Archive 092608

September 26, 2008
	Now or Never: Do You Know Where Your Next President Stands On Health Care? Both Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have repeatedly indicated on the campaign trail that health care reform is a priority, and that, if elected, they would act decisively to help bring about that reform. To that end, both have published multi-pronged platforms. Differences in their approaches begin to emerge even in the taglines. (Greg Mellowe, Florida CHAIN) Read more

	Last Chance to Fill Out CHAIN Reaction Survey A few weeks ago, Florida CHAIN disseminated a survey to get subscriber feedback on CHAIN Reaction. However, because of the overwhelming number of responses we received, the survey tool actually closed itself off. However, we just reopened it up again so if you haven’t responded yet, please click here and take 3 minutes to do so now. For those of you who already did, please accept our heartfelt appreciation for your feedback. Seeking Advocacy and Outreach Director Florida CHAIN is seeking an Advocacy and Outreach Director to build grassroots support for the organization’s policy agenda. The Advocacy and Outreach Director will educate policy makers at the local, state and federal level about issues relating to access to healthcare and engage organizational partners and healthcare consumers in supporting the policy agenda. For more information, click here.

	False Panic About Medicaid Spending Built on Obsolete Projections Florida is currently grappling with a budget crisis. However, it is Florida’s inadequate tax structure and the economic downturn that has caused available revenue to plummet so significantly, NOT the spiraling costs of Medicaid. Florida’s entire budget, not just Medicaid, is presently under severe strain. Making Medicaid the scapegoat for a much more systemic problem is not only inappropriate, it’s grossly unfair to Florida’s sickest and most vulnerable citizens. (Greg Mellowe, Florida CHAIN) Read more "Medicaid Work Incentives Coverage Program" Bill Would Allow Medicaid Buy-in A bill is being prepared for the 2009 Florida Legislative Session that will create an opportunity for Floridians with disabilities who are on SSDI to share in the payment of their Medicaid coverage. This will allow them to return to work with less fear of losing their Medicaid, as long as they pay a share. (Olga Golik, Citrus Health Network; Rose Coster, Florida Developmental Disabilities Council) Read more and provide important survey input!

	Diverse Stakeholders Discuss Shared Vision for Medicaid As part of an ongoing effort to move beyond simply criticizing Florida’s flawed Medicaid Reform experiment, Florida CHAIN recently invited a diverse group of stakeholders in South Florida to meet together to discuss their vision for a better Medicaid, thinking broadly, yet bearing in mind financial and political constraints. (Greg Mellowe, Florida CHAIN) Read more AHCA Suspends Senior Care Pilot - for How Long? AHCA has suspended implementation of the Senior Care Pilot until further notice. The announcement shows that even a weak form of competition (i.e., welcoming all HMOs with minimal accountability) doesn't hold up when consumer needs and preferences interfere with shareholder expectations. (Greg Mellowe, Florida CHAIN) Read more

	Doors Close on Unscrupulous Medicaid and Medicare Plan Marketing Practices Two new sets of rules – one federal and one state - may help curtail marketing and outreach practices that have harmed some seniors and people with disabilities who rely on Medicaid and Medicare. For well over a decade, Florida has been fertile ground for managed care plans focused on enrolling these vulnerable consumers. (Greg Mellowe, Florida CHAIN) Read more

	TAKE ACTION: Stand Up for Health Care In this election, people like you are the best advocates for a better health care system because you deal with these issues every day. That's why your voice can make the difference in building the movement for real health care reform. (Families USA) Read more and TAKE ACTION

	Miami Dade Blue Health Plan Could Insure More than 600,000 Residents On September 17, the Board of County Commissioners unianimously approved the contract for MIAMI-DADE BLUE health plan to provide a low-cost comprehensive healthcare plan to Miami-Dade's 600,000 uninsured residents. The unique pilot by BlueCross BlueShield of Florida and the Office of Countywide Healthcare Planning, will offer affordable insurance to individuals, families and small businesses. Read more

	Mother Tried to Enroll her Children in MediKids, Stalled by Bureaucracy Shakira Gonzalez's two preschoolers became ineligible for Medicaid as of July 31 because she found a new maintenance job to boost her salary. Shakira learned, through a letter she received in July from the State, that her children are now now eligible for MediKids, part of KidCare. She promptly filled out the paperwork and sent $20 to apply, and repeatedly follows up - but her children are still without health coverage despite being eligible. (Laura Goodhue, Florida CHAIN) Read more



	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

September 26, 2008

Now or Never: Do You Know Where Your Next President Stands On Health Care?

Both Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have repeatedly indicated on the campaign trail that health care reform is a priority, and that, if elected, they would act decisively to help bring about that reform. To that end, both have published multi-pronged platforms: Obama’s “Plan for a Healthy America” and McCain’s “Straight Talk on Health System Reform”.

