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"Access Denied" – America's Growing Health Care Crisis		Community Health Centers (CHCs): Addressing The Access Problem		"Access Capital": Bolstering America's Primary Care Infrastructure
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Indianapolis Hospitals Extending Reach Statewide
(Posted 2/1/10)

The county hospital in Salem will be renamed St. Vincent Salem Hospital now that Indianapolis-based St. Vincent Health has agreed to lease it for five years, with an option to then buy it.

The agreement, approved by a federal bankruptcy judge this month, is St. Vincent’s latest attempt to expand its network of central Indiana hospitals to the far reaches of the state.

Please click here to read the article.

IRS Helping Jobless with Health Care Costs
(Posted 2/1/10)

The IRS is spreading word of the HCTC program, recently expanded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It’s working especially hard to do so in economically hard-hit Dayton and Flint, Mich.

Please click here to read the article.

State Unveils Attack Plan in Fight Against Cancer
(Posted 2/1/10)

With cancer taking a greater toll in Indiana than in many other states, a consortium of public health and medical experts Monday released a four-year plan for lowering the rate of cancer here.

Please click here to read the article.

Marian's Osteopathic School Could Be Economic Boon
(Posted 1/25/10)

Opening an osteopathic school will be no easy task for Marian University, but if plans to launch the state's second medical school succeed, the surrounding area could benefit economically. That has been the case in nine other cities where osteopathic schools have opened since 2000, officials said.

Please click here to read the article.

Program For Children Has Uncertain Future
(Posted 1/7/10)

As Democratic Congressional leaders work to merge the House and Senate versions of major health care legislation, a big question is what they will do about the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which now provides coverage to more than nine million children and pregnant women and is expected to cover more than 14 million by 2013.

Please click here to read the article.

HRSA Released PART D: COORDINATED HIV SERVICES AND ACCESS TO RESEARCH FOR WICY-ONE TIMESUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS
(Posted 12/18/09)

Part D grantees provide family-centered care involving outpatient or ambulatory care (directly or through contracts) for women, infants, children, and youth with HIV/AIDS. Grantees are expected to provide primary medical care, treatment, and support services to improve access to health care.

Please click here to read the release.

40th National Council Mental Health and Addictions Conference & Expo
(Posted 12/15/09)

National Council member organizations get an additional $200 off the regular registration price. Group discounts are also available — register three or more from your organization and take an additional $50 off each registration.

Only the National Council Conference will prepare you for new ways of delivering mental health and substance abuse treatment and support services in a changing world. You can’t afford miss the conference, and you can’t afford to miss the savings!

Click here to register online!

The emerging national discussion on how best to fix the U.S. health care system could not come at a more important time. America is in the midst of an economic recession that is driving up the numbers of uninsured, adding millions to public insurance programs, and leaving states with shrinking budgets and difficult choices. These factors place added pressure on the nation’s safety net providers, including the national network of Community Health Centers. Health Centers have more than 40 years of experience in reaching out to underserved communities and have shown their ability to adapt to meet new needs. Nearly all Health Centers report rising demand for their services in light of the economic downturn – a demand that, in turn, creates new pressures in terms of capital, workforce, and operations. Click here to read the full NACHC Report.

With one of the nation's highest unemployment rates, Elkhart and some neighboring cities in Northern Indiana soon will get some relief.

Speaking Thursday at Ivy Tech Community College in Elkhart, Gov. Mitch Daniels said seven companies will invest more than $22.6 million to add more than 500 jobs to the area. Click here to read the full story.

Hammered by sweeping layoffs in the auto and manufacturing industries, Indiana has jumped to No. 1 in the nation for the biggest increase in new jobless claims. The Labor Department said Thursday that Indiana had 22,494 new jobless claims for the week ending March 7, a jump of more than 5,600 from the previous week. Behind Indiana were Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida and Michigan. The figures show that Indiana's manufacturers have taken big lumps in recent months, reflecting the broad downturn in the nation's manufacturing base. The big jump in jobless claims doesn't necessarily mean Indiana is suffering a deeper downturn than other states, only that new claims for a single week jumped sharply. To read more please click here.

