Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
2007 Health Insurance Survey of Farm and Ranch Operators
Author(s): Bill Lottero, Carol Pryor, Mark Rukavina, Jeffrey Prottas, Alana Knudson
Sponsoring organization: Access Project
Issue brief describing health insurance coverage among farmers and ranchers. Based on a survey of non-corporate farm and ranch operators in seven states: Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
Date: 09 / 2007
A Roadmap to Health Insurance for All: Principles for Reform
Author(s): Sara R. Collins, Cathy Schoen, Karen Davis, Anne K. Gauthier, Stephen C. Schoenbaum
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Explores the different health insurance coverage options and how they improve quality and efficiency as well as gain control over spiraling health care costs.
Date: 10 / 2007
Assuring Health Coverage for Rural People Through Health Reform
Author(s): Andrew F. Coburn, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy D. McBride, Keith J. Mueller, Rebecca T. Slifkin, Erika Ziller
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Rural Health Panel
Reports that rural residents have a higher uninsured rate than their urban counterparts, and describes health care reform initiatives that can help improve coverage of rural Americans.
Date: 10 / 2009
Challenges and Tradeoffs in Low-Income Family Budgets: Implications for Health Coverage
Author(s): Claudia Williams, James Rosen, Julie Hudman, Molly O'Malley
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Explores the experiences of families trying to make ends meet on limited budgets. By discussing these families' work, spending patterns, financial challenges, priorities and tradeoffs and health care and coverage, this report intends to provide a deeper understanding of families' financial pressures and choices and information to assess the impact of current and proposed policies.
Date: 04 / 2004
Changes in Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Sponsorship, Eligibility, and Participation: 2001 to 2005 (Full Report)
Author(s): Lisa Clemans-Cope, Bowen Garrett
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Provides a detailed account of how employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) coverage changed between 2001 and 2005, particularly among employees. Identifies which groups were hardest hit by the decline in job-based coverage and how the reasons for the decline in ESI varied across different groups of employees.
Date: 12 / 2006
Characteristics of Rural & Urban Children Who Qualify For Medicaid or CHIP But Are Not Enrolled (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Jennifer King, Rebecca Slifkin, Mark Holmes
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center (Cecil G. Sheps Center)
Reports that there are rural-urban and regional
differences in the race and ethnicity of
qualified-but-uninsured children; about 6 in 10 qualified-but-uninsured children have family incomes below the federal poverty level; children of all ages are qualified for Medicaid or CHIP but not enrolled.
Date: 07 / 2009
COBRA Subsidy and Health Insurance for the Unemployed
Author(s): Karyn Schwartz
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Examines the COBRA provisions of the current legislation and answers key questions how they would work, who might benefit and how they interact with other laws and programs helping people obtain and maintain health coverage.
Date: 03 / 2009
Coverage When It Counts: How Much Protection Does Health Insurance Offer and How Can Consumers Know?
Author(s): Karen Pollitz, Eliza Bangit, Jennifer Libster, Stephanie Lewis, Nicole Johnston
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress Action Fund
Summarizes findings of two reports studying the adequacy and transparency of health insurance in Massachusetts and California. Suggests a new method of developing benchmarks to illustrate types and cost of medical care under a variety of scenarios.
Date: 05 / 2009
Decade of SCHIP Experience and Issues for Reauthorization
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Explores lessons learned and highlights key policy issues for the upcoming 2007 State Children's Health Insurance Program
reauthorization debate.
Date: 01 / 2007
Economic Crisis: The Toll on the Patients and Communities Hospitals Serve
Author(s): American Hospital Association
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
Interprets the results of an AHA survey of 1,078 U.S. community hospitals conducted in March 2009 about the effects of the economic downturn on patients and providers.
Date: 04 / 2009
Economic Downturn and Changes in Health Insurance Coverage, 2000-2003
Author(s): John Holahan, Arunabh Ghosh
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Describes the changes in health insurance coverage from 2000-2003. Includes data on the number of uninsured, health insurance coverage of children through Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), health insurance coverage by race/ethnicity, and more.