Differences in their approaches begin to emerge even in the taglines, with Senator McCain asserting that “we can and must provide access to health care for every American”, while Senator Obama seeks to “begin by covering every American.”

The first priority on Senator McCain’s list is “Making Health Insurance Innovative, Portable and Affordable”, while the initial plank in Senator Obama’s platform is “Quality, Affordable and Portable Coverage for All”.

More concretely, Senator Obama aims to “[m]ake available a new national health plan to all Americans, including the self-employed and small businesses”... “[with] the following features:

1) Guaranteed eligibility: No American will be turned away from any insurance plan because of illness or pre-existing conditions.

2) Comprehensive benefits: The benefit package will be similar to... the plan members of Congress have... and cover all essential medical services, including preventive, maternity and mental health care.

3) Affordable premiums, co-pays and deductibles,” including “subsidies [for] individuals and families who... need financial assistance....”

By contrast, Senator McCain specifically proposes to:

1) “...[Make] it easier for individuals and families to obtain insurance.... Use competition to improve the quality of health insurance with greater variety....”

2) Reform the tax code to offer more choices beyond employer-based health insurance coverage... Every family will receive a direct refundable tax credit - effectively cash - of $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families to offset the cost of insurance...

3) Making insurance more portable “from job to job..., if they retire early [or] if they take a few years off to raise the kids.

4) Encourage and expand the benefits of health savings accounts for families....

5) [Address] the traditionally uninsurable - those without prior group coverage and those with pre-existing conditions...[D]evelop a best practice model that states can follow to ensure these patients have access to health coverage....[with].reasonable limits on premiums, and assistance would be available... below a certain income level.

A discussion of the candidates’ platforms in full would be well beyond the scope of this article. Furthermore, Florida CHAIN is non-partisan and neither supports nor opposes any candidate for elected office. Please review the full health care platforms of each candidate. Also, the Health08 website, sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation, includes a wealth of information, including links to analyses of the cost and impact of each candidate’s proposals.

Greg Mellowe, Florida CHAIN


	September 26, 2008 False Panic About Medicaid Spending Built on Obsolete Projections Florida is currently grappling with a budget crisis. However, it is Florida’s inadequate tax structure and the economic downturn that has caused available revenue to plummet so significantly, NOT the spiraling costs of Medicaid. Florida’s entire budget, not just Medicaid, is presently under severe strain. Making Medicaid the scapegoat for a much more systemic problem is not only inappropriate, it’s grossly unfair to Florida’s sickest and most vulnerable citizens. The panic over spiraling Medicaid costs was the driving force behind the rushed development and implementation of the Medicaid Reform experiment. In 2005, Medicaid was thought to be on the verge of bankrupting the State due to rapid growth in program spending. In laying out his case for Reform in 2005, then-Governor Jeb Bush warned that Medicaid could consume $50 billion - nearly 60 percent of the State budget - by 2015 if left unchecked. The fact is, Medicaid spending patterns have changed dramatically since then. The current official position of the State’s economists is that total Medicaid spending for the 7-year period through June 2012 will be an almost unimaginable $38 billion LOWER than had been projected in 2005 (see chart below): As for the Governor’s ominous warning about 2015, his $50 billion projection is almost 3 times higher than the current forecast suggested by updated growth trends. Nevertheless, Medicaid continues to unfairly bear the brunt of the blame for Florida's budget woes, fueling continued demands for reduced Medicaid spending. In particular, the inflated figures have been used to justify proposals to expand the Reform Pilot statewide as well as to eliminate the critical Medically Needy program. But neither proposal is necessary as a "solution" to so obsolete a characterization of the problem. To read the complete Florida CHAIN policy brief on this topic, click here. Greg Mellowe, Florida CHAIN

September 26, 2008

"Medicaid Work Incentives Coverage Program" Bill Would Allow Medicaid Buy-in

People with disabilities are overcoming many barriers to become employed. One of those barriers is the fear of losing Medicaid coverage if their earnings go above the limits.

The Partnership for Work and Healthcare educated the legislature about the importance of changing Florida laws to make it easier for persons to go back to work, and allowing them to "buy into" Medicaid, instead of losing it when their income increases.

Your input now is important to see what changes you want included in the legislation, what you think went well with the initiative last year, and what things to do differently this year. To provide input, download the survey that is on the website: www.partnershipforwork.com.

The “Medicaid Work Incentives Coverage Program” is a bill that will create an opportunity for Floridians with disabilities who are on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) to share in the payment of their Medicaid coverage. This form of cost sharing would allow these individuals to return to work with less fear of losing their Medicaid, as long as they pay a share of their Medicaid services.

The current state policy encourages persons with various disabilities to stay home and have taxpayers support their living expenses instead of allowing these individuals to work and decrease their dependence on government support. This policy forces people with disabilities to choose between health care and work - continuing their dependence on government support, or giving up vital health care coverage.

