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February 29, 2008
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First Installment of New Series Seeks To "Separate the Forest from the Trees" in the Health Reform Debate
The first installment of the new Pulling It Together, series from Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman draws from the unique compendium of candidates' statements on health reform we have assembled on health08.org and our side-by-side comparisons of the candidates' health plans to tease out the fundamental differences between Democrats and Republicans and liberals and conservatives on health reform. This new section of the Web site "pulls together" analysis, data, and ideas from across the Foundation’s work to illuminate critical health policy issues.
Fact Sheet Summarizes President's Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Proposal for Medicare
This week, Kaiser issued a new fact sheet summarizing key Medicare provisions in the Bush Administration's fiscal year 2009 budget proposal. The fact sheet also reviews additional proposed legislation that responses the Medicare Trustees' "funding warning." Kaiser also updated two other fact sheets on the Medicare prescription drug benefit and on additional assistance available to many low-income Medicare beneficiaries.
Statehealthfacts.org Updates Data on Medicaid Enrollment and Spending, Medicaid and SCHIP Eligibility and Enrollment Practices, Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage, State Budgets, and More
Statehealthfacts.org has updated Medicaid spending and enrollment topics based on analysis of the latest Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data by the Foundation’s Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) and the Urban Institute. Enrollment by group and spending per Medicaid enrollee has been updated to FY2005 and is also available via customized state Medicaid fact sheets. New data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) and the Foundation’s KCMU on eligibility requirements and enrollment and renewal practices for pregnant women, parents, and children in Medicaid and SCHIP as of January 2008 are also available and included in the fact sheets. Other updates include the latest data from the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) on total state spending, general fund spending, and Medicaid’s share of general fund spending for SFY 2006 and the latest from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Medicaid coverage of tobacco-dependence treatments for 2006.
Application Deadline Extended for the 2008 Kaiser Award for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Reporting in Africa
The deadline to apply for the 2008 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Award for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Reporting in Africa, offered in partnership with CNN/MultiChoice, has been extended. Applications are now due on Friday, March 14, 2008. The competition is open to African journalists (including freelancers) working on the continent for an African-owned media organization which published their entry (in print or online) or broadcast it (on television or radio), in English, French or Portuguese between January and December 2007.
March 6 Policy Workshop to Examine Implications of Medicare's Funding Warning
On Thursday, March 6, Kaiser will hold a 9:30 a.m. policy workshop to examine the "45 percent trigger" -- a measure of Medicare's fiscal health -- and its implications for this year’s budget debate and Medicare’s long-term fiscal health. Created by the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, the trigger requires the President to propose changes to Medicare when the program's trustees project that general tax revenues will finance 45 percent or more of total Medicare spending, as they did last year. The Administration submitted a package of Medicare policy changes to Congress last week. Moderated by Kaiser Executive Vice President Diane Rowland, the workshop's panel will include Peter R. Orszag, director of the Congressional Budget Office; Julie L. Goon, special assistant to the president for economic policy in the National Economic Council; Marilyn Moon, vice president and director of the health program at the American Institutes for Research; and John Rother, AARP group executive officer of policy and strategy. It will take place in the Foundation’s Barbara Jordan Conference Center at 1330 G St., NW, Washington, D.C. To register for the event, RSVP to Tiffany Ford at tford@kff.org or (202) 347-5270.
In addition to Kaiser Family Foundation events listed above, a number of external organizations conduct activities at the Foundation's Barbara Jordan Conference Center in Washington, D.C. On Tuesday, Feb. 26, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance hosted a meeting.
Briefing On CMS Ten-Year Health Spending Projections
Health Affairs
 A podcast is also available.
Why So Many Americans Are Sicker and Die Younger than Others?
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Texas Democratic Presidential Debate Excerpts
University of Texas, Austin - Austin, TX
A podcast is also available.
Ohio Democratic Presidential Debate Excerpts
Cleveland State University - Cleveland, OH
A podcast is also available.
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