A convergence of factors-new leadership, high health care costs, a continuing decline in employer-based coverage, and limited options on the private insurance market coupled with a weakening economy has created a strong impetus for national health reform. At the top of the agenda is how to provide the millions of people who are uninsured with high-quality coverage that is affordable. Children have a large stake in this debate--both because of its implications for their families and the work that still is needed to ensure all children have coverage that addresses their unique needs. The following are resources and information on health reform activities, especially as they relate to children.
CCF Resources
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Poll: Affordability and Health Care Coverage (November 2009): This survey shows that families are still reeling from the recession,
feeling pessimistic about the future, and struggling to afford health
care. For this reason, their goal for health care
reform is overwhelmingly to make health care more affordable.
- Children in Health Care Reform: Where Things Stand (November 2009): This fact sheet provides basic information on the coverage pathways for
children and their families in the current health reform bills (HR 3962
and the Senate Finance Committee bill).
- Key Medicaid, CHIP, and Low-Income Provisions in H.R. 3962: The Affordable Health Care for America Act of 2009 (November 2009): This fact sheet provides a description of the key Medicaid, CHIP, and
low-income provisions in the merged health reform bill released by the House and amended on November 3, 2009.
- Access to Care for Children in Medicaid (October 2009): This one-page fact sheet provides a brief overview of children's access to care in Medicaid.
- Weathering the Storm: States Move Forward on Child and Family Health Coverage Despite Tough Economic Climate (September 2009): Despite unprecedented fiscal
challenges, all but a few states held steady on children's health
coverage and twenty-three states took steps to move forward. This
progress on children's coverage has important implications as the
nation moves forward with health reform.
- Children and Health Care Reform: Assuring Coverage Meets Their Health Care Needs (September 2009): Because they are growing and developing, children have a distinct set of health care needs that evolve over time and differ from those of adults. In the reform debate, it is particularly important to consider how well private plans might meet children's health care needs.
- Congressional Health Reform Legislation: Key Provisions Affecting Children and Families (August 6, 2009): This side-by-side compares the House bill (H.R. 3200) as approved by
the three committees of jurisdiction and the Senate HELP Committee
bill. It focuses primarily on the provisions affecting children and
low-income populations.
- House Tri-Committee Health Reform Bill Fact Sheet (July 17, 2009): This fact sheet provides a description of the key Medicaid, CHIP, and
low-income provisions in the health reform bill drafted by the Tri-Committee Group and released July 14, 2009.
- Summary of Senate HELP Affordable Health Choices Act
(June 26, 2009): This brief provides a summary of the legislation, an
analysis of its implications for children, and a chart outlining key
provisions of the legislation.
- The Last Piece of the Puzzle: Providing High-Quality, Affordable Health Coverage to All Children through National Health Reform (May 2009): Almost nine million children are uninsured and many more are at risk of not receiving the health care services that they need to develop and grow. To address these issues, children will need to be an integral part of the much larger debate now underway. This report provides a blueprint of what children need from health reform.
- Building on a Solid Foundation: Medicaid's Role in a Reformed Health Care System (March 2009):
Within the health reform debate there is broad consensus that a newly reformed system ought to build on the components of the current system, including the Medicaid program. This paper considers ways of doing this, focusing on three key areas: Medicaid eligibility and access; cost, efficiencies, and quality; and overall financing.
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