The proposed program would continue to offer Medicaid coverage to people with disabilities who are employed. Once they are enrolled in the program, they would have the opportunity to earn more and save more than the allowable limits for regular Medicaid and still retain their health care coverage through Florida’s Medicaid Program. Also, The Federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has funding that can be used for start-up costs in implementing this Medicaid cost-sharing program.

Florida would benefit from this program in several ways.

A study conducted by the Able Trust reported that 23% of the earned income for an individual with a disability would be returned to the state and federal governments in taxes that the state uses to operate.
This program allows individuals who are receiving SSDI to earn more money, resulting in a potential increase in consumer spending, providing a significant economic stimulus package for the state.
This program reduces the strain on the medical system, as research shows that when a person is working, the use of medical services deceases.

Floridians are encouraged to support the “Medicaid Work Incentives Coverage Program” that allows individuals to work and at the same time, lower their dependence on government assistance.

Be sure to sign in at www.partnershipforwork.com so you can stay informed. If you want to get more involved by joining a working committee, contact Barbara Butz, Capstone Consulting, at Barbara@askcapstone.com to receive notices of conference calls.

If you are a person with a disability that has questions about your benefits or about much you can earn under current laws, contact a Benefits Specialist. The contact information of specialists throughout the state are also on the website under the Frequently Asked Questions section.

Olga Golik, Esq., Citrus Health Network, Inc.

Rose Coster, Florida Developmental Disabilities Council


	September 26, 2008 Diverse Stakeholders Discuss Shared Vision for Medicaid As part of an ongoing effort to move beyond simply criticizing Florida’s flawed Medicaid Reform experiment, Florida CHAIN recently invited a diverse group of stakeholders in South Florida to meet together to discuss their vision for a better Medicaid. This latest step in fleshing out the alternatives to Reform involved brainstorming and dialogue among consumers, providers, advocates, health care leaders and policymakers about the way that Medicaid should be structured and operated. Participants were asked to think broadly, but also to bear in mind financial and political constraints. As could be expected, consensus was not reached on every issue. However, a number of recurring themes emerged that resonated with representatives from all groups. In particular, participants generally agreed that: The system should be grounded in a “medical home” model. Care-related decisions should be made jointly by providers equipped with the resources necessary for quality care and consumers empowered with information. Emphasis should be placed on prevention and wellness, as well as on system-wide coordination. For the most part, the suggestions offered were both cost-effective and feasible, and implementation would not require a complete overhaul of the current system, except that the centrality and authority of managed care organizations would need to be limited or counter-balanced. And while much of the content of the discussion and the conclusions drawn were not necessarily novel or even surprising, the extent to which the perspectives offered by different interests may have been. Many additional specific Medicaid-related topics were also addressed by participants, including services and benefits, system coordination, choice, transparency and accountability, consumer rights and recourses, research and evaluation, incentives and behavioral health. Video excerpts and interviews from the roundtable, as well as a synthesis of the full discussion are available on the Florida CHAIN website. Florida CHAIN looks forward to further opportunities to link the ongoing evaluation of the current problems in Florida Medicaid with the formulation concrete solutions. Greg Mellowe, Florida CHAIN

September 26, 2008

AHCA Suspends Senior Care Pilot - for How Long?

AHCA has suspended implementation of the Senior Care Pilot until further notice. Please see the announcement from AHCA below, with which you may already be familiar.

Much like the recent threats made by Medicaid HMOs to pull out of the Medicaid Reform Pilot, the announcement shows that even a weak form of competition (i.e., welcoming all HMOs with minimal accountability) doesn't hold up when consumer needs and preferences interfere with shareholder expectations.

Under Senior Care, health plans would be given unprecedented flexibility- in many ways like Medicaid Reform. AHCA had initially received applications from several insurers proposing to save the State money in its provision of Medicaid coverage to vulnerable seniors. HMOs were expected to enter into contracts and offer coverage beginning this fall. But budget cuts have limited rates, which in turn limit how much profit could be made.

Perhaps most importantly, unlike Reform, participation in Senior Care was to be voluntary. The fact that many seniors and their families might be wary of this experiment may have thwarted the ability of HMOs to ensure they made adequate profits.

We can expect that AHCA will respond by attempting to make participation mandatory, ironically in the name of providing seniors more choice - once they're forced into a plan they wouldn't have chosen.

Greg Mellowe, Florida CHAIN

Florida Senior Care: A Managed Integrated Care Program

IMPORTANT NOTICE

The Agency for Health Care Administration and the Department of Elder Affairs have placed the implementation of the Florida Senior Care pilot program on hold while the Agency and the Department evaluate and consider how the program's goals and objectives can effectively be achieved. This means that services will not begin in Area 7 (Brevard, Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties) on December 1, 2008 as previously planned. At this time, there is not a definitive revised implementation timeline for Florida Senior Care and implementation activities have been put on hold.

