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News
Secretary of Health and Human Services JudyAnn Bigby filled three key social service posts Monday, including new commissioners for the Department of Mental Health and the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind. View Article >>
House votes to add $50 billion for children's health: Bush threatens veto, proposes a $5b increase, Boston Globe, 8/2/07
The House of Representatives passed legislation to triple the funding for a health insurance program for low-income children, defying a threatened veto by President Bush. View Article >>
Senate approves children's health bill, Boston Globe, 8/2/07
The U.S. Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved legislation that would raise tobacco taxes to pay for expanding a children's health program, shrugging off a veto threat from President George W. Bush who wants a more limited plan. View Article >>
Uninsured face health plan delays: State deluged with applicants, Boston Globe, 8/11/07
The number of people seeking state-subsidized health insurance has overwhelmed the offices processing applications, forcing some of the uninsured to wait months to get coverage, according to state officials and healthcare advocates. View Article >>
Children may lose out on insurance: New US rules, state plan linked, Boston Globe, 8/22/07
Thousands of Massachusetts children from low-income families could be denied health insurance under new rules imposed by the Bush administration late last week. The rules could cut federal matching funds for a state-run program that is a key component of the state's health insurance initiative. View Article >>
Penny-pinching with health, Boston Globe, 8/26/07
Children are getting caught in the middle of a misguided political fight. View Article >>
47 million Americans are uninsured: 11.7 % Census data fuel attacks by Democrats, Boston Globe 8/29/07
A record 47 million Americans did not have health insurance last year, while the percentage of children without insurance rose for a second consecutive year, according to US Census Bureau data released yesterday, leading Democrats to charge that the Bush administration has ignored a growing, more vulnerable population. View Article >>
The dark side of healthcare reform, Boston Globe, 8/30/07
After extending healthcare coverage to more than 150,000 previously uninsured residents over the past year, Massachusetts health reform took a turn for the worse this month with the Patrick administration's proposal to limit the state's Free Care Pool. View Article >>
SCHIP sails for socialized health care, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 8/31/07
The Census Bureau reports that a record 47 million Americans are without health insurance, news that has sparked the usual political posturing and heated up the debate over reauthorizing SCHIP — the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. View Article >>
Bleak findings on health insurance, Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 9/1/07
The Census Bureau’s report on the state of American health insurance was as disturbing as its statistics on poverty and income. View Article >>
Meetings/Hearings
- Click here for the MassHealth Training Forum Meetings schedule.
- Click here for the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority Board Meetings schedule.
Research
Making Pay-For-Performance Work In Medicaid, Health Affairs 26 no. 4, w516-w527, 6/26/07
Findings from a Medicaid pay-for-performance (P4P) demonstration suggest that "money talks" only sometimes, when supportive program elements give it voice. View Report >>
Insuring All Children — The New Political Imperative, New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 357:70-76, 7/5/07
Efforts by the 110th Congress, which is commanded by Democrats eager to reduce the record number of people without health insurance, coupled with other federal and state initiatives, have thrust health care reform into the political limelight for the first time in 12 years. View Report >>
Medicaid Through Real-World Observation, Health Affairs 26, no. 4, w528-w531, 6/26/07
View Report >>
Nursing Home Use By Dual-Eligible Beneficiaries in the Last Year of Life, Inquiry: Vol. 44, No. 1, pp. 88–103, Spring 2007
Research on health care at the end of life has focused on Medicare-financed acute care services. Much less information has been available on nursing home use in the last year of life, particularly for individuals who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. View Report >>
Distributing State Children's Health Insurance Program Funds: A Critical Review of the Design and Implementation of the Funding Formula, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 32(3): 415-455, June 2007
This article evaluates the federal funding formula for the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) using key formula components of need, effort, capacity, and performance. View Report >>
Effects of Public Premiums on Children's Health Insurance Coverage, Urban Institute, Evidence from 1999 to 2003, Inquiry, 6/27/07, Volume 43, Number 4 (Winter 2006/2007): 345-361.
View Report >>
SCHIP At A Crossroads: Experiences To Date And Challenges Ahead, Health Affairs, Volume 26, Number 2 (2007): 356-369, 6/27/07
SCHIP has been a success, but the challenge will be to maintain and build upon that success. View Report >>