss of Adequate Health Insurance Is Burdening Working Families
The economic downturn is forcing working families across the United States to make tough financial choices, often involving sacrificing needed health care and health insurance. Using data from four years of the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey, this report examines the status of health insurance for U.S. adults under age 65 and the implications for family finances and access to health care. Insurance coverage deteriorated over the past six years, with declines in coverage most severe for moderate-income families. As result, more families are experiencing medical bill problems or cost-related delays in getting needed care. In 2007, nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults, or an estimated 116 million people, struggled to pay medical bills, went without needed care because of cost, were uninsured for a time, or were underinsured (i.e., were insured but not adequately protected from high medical expenses). (8/20/08, Commonwealth Fund)
Seeing Red: The Growing Burden of Medical Bills and Debt Faced by U.S. Families
Analysis of the 2007 Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey finds the proportion of working-age Americans who struggled to pay medical bills and accumulated medical debt climbed from 34 percent to 41 percent, or 72 million people, between 2005 and 2007. In addition, 7 million adults age 65 and older had these problems, bringing the total to 79 million adults with medical debt or bill problems. All income groups reported an increase. Families with low or moderate incomes were particularly hard hit, as were adults who had gaps in health coverage or those underinsured. Because of medical bills or accumulated medical debt, an estimated 28 million adults reported they used up all their savings, 21 million incurred large credit card debt, and another 21 million were unable to pay for basic necessities. Sixty-one percent of those with medical debt or bill problems were insured at the time care was provided. (8/20/08, Commonwealth Fund)
Examining New Census Data on Poverty, Income & Health Coverage
"This marks the first time on record that poverty and the incomes of typical working-age households have worsened despite six consecutive years of economic growth. The new data show that in terms of poverty and median income, the economic expansion that started at the end of 2001 was the worst on record. The data provide fresh evidence that the gains from the expansion were quite uneven and flowed primarily to high-income households." (8/26/08, CBPP)
Statement on New 2007 Census Data on Poverty, Income, and Health Insurance
Despite modest improvements in overall median income and health insurance coverage, the new Census data are disquieting. Though 2007 was the sixth (and likely the final) year of an economic expansion, poverty was significantly higher, the median income of non-elderly households significantly lower, and the number and percentage of Americans who are uninsured substantially greater than in 2001 — even though the economy was in recession that year. The data also show that employer-based health coverage — and private health coverage in general — continued to erode in 2007, and that all of the improvement in health care coverage in 2007 was due to more Americans obtaining coverage through government health insurance programs, principally Medicare and Medicaid. Data for 2008 expected to be unfavorable. (8/26/08, CBPP)
Uninsured Americans Will Pay $30 Billion in Health Care Costs in 2008
Americans who go without health insurance for any part of 2008 will spend $30 billion out of pocket for health care and they will get $56 billion worth of free care, according to a new study. (8/25/08, George Mason University and the Urban Institute)
More Turn to Professional Groups for Insurance
As health-insurance premiums rise and the economy struggles, an increasing number of small-business owners and individuals without job-based insurance are turning to professional associations and trade and affinity groups that offer grouplike health coverage to their members. (8/12/08, Wall Street Journal)
Marital Decisions Based on Health Insurance Needs
An increasing number of Americans are choosing to marry or divorce in order to gain access to affordable health insurance or to maintain coverage they already have. 7 percent of adults had someone in their household who married in the past year to gain health insurance. (8/13/08, KFF in New York Times)
Uninsured Currently Spend $30 Billion Out Of Pocket For Health Care