Please continue to periodically visit the Florida Senior Care webpage for future updates. Thank you for your interest in Florida Senior Care.


	September 26, 2008 Doors Close on Unscrupulous Plan Marketing Practices Two new sets of rules – one federal and one state - may help curtail marketing and outreach practices that have harmed some seniors and people with disabilities who rely on Medicaid and Medicare. For well over a decade, Florida has been fertile ground for managed care plans focused on enrolling these vulnerable consumers. In some cases, however, plans have increased their profitability by applying high pressure or using deceptive sales practices. These include switching consumers to new plans without their consent and plan reps giving consumers the impression that they are official government representatives. As a result, some have found themselves enrolled in plans that didn't cover their medications or that forced them to change doctors. First, new proposed Medicare regulations limit what insurers may do when pitching Prescription Drug Plans (Part D) and Medicare Advantage Plans (Part C). The new regulations were mandated by Congress in response to “lessons learned” about how these relatively new components of Medicare are actually being marketed. Among the practices to be banned are unsolicited contacts with consumers (door to door solicitation, telemarketing, etc.), provision of free meals at promotional events, and recruitment of enrollees at places like doctors’ offices. Furthermore, plans can no longer require reps to get consumers to change to a different plan each year in order to maximize commissions. According to the Associated Press, enforcement of the regulations will include use of a “secret shopper" program to learn firsthand what insurers are telling consumers as well as a review of plans’ marketing materials. The rules go into effect in time for the 2008 enrollment period, which begins November 15^th. Some are still concerned, however, that Medicare lacks the capacity to monitor and enforce the new rules. At the State level, the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) is preparing to require Medicaid plans to abide by some form of related restrictions. The Tampa Tribune reported that AHCA has indicated that Medicaid plans will no longer be allowed to “directly call or otherwise approach low-income, disabled and elderly participants in the Medicaid program.” According to AHCA, these restrictions could go into effect by January 2009, although they are not available in writing yet. These reforms immediately impacted the efforts of at least one company that already has an established track record of problematic practices: Tampa-based WellCare, which quickly announced its intent to lay off 100 marketing and sales employees in Florida, as reported in the Tribune. Greg Mellowe, Florida CHAIN

September 26, 2008

Miami Dade Blue Health Plan Could Insure More than 600,000 Residents

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla.

The Miami-Dade County government issued the following news release:

On September 17, 2008 in a unanimous decision by the Board of County Commissioners the contract for MIAMI-DADE BLUE health plan was finalized and approved. The resolution was spearheaded by Commissioner Joe A. Martinez to provide a low-cost comprehensive healthcare plan to Miami-Dade's 600,000 uninsured residents passed on Tuesday, May 20, 2008. The unique pilot program, co-designed by BlueCross BlueShield of Florida, Inc. (BCBSF) and the Office of Countywide Healthcare Planning (OCHP) under Commissioner Martinez' leadership, will offer residents the opportunity to purchase health insurance for themselves and their families with affordable monthly payments. Additionally, small businesses can offer health insurance to their employees at a reasonable rate under the new plan. Martinez' healthcare program is the first of its kind in the country, potentially becoming a viable model for other communities and agencies to adopt. The contract is now pending regulatory approval in front of the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation in Tallahassee.

"This is the first step in helping all of our residents receive basic and quality medical care they can afford," said Commissioner Martinez.

"We can only achieve a happier and healthier community by making health insurance available to as many people as possible."

The plan targets the 600,000 residents countywide under the age of 65 who are unable to afford private health insurance and do not qualify for public programs, such as Medicaid and KidCare. The program includes primary and specialty care, inpatient services, diagnostic services, and pharmacy benefits. It incorporates chronic disease management and emergency room alternatives to increase healthcare efficiencies, lower the cost of charity care, and ultimately improve health outcomes. The proposed monthly premiums are as low as $69 for a 19-year-old male; the approximate median age of uninsured residents, age 35, can receive coverage for $110 (males) and $122 (females) monthly. Furthermore, small

businesses of less than fifty employees which have been unable to provide cost-effective health insurance will be targeted for group coverage.

New technologies will also be implemented with the new health plan. Issued swipe cards will be used to determine eligibility, benefits, and payments to lower administrative costs. A broad provider network will be available due to a combination of BCBSF's commercial network and local safety-net providers.

The no-cost contract with BCBSF for a three-year pilot program is projected to begin enrollment in May 2009, with an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 residents enrolled within the first 12 months.

For more information, please contact the district office of Commissioner Martinez at 305-552-1155.

REAL STORIES FROM FLORIDA HEALTH CARE CONSUMERS

September 26, 2008

Mother Tried to Enroll her Children in MediKids, Stalled by Bureaucracy

Shakira Gonzalez of Lauderhill has two small children who just recently became ineligible for Medicaid when Shakira found a new job in maintenance to boost her salary. Gabriel, age 4 and Alicia, age 3 are now eligible for the MediKids component of KidCare according to a letter Shakira received in July from the state.

