Critical Condition: What’s at Stake in Health Care Reform
BET hosted this news special, which discussed how current health reform proposals will specifically affect the African American community. The panelists on the show included White House Director of Domestic Policy Melody Barnes; U.S. Congress members James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Maxine Waters (D-CA); BET News’ Pamela Gentry; Conservative Policy Expert Bob Parks; Dr. Brian Smedley; Dr. Majorie Innocent; and Dr. Sampson Davis.

Stand Up for Health Care: Send a different kind of message to Congress.
Families USA will compile voice recordings to create a message to send to Congress. Encourage consumers, providers and advocates to lend their voices to this campaign and send a new message to Congress.

Paying for Better Care: A Consumer Advocate’s Reference Guide to Payment Reform

provides clear information about some of the most complex concepts of how we pay for health care.  It also provides guidance on evaluating payment reform proposals to ensure that they promote: Improved health outcomes, Increased reliance on primary care, Improved care coordination, Greater provider accountability to patients and communities, Patient-centered care that adjusts for unique needs and circumstances, Increased education and empowerment for patients and their families, Greater transparency on how providers are paid and the quality of care they offer. This report helps consumer advocates understand how the current fee-for-service payment model has contributed to escalating costs and lower quality care, what the alternative payment models are and how to evaluate them, and what roles advocates might play in crafting consumer-friendly payment reform nationally or in their states. Read this report and others in the series here. (August 2009, Community Catalyst)

HealthReform.org

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has launched to provide timely, nonpartisan information and tools to inform policymakers about the need to reform our ailing health care system.  Add the HealthReform.org widget to your social networking page or Web site. This widget feeds the day’s top health reform news clips and The Users’ Guide to the Health Reform Galaxy blog entries. Sign up to have the Daily Health Reform News Digest sent directly to your inbox. Check out The Users’ Guide to the Health Reform Galaxy blog. Learn about new and noteworthy research, data and expert commentary.Access real-time policy analysis. (RWJF)

www.WhiteHouse.gov/realitycheck

has been launched to knock down the rumors and lies that are floating around the internet. You can find the information below, and much more, there. Recent additions include a  video of Nancy-Ann DeParle from the Health Reform Office tackling a viral email head on. 

Pretty Short Summary of the 3 House Committees Health Care Reform Bills
One-pager about how ealth insurance would be provided through (1) employers; (2) a national insurance exchange; or (3) an expanded Medicaid program. Most aspects of the legislation will take effect starting in 2013.

(August 2009, Coalition on Human Needs)

10 Reasons to Support Health Care Reform

Even though key decisions are still being made, it is clear we have gained significant ground. There is much to be excited about in these proposals: Millions more people will gain health insurance, coverage will be more affordable, and people will have access to the health services they need. These provisions will improve the lives of millions of Americans and give us the peace of mind that comes with knowing that we have coverage no matter what. But the road ahead will not be easy. We must continue to work for improvements and we must ensure that we do not lose the gains we have made so far—they are worth fighting for. Below are some highlights in the health care reform proposals. (Families USA)

The Truth About Immigrants in Health Care Reform

Webinars, Audio, Videos and Films: Web, Rent/Purchase, Theater

Treatments on Different Races

CNN recently launched a video discussion on race and healthcare, Treatments on Different Races, as part of a week-long focus on health care issues. CNN anchors discussed disparities in disease outcomes between minorities and whites. According to the anchors, one of the most striking disparities is differences in survival rates—for example, the survival rate for black men that have strokes is 25 percent compared to 52 percent for a white men.