Americans who lack health insurance for any part of 2008 will spend $30 billion out of pocket for health services and receive $56 billion in uncompensated care while uninsured. Government programs pay for about three-quarters, or roughly $43 billion, of the uncompensated care bill, researchers report. (8/25/08, Health Affairs)
22% of Americans surveyed cut visits to doctor
Nearly a quarter of Americans have reduced the number of times they see their doctor because they want to save money in these tough economic times, according to a survey released Tuesday by the country's state insurance regulators. (August 2008, National Association of Insurance Commissioners in SF Chronicle)
New Listings: Health Disparities
7 Ways to Fight Health Inequities
This series of opinion pieces and video clips provide concrete strategies that answer the question: How might the United States narrow the gap between health “haves” and “have nots” to raise the average life expectancy to that of other industrialized countries? (Spring/Summer 2008, Harvard Public Health Review)
Restructuring Government to Address Social Determinants of Health
In early 2008, government officials, community advocates, and researchers convened to discuss the federal government's role in addressing underlying determinants of health. This conversation resulted in a report that outlines the elements and structures within government needed to achieve a broader community approach to health. (August 2008, Prevention Institute and Trust for America's Health)
Community Efforts to Expand Dental Services for Low-Income People
Recognizing that poor oral health contributes to other health problems, the study examines states’ efforts to increase dentists’ participation in public health insurance programs like Medicaid and to extend dental services to vulnerable populations through community health centers, health departments, and dental schools. (July 2008, Center for Studying Health System Change)
Left Behind - Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS Epidemic
This recent report found that the AIDS epidemic among African Americans in some parts of the United States is as severe as in parts of Africa. Although one in eight Americans is African American, one in every two people living with HIV in the United States is African-American. (August 2008, Black AIDS Institute)
Hispanics and Health Care in the United States: Access, Information and Knowledge
A new study finds that Hispanic adults are less likely to have regular doctor’s visits, even when insurance and language are not barriers to obtaining health care. also found that over 25 percent of those surveyed had not received health care information from medical personnel in the past year, and that over 80 percent report receiving health information from alternative sources, such as the television or radio. (August 2008, Pew Hispanic Center and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation)
New Listings: Other Health Issues
Average ER waiting time nears 1 hour; Increase due to more patients, fewer emergency departments
The average time that hospital emergency rooms patients wait to see a doctor has grown from about 38 minutes to almost an hour over the past decade, according to new federal statistics released Wednesday. (August 2008, CDC)
The Role of the Patient/Consumer in Establishing a Dynamic Clinical Research Continuum: Models of Patient/Consumer Inclusion
The person who has the most at stake when it comes to healthcare decisions-the patient-should be involved in research, advocacy and all segments of the health care system, according to a key finding of a new report. (August 2008, National Working Group on Evidence-Based Health Care)
Florida Reports
Florida CHAIN Issue Brief: Health Plans' Persistently Consumer-Unfriendly and Divergent "Preferred Drug List" Posting Practices Exemplify Unresolved Challenges in Medicaid Reform
As with other benefits made available under the Medicaid Reform Pilot Program, the prescription drugs covered by health plans (called Preferred Drug Lists, or PDLs) are permitted to deviate significantly from standard Medicaid. Although this flexibility has been touted as increasing consumer choice, meaningfully informed choice is still not possible given the lack of simple and direct access to usable information about those options. In particular, longstanding problems in Reform with respect to accessing plans' PDLs on-line have still not been resolved. These problems may stem from AHCA's reluctance to impose requirements ensuring clarity, accessibility and uniformity of consumer information, as well as from its apparent unwillingness to enforce even the weak requirements it has already imposed.