Shakira promptly filled out the necessary paperwork and sent in $20 to apply for the KidCare program. The letter she received said that her children would lose Medicaid coverage as of July 31. This did not give her too much time to find new coverage so she made sure that she followed up with the KidCare program to find out about the status of her application. She called the number of the KidCare program and the customer service representative told her that they were waiting for her to choose a health plan for her children and that she wouldn’t have a problem enrolling them.

Shakira had not received any information about this in the mail and asked how she should go about choosing a plan. She wanted to stick with the health plan she was on for Medicaid and told the person at KidCare that she would stick with that plan.

However the customer service representative told her that she had to fill out the paper work with the MediKids component of KidCare and gave her the phone number. Shakira has tried repeatedly to get a hold of someone at MediKids as instructed. She is greeted by an automated response that asks her to enter an identification number. Since Shakira does not have a policy number or any other information from MediKids she can not get past the automated response.

Meanwhile her son Gabriel became sick with a cough and fever. Shakira had no other option but to take him to her pediatrician and pay the $70 visit fee and $50 for antibiotics and nebulizer medication to treat his bronchiolitis. She also took the day off without pay to try to get through to someone at KidCare or MediKids. Her children remain without health insurance although they are eligible and their mother has followed through with everything the state has asked her to do.

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

September 26, 2008

State Events
North Florida

Central Florida

East Central Florida

     West Central Florida
     Southwest Florida
     Southeast Florida
     Florida Audio and Web Events
     Statewide Notices

National Events
Conferences
National Audio and Web Events

National Notices

National Campaigns

STATE EVENTS & NOTICES

NORTH FLORIDA

Department of Children and Families Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Programs Stakeholder Meeting

Sept 30 9:00 am – 2:30 pm Betty Easley Conference Center, Tallahassee

To address the Florida System of Care Initiative for Co-Occurring Disorders. Presentations will cover the Comprehensive Continuous Integrated System of Care (CCISC) model that the department will adapting for use throughout Florida to create a "No Wrong Door" approach to services for persons with substance abuse and mental health disorders. Participants will have opportunities for input on the system development process for policies, practice guidelines, financing, contracting and performance management.

Notices

CENTRAL FLORIDA

Speaking of Cancer, from Hispanic Health Initiatives (HHI)
Oct 4 11:30 am - 1:30 pm Engelwood Neighborhood Center, 6123 La Costa Drive, Orlando
Hispanic Medical Experts and a cancer survivor will talk about Breast and Cervical Cancer. Limited space. RSVP to 407-339-2001or ana@hhi2001.org

Making A Fix-It List for Health Care

Oct 16 6:30-8:30 pm Englewood Neighborhood Center, Orlando

There's no question that every family deserves a family doctor. It's time to talk about solutions. Come join neighbors and congressional and state legislators (invited) in discussing how you think health care needs to improve. Sponsored by ACORN, Hispanic Health Initiatives and Florida CHAIN. Contact 407-339-2001 or 1-866-377-2583 or flacornorro@acorn.org or 407-423-9832.

EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA

KidCare Regional Meeting

Oct 10 1:00-4:00 pm Volusia

Florida Healthy Kids will be hosting four regional meetings across the state in an effort to provide valuable program information to partners and advocates of the Florida KidCare program. There will be a legislative update and an opportunity for questions and answers. Sponsored by Florida Healthy Kids. To attend, get a registration form by emailing Amber Floyd at Healthy Kids at floyda@healthykids.org.

WEST CENTRAL FLORIDA

Events

KidCare Regional Meeting

Oct 2 9:00 am-noon Tampa Bay

Florida Healthy Kids will be hosting four regional meetings across the state in an effort to provide valuable program information to partners and advocates of the Florida KidCare program. There will be a legislative update and an opportunity for questions and answers. Sponsored by Florida Healthy Kids. To attend, you'll need to get a registration form by emailing Amber Floyd at Healthy Kids at floyda@healthykids.org.

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.

Pharmaceutical and Therapeutics Committee

Oct 22 9:30 am to 2:30 pm Airport Marriott, Tampa
NOTE: The P&T meeting scheduled for September 24, 2008 has been moved. The following will be reviewed at the meeting: Information regarding Mass Review and Upcoming Products and Classes. Follow this link to review the procedures for public testimony.