The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) and the Indiana Primary Health Care Association (IPHCA) commissioned the Indiana Business Research Center, of Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, to study the economic impact of Indiana Community Health Centers (CHCs) on the state. The report shows that the statewide economic footprint of CHCs is $195 million and for every dollar spent by a CHC, an additional 54 cents is produced in Indiana. Furthermore, an estimated $9 million is generated in state and local taxes by direct spending of CHCs. To read the complete report, please click here.

Last month, the nation’s unemployment rate climbed to 8.1 percent, its highest level since 1983. This rise in unemployment has created new difficulties and concerns for many Americans who rely on employer-sponsored health benefits for their family health coverage. The stimulus bill provides temporary subsidies to some workers so that they can maintain their previous employer-sponsored coverage through COBRA after a layoff. To read the complete Brief, please click here.

Indiana ranks dead last among states in getting federal funds to prevent disease and injuries, leaving it more vulnerable to higher health-care costs at a time when the recession has cut state revenues, a report released Tuesday said. Indiana collected just $12.74 per person last year from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nonprofit Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found. Click here to read more.

President Obama provided a hint on Monday of one direction he could take with his health care reform -- community health centers. Obama highlighted the allocation of $155 million to 126 community health centers as part of the $787 billion economic stimulus package. "These health centers will expand access to care by helping people in need -- many with no health insurance -- obtain access to comprehensive primary and preventive health care services," Obama told a news conference. The Health and Human Services Department said the money would create 5,500 new jobs and help provide health care to an estimated 750,000 low-income Americans. Click here for more information.

A typical primary care physician who treats elderly Medicare patients must coordinate care with 229 other physicians working in 117 different practices, according to this study, Primary Care Physicians’ Links to Other Physicians through Medicare Patients: The Scope of Care Coordination, by researchers at Health Systems Change, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Policy makers and insurers are searching for strategies to improve care coordination and reinvigorate primary care as a critical component of reforming the U.S. health care system. As Medicare and private health plans experiment with extra payments to primary care physicians to coordinate care—for example through medical homes—the study findings suggest that substantial delivery system reforms may be needed to make such models work. To read full study, click here.

State of the States is a study released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that reviews the full range of activity on health reform during 2008. With the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency, Congressional leaders have begun to set ambitious goals for the 111th Congress, including comprehensive coverage and systemic reforms to promote quality care and cost containment. For this reason, this year’s report not only analyzes the experience of states in the past year, but also explores the relationship between states and the federal government. To view the full report, click here.

A new report by Families USA examines the health coverage status of unemployed workers whose family incomes are below 200 percent of poverty. The report, entitled “Unemployed and Uninsured in America”, found that despite their modest incomes, only one in four unemployed workers (25.2 percent) who earn less than 200 percent of poverty receives health coverage through Medicaid or other public programs. Nationally, more than half (54 percent) of unemployed workers with annual incomes below 200 percent of poverty are uninsured. In virtually every state in the nation, more than half of unemployed workers with family incomes below 200 percent of poverty are uninsured. To read the full report, click here.

Primary Health Care- Now More than Ever, is a study that examines the strong need for primary health care reform, while responding to the challenges of a changing world to facing growing expectations for better performance. Globalization is putting the social cohesion of many countries under stress, and health systems, as key constituents of the architecture of contemporary societies, are clearly not performing as well as they could and as they should. People are increasingly impatient with the inability of health services to deliver levels of national coverage that meet stated demands and changing needs, and with their failure to provide services in ways that correspond to their expectations. Few would disagree that health systems need to respond better – and faster – to the challenges of a changing world. Primary health care can do that. To view this report please, click here, and navigate to the 4th article under "Health Systems".

More children and working-age Americans are going without needed prescription drugs due to cost concerns, according to a new study from the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC). The study, More Nonelderly Americans Face Problems Affording Prescription Drugs, indicates that rising drug costs and increasingly less generous drug coverage are likely contributors to this growing problem. In 2007, one in seven Americans under age 65 reported not filling a prescription in the previous year because they couldn’t afford it, up from one in 10 in 2003.

The most vulnerable – those with low incomes, chronic conditions, or no health insurance – face the greatest struggle. Uninsured working-age Americans saw the biggest jump in unfilled prescriptions between 2003 and 2007, from 26% to nearly 35%. At the same time, a growing number of Americans with employer-sponsored health insurance also reported going without needed prescriptions. The number of Americans who cannot afford prescription medications is likely to grow as the economy continues to deteriorate and the ranks of the uninsured grow. To read the full report, click here.