Dying for Coverage in Florida
More than six people die each day in Florida because they do not have health insurance. A new Families USA report is the first-ever state-specific report of its type, based on a ground-breaking national study by the Institute of Medicine, which in 2002 forged the direct link between a lack of health coverage and deaths from health-related causes. The report also finds that:Between 2000 and 2006, the estimated number of adults between the ages of 25 and 64 in Florida who died because they did not have health insurance was more than 13,600. Across the United States, in 2006, twice as many people in that same age category died from a lack of health insurance as died from homicide. (March 2008, Families USA)
HHS Failed To Show Budget Neutrality Before Approving Florida, Vermont Medicaid Waivers
HHS did not ensure that two Medicaid pilot projects in Florida and Vermont would be budget neutral before approving them. Under federal law, states can obtain a federal waiver for pilot programs to test new ways of delivering care under Medicaid if they can show that spending would not rise faster than it normally would. However, in approving the Florida and Vermont programs, "HHS approved spending limits that were higher than the limits that would have been granted if HHS had held the states to limits based on benchmark growth rates," the report found. In addition, "HHS' basis for approving the higher spending limits was not fully supported by documentation," according to GAO. (March 2008, GAO)
State of Breast Cancer Report Names Florida as One of the "Most Restrictive" for State Assisted Breast Cancer Treatment
Florida is part of a minority of states that still determines a woman ineligible for Medicaid-funded treatment unless she was screened through the state program, restricting access to care for those diagnosed elsewhere. The Florida Suncoast Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure is on a mission to lobby the state legislature to change laws affecting women seeking Medicaid-funded treatment for breast cancer. The affiliate also encourages survivors, their families and the Tampa Bay community to contact their local and state representatives, urging them to revisit the laws governing breast cancer treatment. The Report provides information on advancements in diagnosis, treatment and research that have made breast cancer a survivable disease for more than 2 million people in the United States. The report also explores cultural, social, educational and financial barriers – or disparities – that prevent many people from getting screening and receiving life-saving breast cancer care. (11/26/07, Susan Komen Fdn)
Florida Funding For Safety-Net Hospitals Could Be Affected By Proposed Property Tax Cuts
Proposed cuts to Florida property taxes could reduce funding for safety-net hospitals in fiscal year 2009. The "low-income pool" of local and state tax dollars, which receives federal matching funds to reimburse hospitals that provide care to low-income and uninsured residents not covered by Medicaid, is mostly funded by ad valorem property tax revenue. Gov. Charlie Crist (R) and state lawmakers have proposed cutting those taxes this year. (1/3/08, Tampa Tribune)
Too Great a Burden: Florida Families at Risk A Report on the Impact of Healthcare Costs on Florida Families
Over the past eight years, relentless growth in health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs has made spending on health care an increasing burden. For many Floridians, this means that health care is consuming an ever-growing share of their budgets, forcing them to make difficult sacrifices in other areas so they can make ends meet. And for many hard-working families, the burden of these health care costs has become too great to bear. (Dec 2007, Families USA)
Miami-Dade Health Profiles 2007
The Health Council of South Florida released the South Miami-Dade 2007 Health Profile in fall 2007. The South-Miami Dade Health Profile is the second in a series of area Health Profiles prepared for Miami-Dade County's Office of Countywide Healthcare Planning as part of the Building Better Communities General Obligations Bond Program which seeks to improve access to primary care throughout Miami-Dade County. A Health Profile of the Miami Beach Service Area was released in July, and one focusing on the North Miami-Dade Service Area will be released in December. Comparative data is included for Miami-Dade as a whole. The profiles provide a general overview of the population, health needs and resources available in the Service Areas.
(Florida) AHCA's Annual Report on Medicaid Reform
(delivered 10/1/07)
Annie E. Casey Foundation: 18th KIDS COUNT Data Book
This is the recently released new edition of this national and state-by-state effort to track the status of children in the United States. By providing policymakers and citizens with benchmarks of child well-being, the Foundation seeks to enrich local, state, and national discussions concerning ways to secure better futures for all children. Information is also available in an online database that enables users to generate custom graphs, maps, ranked lists, and state-by-state profiles. Both the book and the online database can be accessed on the website listed above.
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.
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.
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.