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

KidCare Regional Meeting

Oct 1 1:00 pm- 4:00 pm Broward

Seeking Solutions for Uninsured Children in Florida

Oct 2 2:00-4:00 pm United Way of Miami-Dade, The Ansin Building

Share your experiences with representatives from the state agency administering KidCare; learn how policy changes will make a difference; and get the tools to make change happen to cover more uninsured eligible children. Sponsored by Florida CHAIN, Human Services Coalition, and Florida Child Health Care Coalition. RSVP to megb@hscdade.org or 305-576-5001 x32

South Florida Cancer Control Collaborative Meeting

Nov 13, Holy Cross Hospital, Fort Lauderdale

ICCD Key Clubhouse Working Group Meeting

Oct 14 7:15 pm South Miami

Contact mcperwins@earthlink.net for more information.

Making A Fix-It List for Health Care
Oct 16 6:30-8:30 pm Miami Little Havana location to be announced

There's no question that every family deserves a family doctor. It's time to talk about solutions. Come join neighbors and congressional and state legislators (invited) in discussing how you think health care needs to improve. Sponsored by ACORN, Human Services Coalition and Florida CHAIN. RSVP to megb@hscdade.org or 305-576- 5001 x32

AHCA Medicaid Behavioral Health Managed Care Advisory Group Meeting

Oct 22 2:00-4:00 pm Broward county Health Dept, 780 SW 24^th St, Ft. Lauderdale

Presented by AHCA Area 10 Medicaid Office. Medicaid consumers invited to join their local Medicaid office, HMO/PSN and MBHO plans, behavioral health providers and consumers in our forum to discuss program changes, quality of care, difficulties, advocacy issues and reports about positive outcomes as part of the ongoing monitoring for plans’ contracts. For additional information, please contact the local Medicaid Office at 954-202-3200.

Health Council of South Florida Annual Board of Directors Retreat
Nov 13 10:30 am - 5:00 pm Wyndham Miami Airport
For reservations or additional information, contact wsejour@healthcouncil.org or
305-592-1452, ext. 116

Notices

Miami-Dade Community Health Action Plan to Address Health Disparities

Southeast Florida Cancer Control Collaborative has submitted a draft of their Community Health Action Plan to Address Health Disparities to the Miami-Dade County Health Department on July 30, 2008 as the final product of the first year of the Mobilizing for Action Through Planning and Partnerships (MAPP) project. They will be meeting again sometime in late September 2008 to obtain your feedback on the draft, finalize the plan itself, and begin implementing the activities described (depending on cost and the availability of funding). Contact mjenakovich@healthcouncil.org for more information. SFCCC also refers you to the Florida State Health Disparities Strategic Plan as there may be some ideas in this document they will want to incorporate into local efforts.

FLORIDA AUDIO CONFERENCES AND WEBCAST

AHCA Conference Call on Implementation of HB5085, Section 12
Sept 26 10:30 am - 12:00 Noon

The Agency for Health Care Administration announces a telephone conference call to which all persons are invited to discuss the implementation of HB5085, Section 12. To participate, you may dial in: 1(888)302-3367 and type in conference ID number 64122694. A copy of the agenda may be obtained by contacting davisjd@ahca.myflorida.com or 850-488-3560. Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person requiring special accommodations to participate in this workshop/meeting is asked to advise the agency at least 7 days before the workshop/meeting by contacting Josh Davis at the contact information above. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the agency using the Florida Relay Service, 1(800)955-8771 (TDD) or 1(800)955-8770 (Voice).

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

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.

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

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

September 26, 2008

New listings, in order of submission deadlines

Dade Community Foundation 2008 FYI Miami Community Forum

Oct 3 9:30 am – noon Miami-Dade College - Wolfson Campus

Foundation staff will present an overview of its and facilitate a Community Dialogue about the current funding environment in Miami-Dade County. Admission is free of charge, but space is limited. RSVP at 305-371-2711 or gianne.ewingchow@dadecommunityfoundation.org

Miami-Dade Community Foundation Community Grants

Deadline: Nov 17

The Community Grants Program formally known as the Discretionary Grant Program is the Foundation's most general grant making program. Funding for this program is made available though the Foundation's unrestricted and field of interest funds. The Community Grants programs is designed to honor both the donors interests and address significant community issues such as: education, health, human services, arts and cultural, environment economic development at-risk youth, abused and neglected children, people living with HIV/AIDS, homelessness, social justice, care of animals, heart disease and more.

2009–2010 Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University Fellowship in Minority Health Policy

Deadline: Jan 2

Supported by The Commonwealth Fund, administered by the Minority Faculty Development Program at Harvard Medical School, this innovative fellowship is designed to prepare physicians, particularly minority physicians, for leadership roles in formulating and implementing public health policy and practice on a national, state, or community level. Five one-year, MPH degree-granting fellowships will be awarded per year. It is expected that CFHUF will develop a cadre of leaders in minority health, well-trained academically and professionally in public health, health policy, health management, and clinical medicine, as well as actively committed to careers in public service. Contact 617-432-2922 or mfdp_cfhuf@hms.harvard.edu

Continuing listings, in order of submission deadlines

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.

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.