Date: 09 / 2004
Enrolling Uninsured Low-Income Children in Medicaid and SCHIP
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Outlines issues in outreach and enrollment for Medicaid and SCHIP. Provides a profile of eligible but uninsured children, discusses the greatest barriers to enrollment, and offers strategies to improve enrollment.
Date: 01 / 2007
Focus on Funding: Funding for SCHIP Outreach
Author(s): Beth Blevins
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Discusses the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), public health insurance programs, and federal and private funding for outreach.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 03 / 2007
Hard Times in the Heartland: Health Care in Rural America
Author(s): Meena Seshamani, Joan Van Nostrand, Jenna Kennedy, Carrie Cochran
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Discusses the current state of health care in rural areas and the need for health care reform. Covers the use and cost of insurance and health care for farm and ranch operators, poverty and unemployment rates, health disparities, and the state of health care provider workforce in rural America.
Date: 03 / 2009
Health Care and the Middle Class: More Costs and Less Coverage
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Focuses on health insurance coverage among those with middle incomes — its availability,
affordability, and stability.
Date: 07 / 2009
Health Coverage and Access to Care for Hispanics in "New Growth Communities" and "Major Hispanic Centers"
Author(s): Peter Cunningham, Michelle Banker, Samantha Artiga, Jennifer Tolbert
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Describes health insurance coverage and access to health care for Hispanics as the Hispanic population grows and moves beyond urban centers to rural and smaller urban communities. Compares Hispanics with non-Hispanic whites in these communities.
Date: 09 / 2006
Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Health Care for American Indian and Alaska Native Elders
Sponsoring organization: Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
Reports findings from a study assessing health insurance coverage and access to health care among American Indian and Alaska Native elders (Native elders), using data from a national survey that included more than 8,300 Native elders.
Date: 10 / 2007
Health Insurance Coverage in America: 2006 Data Update
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Includes a set of tables providing detailed information about health insurance coverage of the following subpopulations: nonelderly, children, nonelderly adults, and working adults.
Date: 06 / 2008
Health Insurance Coverage in Rural America: Chartbook
Author(s): Erika C. Ziller, Andrew F. Coburn, Stephenie L. Loux, Catherine Hoffman, Timothy D. McBride
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Information on rural-urban differences in health insurance coverage and differences in socio-economic and employment characteristics of those living in rural versus urban counties.
Date: 09 / 2003
Health Insurance Coverage of America’s Children
Author(s): Karyn Schwartz, Jhamirah Howard, Aimee Williams, Allison Cook
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Provides essential facts about children’s health insurance coverage using the 2007 Census Bureau data.
Date: 01 / 2009
Health Insurance Profile Indicates Need for Reform in Rural Areas (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Jennifer Lenardson, Erika Ziller, Andrew Coburn, Nathaniel Anderson
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Reports that rural residents-particularly in the most remote rural communities-are in greater need of health reform, as demonstrated by an uninsured rate higher than that of urban residents. The rural-urban disparity in coverage is driven by higher uninsured rates among rural adults, a group that should be part of any strategic effort to improve coverage. Analyses are based on the 2004-05 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
Date: 07 / 2009
Health Insurance Status of Full Time Workers by Demographic and Employer Characteristics, 2006
Author(s): G. Edward Miller, William A. Carroll
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Presents data for 2006 on the percentage of full time workers who had any private insurance during the year, had public insurance only, or who were uninsured for the entire year.
Date: 01 / 2009
Hidden Costs, Value Lost: Uninsurance in America (Full Report)
Sponsoring organization: Institute of Medicine
Covers some of the economic and social losses to the country of maintaining so many people without health insurance.
Date: 06 / 2003
Impact of Medicaid and SCHIP on Low-Income Children's Health
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Reviews the literature and examines the impact of Medicaid and SCHIP on coverage, access to care and health for the nation's low-income children.