Medicaid
Precarious Position: States Must Balance Declining Revenues with a Growing Need for Medicaid
This paper from describes how Medicaid fared in state budgeting decisions this year, and how Medicaid cuts harm state economies as well as the people who depend on it. In tough economic times, the Medicaid program is more essential than ever. (July 2008, Families USA)
Children's Health Care
U.S. Infant Mortality Rate Rises for First Time in Decade
The almost decade-long decline in U.S. infant mortality has hit a snag, with CDC data showing the rate increased from 6.78 per 1,000 children in 2004 to 6.86 in 2005. Black babies were 2.4 times as likely to die as white babies before their first birthday. Researchers say low birth weight, shorter gestations and premature births account for the increase in mortality. (July 2008, CDC)
Medicare
Medicare Part D: Drug Pricing and Manufacturer Windfalls
In 2006, prices paid for drugs used by people with Medicare and Medicaid under the Part D drug benefit cost $1.7 billion more than when Medicaid paid for the same drugs before the start of Part D. The transfer of drug coverage for the dual eligible beneficiaries from Medicaid to Medicare Part D has resulted in large windfalls for the drug manufacturers. There are 29 large drug manufacturers who produce the 100 drugs used most often by dual eligible beneficiaries. In total, these manufacturers received $3.7 billion more from the Medicare Part D insurers in 2006 and 2007 than they would have received if the dual eligible beneficiaries had obtained the drugs through Medicaid. (July 2008, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform)
Health Care Opinion Leaders' Views on the Future of Long-Term Care
The 15th Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey asked a diverse group of experts for their perspectives on the future of long-term care in the United States. Four of five of the experts surveyed believe that it is important or very important to secure adequate financing of long-term care, improve quality of long-term care facilities, and develop a health care workforce that is sufficient in size and skill to provide long-term care. Adding a long-term care benefit to Medicare, financed by a premium, is favored by nearly four of five respondents. Over two-thirds (69%) say it is important or very important for presidential candidates' health reform plans to address quality and financing of long-term care. (7/21/08, Commonwealth Fund)
Medicare Changes Can Complement Health Reform
The U.S. health care system faces well known problems. At the same time, Medicare confronts major financial challenges and leaves big gaps in benefit protection. Changes to Medicare, if properly designed, can complement system-wide health care reform and the two should be pursued simultaneously. (7/31/08, CBPP)
Medicare Advantage Organizations: Actual Expenses and Profits Compared to Projections for 2005
This reports that Medicare Advantage plans, on average, projected spending 90.2 percent of total revenue on medical services but actually spent 85.7 percent. This resulted in an extra $1.14 billion in profits in 2005. (6/24/08, GAO)
Federal & State Budgets/Health Care
Facing Deficits, Many States Are Imposing Cuts That Hurt Vulnerable Residents
This report highlights the areas that states are targeting for cuts due to budget constraints. At least 13 states have implemented or are considering cuts that will affect low-income children’s or families’ eligibility for health insurance or that will reduce their access to health care services. (8/5/08, CBPP)
Health Insurance, Health Care
Report Says Florida Health Plan Will Probably Not Reduce Uninsured
A report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit policy research group in Washington, D.C., concluded that Cover Florida, a health plan recently implemented to provide coverage to some of Florida’s 3.7 million uninsured, is not likely to succeed. (7/21/08, CBPP)
Health Care and the Economy in Two Swing States: A Look at Ohio and Florida According to a poll of Florida and Ohio residents, “one in four people say they're having trouble paying their medical bills,” and many of them are middle-class with insurance and some even earn six-figure salaries, reports “All Things Considered.”(7/24/08, NPR/Kaiser Family Fdn, Harvard School of Public Health)
Increase in Working-Age Adults with Major Chronic Conditions
As the number of working-age adults who have major chronic conditions grew between 1997 and 2006, those without health coverage in this group experienced substantial erosion in access to health care, according to a new study by Kaiser Family Foundation researchers published today as a Exclusive. (7/22/08, Health Affairs Web)
AHRQ Analyzes Public Spending on Health Care
Public spending on health care averaged $2,612 per person in 2002, constituting 56% of all health care spending, according to a new study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The average American over 65 received $6,921 in public spending for health care in 2002, more than five times as much as the average child, the authors estimate. (7/29/08, AHA News Now)