PERIODICALS AND BOOKS

Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data: Standardization for Health Care Quality Improvement

In The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) 2009 report, Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data: Standardization for Health Care Quality Improvement, the Subcommittee on Standardized Col­lection of Race/Ethnicity Data for Healthcare Quality Improvement identifies current models for collecting and coding race, ethnicity, and language data; reviews challenges involved in obtaining these data; and makes recommendations for a nationally standardized approach for use in health care quality improvement.  May be read online free of charge. (2009, Institute of Medicine)

Focusing on Children's Health: Community Approaches to Addressing Health Disparities

The Institute of Medicine’s recent report, Focusing on Children’s Health: Community Approaches to Addressing Health Disparities, describes the evidence linking early childhood life conditions and adult health; discusses the contribution of the early structural and social aspects in children’s lives to observed racial and ethnic disparities in health; and highlights successful models that engage both community factors and health care to affect the child’s development over life.  May be read online free of charge. (2009, Institute of Medicine)

Medical Manual for Religio-Cultural Competency

To meet the needs of its diverse clinician and patient constituency, EmblemHealth announced on Friday publication of what is believed to be the first comprehensive guide to help physicians and medical professionals address the needs of patients whose health care decisions are influenced by their religious and cultural beliefs. The manual is sponsored by EmblemHealth and created by the Tanenbaum Center For Interreligious Understanding, a global leader in training health care providers to offer religiously and culturally competent care for patients of all ages and backgrounds.

REPORTS AND STUDIES

New Listings

New Health Care Reform Reports 

Statement: Robert Greenstein, CBPP Executive Director, on the Senate Finance Committee’s Health Reform Bill
The Senate Finance Committee’s approval of an ambitious health reform plan marks a major step toward enactment of legislation to extend health care to tens of millions of people who lack it, strengthen insurance protections for millions more who are underinsured or face exorbitant charges, and begin to address the nation’s most serious fiscal threat — the relentless rise in health care costs. The CBO has reported that the bill would modestly reduce the budget deficit both over the next ten years and beyond. This is a fiscally responsible bill that would redirect federal spending and tax subsidies from less productive uses elsewhere in the health care sector. While the committee package represents a vast improvement over the current health insurance system, it has some serious shortcomings that likely would limit its effectiveness in certain areas. Because the health reform bills approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and three House committees are stronger in those areas, policymakers should blend the best provisions from these bills as they move forward. (10/13/09, CBPP)

Medicare Spending for Previously Uninsured Adults

Closing the healthcare coverage gap for older working-age adults could lead to substantial health gains and reduce Medicare spending, in turn offsetting almost half the costs of expanding coverage, a new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School finds. According to the report, people between the ages of 51 and 64 who had continuous coverage cost the Medicare system significantly less than those who did not. The authors estimate that while expanding coverage for uninsured adults between the ages of 51 and 64 would cost $197 billion due to greater healthcare utilization, the improved health of that population could lower future Medicare spending by $98 billion. (October 2009, Commonwealth Funded, in Annals of Internal Medicine)

Report: Health Bills Show Some Price Gaps
Older Americans who buy health insurance on their own could pay nearly 50% more in premiums under the Senate Finance Committee bill compared with other versions pending in Congress, an independent study says. (10/9/09, USA Today)

Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program Provisions: America's Affordable Health Choices Act & America's Healthy Future Act
This brief examines provisions related to Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in the House Tri-Committee bill and Senate Finance Committee bill compared to current law. (9/22/09, KFF)

AP Poll: Health Care Overhaul Has a Pulse
The fever has broken. The latest Associated Press-GfK poll has found that opposition to Obama's health care remake dropped dramatically in just a matter of weeks. Still, Americans remain divided over complex legislation that Democrats are advancing in Congress. (10/7/09, Washington Post)

Americans Willing to Fund Healthcare Reform - Poll
Most Americans would pay higher taxes to fund healthcare reforms that provide the best quality of care, but only a minority expects Washington to deliver it, according to a survey. (9/30/09, Reuters)

Should Congress Require that Most Americans Have Health Insurance?
The leading health reform bills in Congress would impose a national individual mandate requiring most Americans to have health insurance.  This Health Policy Brief explores the background of individual mandates; the technical aspects that still need to be agreed upon such as coverage standards, out-of-pocket-costs, purchasing exchanges, government subsidies and penalties; and the arguments on both sides of the issue. (9/29/09, Health Affairs/RWJF Health Policy Brief Series)

In Debate on Health, It's Coverage vs. Cost
As Democrats prepare to take up health care legislation on the floor of the Senate and the House, they are facing tough choices about two competing priorities. (10/6/09, NY Times)