Wal-Mart Foundation State Giving Program
Deadline: 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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

September 26, 2008

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

Technology and Audio Visual Materials

Media Programming

Web Sites, Web Features

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)

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.

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

New Listings: Children's Health Care

New Listings: Medicare

Medicare Issues New Rules to Enforce Marketing Requirements During Upcoming Health and Drug Plan Enrollment Period

CMS issued an interim final rule that would implement other provisions included in the new Medicare law. A key provision specifies restrictions on how agents and brokers are paid for signing up a beneficiary in a plan to eliminate incentives for agents or brokers to move beneficiaries from plan to plan, a practice known in the industry as churning. These guidelines, designed to protect beneficiaries from agents and brokers who may have been acting in their own financial interest rather than meeting the needs of the beneficiary, are based on existing industry standards. (September 2008, CMS)

Medicare Part D Low Income Subsidy: Assets and Income Are Both Important in Subsidy Denials, and Access to State and Manufacturer Drug Programs Is Uneven

This report examines the importance of assets and income in low-income subsidy denials in 2006 and 2007 and state and manufacturer programs providing access to prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries. The study finds that in 2006 and 2007, while assets and income were both factors in denials of low-income subsidies, income was "of greater importance." It also finds that programs from states and drug manufacturers to assist low-income beneficiaries "are uneven." GAO analyzed Social Security Administration data, information on state and pharmaceutical companies' drug programs, and interviewed officials from CMS, SSA, advocacy groups, states and pharmaceutical company programs. (9/5/08, GAO)

The Medicare Part D Coverage Gap: Costs and Consequences in 2007
This study quantifies, for the first time, the number of Medicare Part D plan enrollees in 2007 who reached a gap in their prescription drug coverage known as the "doughnut hole," as well as the changes in beneficiaries' use of medications and out-of-pocket spending after they reached that gap. The analysis excludes beneficiaries who receive low-income subsidies because they do not face a gap. It finds that 26% of Part D enrollees who filled any prescriptions in 2007 reached the gap. 22 percent remained in the gap for the remainder of the year, and four percent ultimately received catastrophic coverage. This suggests that about 3.4 million beneficiaries (14%) reached the gap and faced the full cost of their prescriptions in 2007. The study found evidence of patients changing or stopping their use of prescription drugs when they are required to pay the full cost. (8/21/08, KFF)

New Listings: Federal/State Budgets

New Listings: Health Insurance, Health Care Costs

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. (8/25/08, Health Affairs)

Patients' Hospital Bills Jumped $70 Billion In Just One Year

Hospital charges - what patients are billed for their rooms, nursing care, diagnostic tests and other services - jumped from $873 billion in 2005 to $943 billion in 2006. (September 2008, AHRQ)

Survey Predicts Health Costs Will Rise 5.7 Percent in 2009
According to a survey conducted by consulting firm Mercer, health care costs will rise by 5.7 percent next year for employers and their employees, an increase that is less than "the double-digit growth in previous years" but still higher than both inflation and the rise in workers’ wages. (9/4/08, AP)

Number of Uninsured Decreases Due to Government Programs
For the first time since President Bush took office, the number of uninsured Americans fell--from 47 million in 2006 to 45.7 million in 2007--mostly due to an increase in enrollment in government health coverage programs. (8/27/08, Los Angeles Times)

Obama’s Health Care Plan Would Cover More Uninsured Than McCain’s
Two studies evaluating the health care plans of Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama found that McCain’s plan "would make only a small dent in the ranks of the uninsured, at best covering about five million more people" while Obama’s plan would cover about 34 million. According to a preliminary estimate by the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, the health care plan proposed by Barack Obama "would reduce the number of uninsured by 18 million in 2009 and 34 million by 2018," while McCain’s plan would cover 1 million more Americans in 2009 and up to 5 million in 2013. (8/27/08, U.S. News and World Report)

An Examination of the Wyden-Bennett Health Reform Plan: Key Issues in a New Approach to Universal Coverage
Examination of the Wyden-Bennett plan that would restructure the U.S. health insurance system finds numerous positive aspects, including the goal of achieving universal coverage and reliance on group health insurance rather than the flawed individual market. It also provides key lessons about the critical need for the plan (as well as for other health reform plans taking a similar approach) to better minimize adverse selection, protect access to care for low-income vulnerable populations now on Medicaid and SCHIP, and ensure affordability for low- and moderate-income individuals and families who are now uninsured. (9/24/08, CBPP)

Americans Cut Health Care Spending in Face of Troubled Economy
While the health care sector was "once thought to be invulnerable to recession," Americans are cutting back on their health spending, including visits to the doctor, preventive tests and prescription drugs, "as the credit crunch threatens to throw the economy into a deep slump." (9/22/08, Wall Street Journal)