Investments in Disease Prevention Yield Significant Savings, Stronger
A small strategic investment in disease prevention could result in significantly lower U.S. healthcare costs, a new report finds. Communities found that an investment of $10 per person, per year, in community-based programs designed to increase physical activity, improve nutrition, and prevent smoking could save the country more than $16 billion annually within five years -- a return of $5.60 for every $1 spent. Out of that total, Medicare would save more than $5 billion, Medicaid more than $1.9 billion, and private payers more than $9 billion. (July 2008, RWJF/ Trust for America's Health)
High-Quality, Universal Health Care Is Possible -- With No Premiums or Deductibles
Imagine, instead, a proposal for health care reform that guarantees free, high-quality health care for all Americans. No premiums. No deductibles...If this all sounds too good to be true, you need to read Healthcare, Guaranteed: A Simple, Secure Solution for America by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel...The charm of the proposal is four-fold:...it offers a funding mechanism that is fair and efficient and could deliver high-quality care nationwide. It regulates insurers...[and] insulates our health care system from the lobbyists[.] (7/16/08, Health Beat)
Prevention for a Healthier America: Investments in Disease Prevention Yield Significant Savings, Stronger Communities
Even though America spends more than $2 trillion annually on health care, more than any other nation in the world - tens of millions of Americans suffer every day from preventable disease... Keeping people healthier is one of the most effective ways to reduce health care costs. (July 2008, Trust for America's Health)
Falling Behind: Americans' Access to Medical Care Deteriorates, 2003-2007
This report shows the number and proportion of Americans that reported going without or delaying needed medical care increased sharply between 2003 and 2007. One in five Americans—59 million people—reported not getting or delaying needed medical care in 2007, up from one in seven—36 million people—in 2003. Cost of care was an often-cited obstacle, as were increasing rates of health system barriers, such as health plan prior-authorization requirements. (June 2008,Center for Studying Health System Change)
A Third of Uninsured Suffer From Chronic Illness
Nearly a third (11.4 million) of uninsured U.S. adults age 18 to 64 suffer from at least one chronic condition, according to a study in today's Annals of Internal Medicine. In addition, uninsured chronically ill individuals are less likely than those with insurance to have visited a physician in the past 12 months (22.6% vs. 6.2%) and are more likely to visit the emergency department for routine care (7.1% vs. 1.1%). Furthermore, "Low-cost or free services, if available, may be at locations, times, or settings that discourage uptake," they said. "These barriers lead to diminished access to care that negatively affects health-related outcomes, an effect that may be pronounced among individuals with chronic disease." (8/5/08, AHA News Now)
Uninsured Immigrant Population on the Rise
The number of uninsured immigrants in the U.S. increased from 6.9 million in 1994 to 12.3 million in 2006, an 80% increase, according to a study released yesterday by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. The uninsured native-born population increased from 29.7 million to 34.1 million, a 15% increase over the same time period. As a result, immigrants accounted for more than half of the total increase in the uninsured population. According to the study, nearly 60% of the uninsured immigrant population is concentrated in four states: California, Florida, New York and Texas. [AHA News Now, 8-6-08]
Some Insurers Pay Doctors More to Help Lower Costs
Insurers nationwide, as well as federal and state government agencies, are experimenting with the idea of paying primary care physicians more so that they will give more attention to their patients, which could help "save thousands of dollars downstream on unnecessary tests, visits to expensive specialists and avoidable trips to the hospital" (7/21/08, New York Times)
Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 2007
This new study finds that lack of health coverage was greatest in the South and West, with 30 percent of adults under age 65 and 18 percent of children lacking coverage. The brief also provides state-specific estimates for the uninsured and estimates for those enrolled in high-deductible health plans. (7/30/08, CDC)
Health Care and the Economy in Two Swing States: A Look at Ohio and Florida
This report examines the pocketbook problems facing people in Ohio and Florida. The surveys take an in-depth look at the impact of medical bills on family finances and health care, and they provide insight into the ways that health care costs affect people's daily decisions. (7/16/08, KFF)
Wellness Programs Save Millions in Medical Costs According to Study
