Policy Research
The following research was commissioned by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to explore the state of health care coverage and the uninsured in the United States.
August 14, 2008
New Report Shows that Kids with Health Insurance Get Needed Care, While Uninsured Kids Go Without
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released a report titled, "A Needed Lifeline: Chronically Ill Children and Public Health Insurance Coverage." The study 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.
Download the report
View the interactive map with state-by-state data
Read the press release
June 26, 2008
New Study Shows Americans' Access to Medical Care Deteriorates
More than 20 percent of the U.S. population in 2007 reported not getting or delaying needed medical care in the previous 12 months, up significantly from 14 percent in 2003, according to a national study released by the Center for Studying Health System Change.
Read the full article
April 29, 2008
New Research Shows Cost of Insurance Far Outpaces Income
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released a new research report this week in conjunction with Cover the Uninsured Week. The report, "SQUEEZED: How Costs for Insuring Families are Outpacing Income" show that a growing share of workers' earnings is being absorbed by the increasing costs of health insurance.
View the report
November 12, 2007
A Reporter's Toolkit: Health Care Costs
This Alliance for Health Reform toolkit will help explain trends in U.S. health spending and some of the reasons why spending is going up. It also provides some ideas for restraining health care costs.
View the toolkit
November 5, 2007
A Reporter's Toolkit: Child Health Coverage
This Alliance for Health Reform toolkit offers links to resources that will help explain how children in the U.S. get health coverage, and the importance of employer-sponsored coverage and public programs to children. It provides an overview of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), with an update on congressional reauthorization of the program.
View the toolkit
November 1, 2007
A Reporter's Toolkit: Medicaid
This Alliance for Health Reform toolkit will help explain who the Medicaid program covers, how it is financed, how it differs from Medicare, how states can alter Medicaid through federal waivers and what the future holds for the program.
View the toolkit
October 30, 2007
A Reporter's Toolkit: The Uninsured
This Alliance for Health Reform toolkit offers links to resources to help explain who lacks health coverage in the U.S. and the consequences of being uninsured. The toolkit offers links to proposals for change, including Web sites that track presidential candidates' plans, as well as to public opinion polls and updates on state-level reform.
View the toolkit
October 11, 2007
SCHIP Reauthorization: Can the President's Health Care Tax Proposal Serve as an Effective Substitute for SCHIP Expansion?
This analysis finds that the financial burden for families earning between 150-300 percent of the federal poverty level (approximately $32,000-65,000 for a family of four) would be much higher under the tax-deduction approach than under SCHIP. Therefore, the potential to decrease the number of uninsured children would be substantially greater under SCHIP expansion than under proposed tax deductions.
View the report
October 4, 2007
Summary of The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007
This report summarizes the key provisions of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (CHIPRA), the House-Senate compromise bill to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The report includes details of financing and funding allotments by state; outreach efforts; eligibility rules; adult coverage; benefits; and other aspects of the bill.
View the report
October 1, 2007
Concerns about Parents Dropping Employer Coverage to Enroll in SCHIP Overlook Issues of Affordability
This report documents that low-income families have difficulty affording employer-sponsored insurance when measured on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services affordability scale. The report also shows that Medicaid and SCHIP make health care affordable for low-income families by limiting premiums and other out-of-pocket spending.
View the report
September 24, 2007
Eligible but Not Enrolled: How SCHIP Reauthorization Can Help
This report outlines how SCHIP reauthorization could give states the flexibility to adopt innovative outreach strategies recently developed by Medicare to enroll eligible low-income kids.
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September 18, 2007
SCHIP Reauthorization: How Will Low-Income Kids Benefit under House and Senate Bills?
Findings from this Urban Institute report show that the majority of children who would benefit under the proposed SCHIP bills are from low-income families.
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August 29, 2007
Comparing Federal Government Surveys that Count Uninsured People in America
This brief compares estimates of health insurance coverage from three national surveys sponsored by the federal government which reveal different estimates of the number of Americans without health insurance coverage. The analysis indicates that all data point to tens of millions of uninsured Americans--and the number is growing. The report was prepared for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center, University of Minnesota.
View the report
August 23, 2007
Public Perceptions of the State Children's Health Insurance Program
A new public opinion poll shows that nine in 10 voters want the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) reauthorized. A majority support adding funds to expand program.
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August 9, 2007
Protecting America's Future: A State-by-State Look at SCHIP & Uninsured Kids
Research released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that despite the percentage of uninsured kids in America has fallen by 24 percent since Congress first authorized SCHIP in 1997, a total of 6.6 million children nationwide were enrolled in SCHIP at some point during 2006. The research also demonstrates that nationally, uninsured children are more than three times less likely than insured kids to visit a doctor in the course of a year.
View the report
March 2007
Research Brief: Introduction to the State Children's Health Insurance Program
View the research brief
March 2007
Research Brief: The Challenge of Enrolling and Retaining Low-Income Children in SCHIP
View the research brief
March 14, 2007
Whose Kids are Covered? A State-by-State Look at Uninsured Children
Research released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that, since 1997, employer offers of health insurance to parents with lower incomes have fallen three times as fast as offers to parents who earn more money. The report also provides a detailed look at uninsured children in every state.
View the report