Study Shows Health Care Costs for Workers Will Rise by 9 Percent
A study by Hewitt Associates shows that health care premiums and out-of-pocket costs will rise by nearly 9 percent for workers in 2009, to $3,826, while health insurance costs for companies will increase by 6.4 percent, to $8,863 per employee per year. (9/21/08, Chicago Tribune)

AHRQ Survey Examines Employees' Costs for Health Care
Workers at large private-sector companies are more likely to be required to pay for their individual health coverage than workers with small private-sector companies, according to a survey by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (September 2008, AHRQ)

Studies Analyze Costs, Impact of Obama, McCain Health Care Plans

Twenty million people will lose coverage provided through their employers under Sen. John McCain's health care plan, while Sen. Barack Obama's proposal will add $100 billion in new spending every year, according to two separate analyses. The Obama estimate was based on cost projections of a proposal released by The Commonwealth Fund that shares certain features with Obama's plan, including a mandate for employer-sponsored insurance. (9/22/08, Health Affairs)

Study: Health Care Costs Consume Big Slice of Farmers' Income

At a time when food prices are on the rise, farmers across the country are finding cold comfort in their bounty: health care costs are drastically eating away at their income, leading many to financial hardship, according to a new report. (9/17/08, The Access Project)

The Continuing Cost of Privatization: Extra Payments to Medicare Advantage

The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 explicitly increased Medicare payments to private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. As a result, every MA plan in the nation is paid more than in traditional fee-for-service Medicare. The authors calculate that payments to MA plans in 2008 will be 12.4 percent greater than the corresponding costs in traditional Medicare—an average increase of $986 per MA plan enrollee, for a total of more than $8.5 billion. Over the five-year period 2004–2008, extra payments to MA plans are estimated to have totaled nearly $33 billion. Changes passed by Congress will not take effect until 2010 and leaves a number of factors remain unaffected. (9/5/08, Commonwealth Fund)

Continuous Innovation in Health Care: Implications of the Geisinger Experience

Through innovations like patient-centered medical homes, chronic disease management, and bundled payment of acute-care episodes, a health system in Pennsylvania is improving its quality of care and achieving better outcomes for patients, while at the same time lowering costs and increasing value. (September/October 2008, Health Affairs)

Seeing Red: The Growing Burden of Medical Bills and Debt Faced by U.S. Families

The 2007 Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey reports that 7 million adults age 65 and older struggled to pay medical bills and accumulated medical debt. In total, 79 million adults of all ages have medical debt or bill problems, a 7 percent increase from 2005 to 2007. (August 2008, Commonwealth Fund)

New Listings: Health Disparities

Study: Ethnically Diverse Medical Schools Pay Cultural Dividends

Students who attend more ethnically diverse medical schools are better prepared to work with a diverse group of patients, according to a new study. (September 2008, Journal of the American Medical Association)

New Listings: Other Health Issues

Are Many Community Hospitals Undertreating Breast Cancer?

A new study published in the found that Florida women with advanced breast cancer have lower survival rates when treated at high-volume or local community hospitals than at academic medical centers, also known as teaching hospitals. (August 2008, Annals of Surgery)

Well-Being Of Americans Declines As Economy Worsens

Recently released research points to a significant decline in overall well-being among all Americans over the past six months - more than 123 million Americans are now estimated to be struggling or suffering. Those struggling outnumber those thriving for the fourth consecutive month. (August 2008, Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index)

More Hospitals Offering Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Hospitals across the nation are responding to patient demand and integrating complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) services with the conventional services they normally provide, according to the results of a new survey. The survey shows that more than 37 percent of responding hospitals indicated they offer one or more CAM therapies, up from 26.5 percent in 2005. (9/17/08, AHA)

Medication Errors Reported by US Family Physicians and their Office Staff

This article abstracted and analyzed 194 medication-related errors using a medication error coding tool—Medication Error Types, Reasons, and Informatics Preventability (METRIP). The errors were voluntarily part of two error reporting studies. Among medication errors, 70% were prescribing, 10% administration, 10% documentation, 7% dispensing, and 3% monitoring. More than half reached patients, and those that didn't were prevented by pharmacists, physicians, patients, and nurses. The authors conclude that 57% of the reported errors might have been prevented with enhanced electronic prescribing and monitoring tools. (August 2008, Quality and Safety in Health Care)

Does Error and Adverse Event Reporting by Physicians and Nurses Differ?
This descriptive study of a standardized, electronic error reporting system (e-ERS) compared the reporting practices of physicians and nurses. Physicians reported 1.1 percent of total events, nurses 45.3 percent, and other hospital employees 53.6 percent, with physicians more likely to be the reporter for events that caused permanent harm, near death, or death of a patient. The authors conclude that physicians should be encouraged to increase their reporting of adverse events. (September 2008, Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety)

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

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

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)

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)

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)

Federal & State Budgets/Health Care

Health Insurance, Health Care

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

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)

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)

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)