Date: 02 / 2009
Impact of Welfare Reform on Health Insurance Coverage in Rural Areas
Author(s): Timothy D. McBride, Courtney Andrews
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Discusses the impact that welfare reform had on health insurance coverage for rural and urban areas. Includes information on employment status and health insurance coverage.
Date: 12 / 2005
In a Time of Growing Need: State Choices Influence Health Coverage Access for Children and Families
Author(s): Donna Cohen Ross, Laura Cox
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
The annual 50-state survey of enrollment and eligibility policies in Medicaid and SCHIP for low-income families reveals that 20 states are taking actions to simplify procedures and requirements for beneficiaries and, in some cases, expand eligibility.
Date: 10 / 2005
Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2008
Author(s): Carmen DeNavas-Walt, Bernadette D. Proctor, Jessica C. Smith
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
Provides the latest income, poverty, and health insurance data from the Current Population Survey.
Date: 09 / 2009
Individual Health Insurance: A Comprehensive Survey of Affordability, Access, and Benefits
Sponsoring organization: AHIP Center for Policy and Research
This study shows that individually purchased major medical insurance was more affordable and accessible than may be widely known, and offered a broad array of benefits.
Date: 08 / 2005
Instability of Public Health Insurance Coverage for Children and Their Families: Causes, Consequences, and Remedies
Author(s): Laura Summer, Cindy Mann
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Examines the extent, causes, and consequences of instability in public coverage programs for children and families. It focuses particularly on the phenomenon of "churning," which occurs when individuals lose and regain coverage in a short period of time. It also looks at strategies to make public program coverage more stable for children and families.
Date: 06 / 2006
Insuring America's Health: Principles and Recommendations
Sponsoring organization: Institute of Medicine
Offers a checklist of five principles useful in assessing coverage proposals. Describes the problems caused by a lack of health insurance, with statistics on the number of uninsured.
Date: 01 / 2004
Low-Income & Rural Beneficiaries with Medigap Coverage, 2007
Sponsoring organization: AHIP Center for Policy and Research
Data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey shows the critical role played by Medigap coverage, especially for low- and moderate-income beneficiaries, and those living in rural areas.
Date: 09 / 2009
Lower Premiums, Stronger Businesses: How Health Insurance Reform Will Bring Down Costs for Small Businesses
Author(s): Meena Seshamani
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Argues through statistical analysis and research that health insurance reform will lower premiums for small businesses and lead to additional benefits.
Date: 10 / 2009
More Americans, Including More Children, Now Lack Health Insurance
Sponsoring organization: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Provides Census data on the number of uninsured Americans.
Date: 08 / 2007
More Choices, Better Coverage: Health Insurance Reform for Rural America
Author(s): Julie Chang, Meena Seshamani, Joan Van Nostrand, Jenna Kennedy, Carrie Cochran
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Describes how the economic downturn may increase many of the health and access disparities that are already a problem in rural communities. Presents possible health insurance reform solutions.
Date: 10 / 2009
Opening Doorways to Health Care for Children: 10 Steps to Ensure Eligible but Uninsured Children Get Health Insurance
Author(s): Dawn Horner, Beth Morrow
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Despite the success of Medicaid and SCHIP in reducing the number of uninsured low-income children, over eight million children remain uninsured. Seventy percent of these uninsured children are eligible for public health coverage. This report lays out a plan for creating a series of enrollment doorways that make enrollment and renewal of children both routine and timely. The recommendations require a combination of both state and federal action.
Date: 04 / 2006
Outreach Strategies for Medicaid and SCHIP: An Overview of Effective Strategies and Activities
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Highlights key components of effective outreach strategies to enroll children in Medicaid and SCHIP and also to get them access to care once enrolled. Examines how these strategies have been implemented in states and the challenges of continuing to push for enrollment as states face continued fiscal pressures.