A report entitled "Prevention for a Healthier America" by Trust for America's Health, a nonprofit health advocacy group, "found that programs encouraging physical activity, healthy eating and no smoking were a better investment than those concentrating primarily on treatment" and "could save states hundreds of millions in health-care costs." (7/18/08, Washington Post)
USA Today Examines Problems With Individual Insurance Market
An article addresses the difficulties many people face in trying to get health care coverage through the individual market, noting that "insurers selling individual policies try to pick the healthiest applicants to lower their risks" and in most states "can consider an applicant's health history in deciding whether to offer coverage and how much to charge." (7/17/08, USA Today)
Public and Private Health Insurance: Stacking up the Costs
This report examines different ways of providing health insurance to families with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The brief finds that total medical spending is much lower when coverage is provided through Medicaid or CHIP than it is when coverage is provided by private insurance because out-of-pocket spending is much lower. (6/24/08, Health Affairs)
Moving Away from Employer-Based Coverage: Don't Forget Public Opinion
This reports that between 63 and 81 percent of people said that eliminating employer-based insurance and having to buy insurance on their own would make their current financial situation worse. There were no meaningful differences by party affiliation—party identification was not a good predictor of how a person answered the question. The article further discusses how the public and voters feel about undergoing such a large change. (6/26/08, KFF)
How Many Are Underinsured? Trends Among U.S. Adults, 2003 and 2007
The number of underinsured U.S. adults--people who have health coverage that does not adequately protect them from high medical expenses--has risen dramatically. A new Commonwealth Fund study published today as a Health Affairs Web Exclusive finds that as of 2007, there were an estimated 25 million underinsured adults in the U.S., 60 percent more than the 16 million underinsured in 2003. Most of this growth came from rising uninsured rates among middle- and higher-income families. (6/10/008, Commonwealth Fund)
Health Disparities
Survey of Low-Wage Workers
This survey provides a detailed look at the real life experiences and views of low-wage workers and assesses their financial challenges, including difficulties obtaining and paying for health care[.] (8/4/08, The Washington Post, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University)
Immigrants Deported, by U.S. Hospitals
High in the hills of Guatemala, shut inside the one-room house where he spends day and night on a twin bed beneath a seriously outdated calendar, Luis Alberto Jiménez has no idea of the legal battle that swirls around him in the lowlands of Florida. Shooing away flies and beaming at the tiny, toothless elderly mother who is his sole caregiver, Mr. Jiménez...remains cheerily oblivious that he has come to represent the collision of two deeply flawed American systems, immigration and health care. (8/3/08, New York Times)
CDC Revises 2006 Estimate of New HIV Cases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday updated its estimate of new HIV cases in the U.S. in 2006, from 40,000 to 56,300 adolescents and adults. The revised estimate is based on a more precise, direct method for estimating annual HIV incidence. Fifty-three percent of newly infected individuals were men who had sex with men, while infection rates among blacks were seven times as high as whites and almost three times as high as Hispanics. The report can be found in the current issue of the (8/4/08, Journal of the American Medical Association)
A Burden No Child Should Bear: How the Health Coverage System Is Failing Latino Children
This report highlights Latino children’s access to common forms of coverage and the different factors that may affect their ability to obtain insurance and care. Disparities in health coverage put Latino children at a disadvantage from a young age, and the effects of these disparities can persist throughout their lives. (7/9/08, NCLR)
Left Behind! Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS Epidemic
illustrates a clear and startling gap between the U.S. government’s appropriate concern about AIDS overseas, and its ongoing denial of the epidemic at home – despite the fact that, in areas of the United States such as Detroit, Newark, New York, Washington D.C. and the Deep South, HIV levels among segments of the Black community approach those of many severely affected countries in Africa. For example, HIV prevalence among middle-aged Black men in Manhattan is almost as high as overall prevalence in South Africa, home to the world’s largest population of people living with HIV. (2008, Black AIDS Institute)
AIDS among Latinos on Rise
"AIDS rates in the nation's Latino community are increasing and, with little notice, have reached what experts are calling a simmering public health crisis. Though Hispanics make up about 14 percent of the U.S. population, they represented 22 percent of new HIV and AIDS diagnoses tallied by federal officials in 2006. (7/23/08, Washington Post)