Mandate Minus Price Controls May Increase Healthcare Costs
In the drive to bring health coverage to almost every American, lawmakers have largely rejected restrictions on how much insurers can charge, sparking fears that consumers will continue to face the skyrocketing premium increases of recent years. (9/24/09, LA Times)

Without US Healthcare Plan, States Could Pay More
If the US Congress fails to reform health care, states will spend more on their programs for the poor than they currently pay out, according to a new report on Wednesday. (9/30/09, Reuters)

In Delivering Care, More Isn't Always Better
A dirty word in health-care reform is "rationing," a term that conjures up the image of faceless government bureaucrats denying lifesaving therapies in the name of cutting costs. But what if the real issue is not the specter of future rationing, but the haphazard, even illogical, way in which care is delivered today? (9/29/09, Washington Post)

Many People Are Confused or Misinformed on What Is, and Is Not, in Health Reform Proposals
Large numbers of people either believe damaging misinformation about the health care proposals being discussed in Washington or are not sure what to believe. The polls also shows that almost half of all adults continue to support what they see as President Obama's health care reform proposals, significantly but not substantially more than oppose them. And, more people like the president's proposals than like what they think the Democrats in Congress are proposing, and much more than what they think Republicans in Congress want. (9/24/09, Harris Poll)

"Health Coverage in Florida: How Will Health Reform Help?"

Everyone—businesses large and small, seniors, children, those who currently have insurance, and those who don’t—will be guaranteed access to coverage they can afford if America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (H.R. 3200) becomes law. Many of the problems in Florida’s health care system will be fixed, so Floridians will be able to obtain and keep high-quality, affordable coverage that meets their needs. The major gaps in Florida’s current health coverage system are described below, along with the significant ways in which H.R. 3200 will address them. (Oct 2009, Families USA)

Americans Want Obama Administration to Focus on Economic Recovery Before Health Care Reform
When one thinks of the economy, there are different permutations of it. Are Americans thinking of the U.S. economy? Probably, but there is also the European economy and the Asian economy to consider as well and how confident are Americans in the overall strength of each of these. When it comes to the U.S. and global economy, Americans are split and there is uncertainty regarding the European and Asian economies. (9/29/09, Harris Poll)

Current Health Reform Proposals: No Government Takeover of American Health Care

found that health reform proposals would create consumer protections to improve the quality of coverage, use subsidies to help make insurance more affordable, and build on existing public programs so that they are better able to serve those who qualify. Health reform would retain a strong private sector, increase consumer choices, and help the uninsured purchase insurance. (Sept 2009, Urban Institute)

Out of Options: Why So Many Workers in Small Businesses Lack Affordable Health Insurance, and How Health Care Reform Can Help

examines why small businesses often have more difficulty offering their employees health insurance, as well as how the economic downturn has intensified the problem. The brief also outlines how measures in the health reform proposals, such as the creation of an exchange and tax credits for small businesses, could help small businesses and their employees gain access to affordable, comprehensive coverage. (Sept 2009, Commonwealth Fund)

Individuals with Special Needs and Health Reform: Adequacy of Health Insurance Coverage

examines the health care needs and medical expenses of three individuals who require extensive acute and long-term care to discover how reform proposals can best serve those with special health needs. It concludes that a comprehensive benefits package, limits on out-of-pocket expenses, subsidies, and strong Medicaid programs are essential to ensuring that people with special needs are fully supported under health reform. (Sept 2009, KFF)

Rite of Passage? Why Young Adults Become Uninsured and How New Policies Can Help, 2009 Update

explains why young people ages 19-29 continue to be one of the largest and fastest-growing groups without health insurance and the possible repercussions of this trend. The brief also suggests policy reforms that could help young adults stay insured as they become more independent.  (Aug 2009, Commonwealth Fund)

In Pursuit of Affordable Health Care: On the Ground Lessons from Families in Massachusetts

details how the state’s health reform legislation has achieved near-universal coverage (94.7 percent) by combining a foundation of public coverage with greater access to private insurance through employers. While some budgetary challenges remain, the program has been largely successful, including a marked increase in job-based coverage. (Sept 2009, KFF)