Date: 04 / 2006
Pre-existing Conditions Can Lead to Insurance Discrimination
Author(s): Ben Furnas
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
Provides statistics to identify how Americans with pre-existing medical conditions face discrimination in the private individual health insurance market.
Date: 04 / 2009
Private Health Insurance in Rural Areas: Challenges and Reform Options (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Erika Ziller, Andrew Coburn
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Reports that rural residents are less likely than their urban counterparts to have private health insurance coverage.
Date: 04 / 2009
Resuming the Path to Health Coverage for Children and Parents: A 50 State Update on Eligibility Rules, Enrollment and Renewal Procedures, and Cost-Sharing Practices in Medicaid and SCHIP in 2006
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Results of a new 50-state survey that shows one-third of states (17) increased access to health coverage in 2006 and no state cut income eligibility in Medicaid and SCHIP for the first time in four years.
Date: 01 / 2007
Rural Children Increasingly Rely on Medicaid and State Child Health Insurance Programs for Medical Care
Author(s): William P. O’Hare
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Discusses health insurance coverage for children and reports that the experience of children in small towns and rural areas often differs from the experience of their big-city counterparts. In rural America, more than one-third of all children rely on SCHIP and Medicaid for health care.
Date: 2007
Rural Families More Likely to be Uninsured and Have Different Sources of Coverage
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Research and policy brief examining patterns of health insurance coverage within rural families and comparing family-level insurance status for rural and urban families.
Date: 06 / 2007
SCHIP Turns 10: An Update on Enrollment and the Outlook on Reauthorization from the Program’s Directors
Author(s): Vernon Smith, Jason Cooke, David Rousseau, Robin Rudowitz, Caryn Marks
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Provides the latest data on SCHIP enrollment trends nationally and across the states and includes findings from structured interviews with directors from ten states.
Date: 05 / 2007
Squeezed! Caught between Unemployment Benefits And Health Care Costs
Author(s): Cheryl Fish-Parcham, Claire McAndrew
Sponsoring organization: Families USA
This report shows that, to maintain their employer-based health coverage under
COBRA, most unemployed people would have to devote a high proportion of their incomes to health insurance.
Date: 01 / 2009
State Children’s Health Insurance Program: Lessons and Outlook
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Highlights the lessons on covering children that have emerged from nearly 10 years of experience in the SCHIP program and lays out the major issues for SCHIP reauthorization.
Date: 04 / 2007
State of the States: Rising to the Challenge
Sponsoring organization: AcademyHealth
Discusses the number of uninsured in each state. Includes a section on “Access Barriers Persist in Rural Areas” on pages 12-13.
Date: 01 / 2008
State Strategies to Expand Health Insurance Coverage: Trends and Lessons for Policymakers
Author(s): A. Burton, I. Friedenzohn, E. Martinez-Vidal
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Describes the latest round of state coverage expansions efforts, including those in California, Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.
Date: 02 / 2007
Strengthening the Health Insurance System: How Health Insurance Reform Will Help America's Older and Senior Women
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Explains how health insurance reform can work to ensure that older and senior women get quality, affordable health care. Includes information on women's health in rural areas.
Date: 09 / 2009
Uninsured in America: Problems and Possible Solutions
Author(s): K. Davis
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
A summary of an article of same title that examines current roadblocks to universal health coverage in the U.S. and offers possible pathways to a health system in which affordable care is accessible to every American.
Date: 02 / 2007
Using Section 125-Premium-Only Plans to Expand Health Coverage
Author(s): Lynn Quincy
Sponsoring organization: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
Explores how states are using Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Section 125 employee benefit plans to increase access to health coverage.
Date: 09 / 2008
Wrong Direction: One Out of Three Americans Are Uninsured
Author(s): Kim Bailey
Sponsoring organization: Families USA
Provides a detailed analysis of who the uninsured Americans are, where they live, how long they have been without health coverage, and
their demographic characteristics.
Date: 09 / 2007