Unequal America
The United States no longer boasts anywhere near the world's longest life expectancy. It doesn't even make the top 40. In this and many other ways, the richest nation on earth is not the healthiest. This finding is unsettling on its face, but scholars find further cause for concern in the pattern of health disparities. Poor health is not distributed evenly across the population, but concentrated among the disadvantaged. (July-August 2008, Harvard Magazine)
Early-Life Origins of the Race Gap in Men's Mortality
This is a seminal paper identifying potential links between access to socioeconomic opportunities and racial gaps in men's mortality. The authors...examine the association between early-life socioeconomic conditions and all-cause mortality. The authors found that differences in early-life social conditions...and adult socioeconomic achievement contribute to Black-White differences in men's mortality risk. (7/18/08, Medscape Medical News)
Community Efforts to Expand Dental Services
Many communities are working to expand dental services for low-income people. These efforts range from providing preventive care...to filling cavities and providing other restorative services, and, in some cases, offering rehabilitative services, such as orthodontics and periodontics. Funding support for these services and participation from dental students and professionals are integral to these efforts. (July 2008, HSC)
Other Health Issues
Latest Scorecard Shows U.S. Health System Not Improving
In its first national scorecard released two years ago, The Commonwealth Fund's Commission on a High Performance Health System found that the United States fell far short of benchmarks for access, quality, efficiency, and other key measures of health system performance. The 2008 edition of the scorecard paints an even bleaker picture. The United States fell to last place among 19 countries in deaths from treatable or preventable diseases. (7/17/08, Commonwealth Fund)
Emergency Room "Super Users" Tax the System
In response to the problem of overcrowded emergency rooms throughout the United States, researchers are focusing on "the super users who turn to hospital emergency rooms dozens, even hundreds, of times" and account for a disproportionate amount of the costs. (7/13/08, Star-Ledger)
Patient Comprehension of Emergency Department Care and Instructions: Are Patients Aware of When They Don't Understand?
Every year, more than 115 million patients enter emergency rooms at hospitals around the nation. And more than three-quarters of them leave with an impression of what happened or what should happen next that doesn't match what their emergency care team would want.More than three-quarters of patients (78 percent) do not fully understand the care and discharge instructions they receive in the emergency department, and the vast majority of them are unaware that they do not understand what doctors have told them. (July 2008, Annals of Emergency Medicine)
Satisfaction with Retail-Based Health Clinics Remains High
U.S. adults who have used these health clinics in a pharmacy or retail chain are generally pleased, as almost all are very/somewhat satisfied with the quality of the care (90%), cost (86%) and staff qualifications (88%) and they believe retail-based healthcare clinics can provide low-cost basic services to people who cannot afford care (78%) and to anyone at times when doctors' offices are closed (81%). (7/1/0/08, WSJ.com/Harris Interactive Health Care)
Patient Reports Can Add To Efforts To Identify, Reduce Adverse Events In Hospitals
Hospitals' efforts to improve patient safety rely on several methods of monitoring and evaluating the occurrence of adverse events: including incident reports from members of the health care team, automated surveillance of clinical data, and review of medical records. Surveying patients about their experiences can provide additional important information. Nearly 23 percent of patients reported experiencing a complication during or immediately after their hospital stay, compared with about 11 percent of patients whose adverse events were identified through medical record review. (7/15/08, Annals of Internal Medicine)
The 2008 Hospital Check-Up Report: Physician Perspectives on American Hospitals finds that there continues to be a gap in the physician-administration relationship, and physicians report a need for administrators to be more responsive to the ideas and needs of medical staff. (2008, Press Ganey Associates)
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Every successful change has needed people working together for the common good, no longer a community of “us versus them.” So, when planning the next advocacy campaign, seeking a new Board member, or looking for fellow stakeholders, remember that by expanding the circle, there might be a political goldmine that can move mountains one step at a time. (by Debbie Richards, Florida Developmental Disabilities Council) 