Health Reform in Massachusetts: An Update on Insurance Coverage and Support for Reform as of Fall 2008

provides an update of the impact on working-age adults, the primary target of reform policies, as well as an update on public support for health reform. The state has achieved its goal of near universal health coverage, and residents continue to show strong support for health reform, despite the rising costs of the program.  (Sept 2009, Urban Institute)

Explaining Health Reform: What Are Health Insurance Subsidies?

explains what insurance subsidies are and how they can help lower-income families and individuals afford health coverage. The brief also examines different ways of structuring subsidies and describes how each would affect the reform proposals that are currently under discussion in Congress. (Aug 2009, KFF)
 

Health Coverage and Expenses: Impact on Older Women’s Economic Well-Being

explores gender-based differences in health and long-term care use, spending patterns, and the financial burden of out-of-pocket expenses among Medicare beneficiaries. The study reveals that women’s health care expenses were higher than men’s, and older women had an even greater overall financial burden with less income at their disposal. It concludes that controlling health spending and developing options to help finance long-term care for Medicare enrollees are key to improving the economic security of older women. (Aug 2009, KFF)

The Risk of Losing Health Insurance over a Decade: New Findings from Longitudinal Data

reveals that nearly half of all Americans under the age of 65 go without health insurance in a 10-year period. In fact, 36 percent will go without coverage for at least one full year during that period. Given the frequency of gaps in coverage among Americans under 65, the study concludes that, without health reform that expands coverage, these trends are likely to worsen in the years to come.  (US Dept of Treasury)

Community Health and Senator Baucus's Reform Bill
This 7-page excerpt of a 30+ page summary produced by the American Hospital Association focuses on: coverage and insurance, reducing health disparities, wellness and prevention, and provisions relating to community benefit and tax-exempt hospitals.  For instance, did you know that Senator Baucus's bill would require hospitals to conduct community health needs assessments at least every three years and have a strategy to address those needs?  (Sept 2009, AHA/ACHI)

Improving Care and Reducing Costs by Expanding Coverage
A major focus of the health reform debate in Congress is the cost of covering uninsured Americans—and how to pay for it. However, a new Commonwealth Fund study released online demonstrates that expanding health coverage might not cost as much as policymakers assume. (10/5/09, Annals of Medicine)  

New: Florida Reports

Costly Coverage: Premiums Outpace Florida Paychecks
Over the past decade, the cost of health insurance has skyrocketed, while working families’ wages have merely inched upward. As the recession lingers on, this situation continues to worsen. Reduced hours and job losses have left millions of families struggling to afford their share of premiums and millions more with no coverage at all. The combination of stagnant wages and rising health care costs is placing a growing strain on family budgets, and many families have reached a breaking point. Quite simply, America's families are being priced out of health coverage. In addition to higher premiums, working families now face higher out-of-pocket health care costs, such as higher deductibles, copayments, and costs for services that are not covered by their insurance plans. As a result, health care costs are consuming an ever-larger portion of family budgets. It is clear why many families feel worse off economically than they did a decade ago. These state reports, which are based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, examine what these trends mean for America’s working families.  (Aug/Sept 2009, Families USA)

New Listings: Medicaid

New Listings: Children's Health Care 

New Listings: Medicare  

New Listings: Federal/State Budgets

New Listings: Health Insurance, Health Care Costs   

Cost Savings and Cost-Effectiveness of Clinical Preventive Care
This report evaluates the economic evidence for investing in preventative care as indicated in cost-effectiveness literature. The authors conclude: "Based on the literature synthesized in this report, there are relatively few clinical preventive interventions for which there is strong evidence of cost savings. Moreover, many preventive interventions that do save money are already in widespread use (e.g., childhood immunizations), thus limiting the potential for additional savings. For these reasons, it is unlikely that substantial cost savings can be achieved by increasing the level of investment in clinical preventive measures. On the other hand, this review has shown that many preventive measures deliver substantial health benefits given their costs" (Sept 2009, RWJF)