A new study in the Journal of Rural Health (January 2009) underscores the dramatic impact of Community Health Centers, or CHCs, in cutting costly visits to hospital emergency rooms (ERs) in rural areas. Researchers at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta examined ER visits by the uninsured in rural Georgia and found a 33% differential for uninsured ER visits in counties without a CHC.

The study - Presence of a Community Health Center and Uninsured Emergency Department Visit Rates in Rural Counties - underscores the critical role of Community Health Centers in reducing ER visits and keeping health costs down by treating patients, including the uninsured, in a primary care setting. The study notes that costs for ER visits by the uninsured are often carried by other patients, payers, and communities. In rural areas (where uninsured rates are often higher), the burden of uninsured ER visits has a direct impact on the financial viability of small rural hospitals. To access the study through the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), please click here.

Economy Affecting Health Care Coverage

As the economy deteriorates and unemployment rises, changes are occurring in the number of people covered by employer-sponsored health insurance, Medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and non-group insurance policies, with significant financial implications for government budgets. The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, in its recent reportentitled Rising Unemployment, Medicaid and the Uninsured, projects that if the unemployment rate rose to 7%, Medicaid and SCHIP rolls would increase by 2.4 million. Related estimates for potential Medicaid and SCHIP costs to states are also examined; if states were to limit eligibility, then Medicaid and SCHIP enrollment / spending would be depressed and the number of uninsured would increase. To access the complete policy brief through the Kaiser Family Foundation web site, click here.

The American College of Physicians’ white paper entitled “How is a Shortage of Primary Care Physicians Affecting the Quality and Cost of Medical Care?” does a comprehensive review of the gap between the need for primary care, and the numbers of physicians in primary care specialties and practices. A shortage of primary care physicians will have huge, adverse implications for access, quality, and cost of care in the United States. The focus is on advocating for the proper health care reform that will facilitate a sufficient supply of primary care physicians. Otherwise, policies designed to expand access to insurance coverage, although essential, will not by themselves achieve the intended result of assuring that all Americans have access to high-quality, affordable care. Moreover, the cost of providing coverage to more than 46 million uninsured Americans will be much higher--and the outcomes of care much poorer--if expansi on of coverage is accomplished without also concurrently expanding the primary care workforce. To read the full study through the American College of Physicians website, click here.

Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have collaboratively released their 6th annual report entitled Ready or Not? Protecting the Public's Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism. Among other items, the new report includes state-by-state scores for 10 key indicators assessing health emergency preparedness capabilities. More than half of U.S. states scored 7 or less out of a possible 10, while Indiana scored 9.

The report also addresses major gaps in many critical areas of preparedness, including surge capacity, rapid disease detection, and food safety. In addition, it discusses the significant risks posed by budget cuts and the economic crisis to progress in protecting the country from disease outbreaks, natural disasters, and bioterrorism.

To read the full report, click here; to view Indiana’s ranking in detail, click here.

The March of Dimes has produced an online pop-up map that grades each state by comparing their rates of premature birth to the nation's objective of 7.6% or less. Indiana received an “F” for failing so many pre-term babies. No state received an ”A”; the majority of states were in the “C” – “F” range, and the nation as a whole received a “D”.

The map, entitled 2008 Premature Births Report Card, is also supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Business Group on Health, the American Benefits Council, and dozens of other organizations. Accompanying materials provide recommendations for improving pre-maturity rates, as well as an online (signable) “Petition for Preemies” urging Federal and state policy-makers to support research, data collection, and strategy identification / testing to address the problem of prematurity. To access the report card through the March of Dimes website, click here.

Approaches to Covering the Uninsured: A Guide explains the main focuses for increasing coverage to the nation's 45 million uninsured people and describes how the different policy options can be integrated to create comprehensive reform proposals. It organizes the numerous policy strategies under four overall approaches: strengthening current coverage arrangements, improving the affordability of coverage, improving the availability of coverage, and changing the tax treatment and financing of health insurance. To view this guide through the Kaiser Family Foundation website, click here.

While legislators have been focusing on raising reimbursement rates as a way to increase physician participation in Medicaid, the primary concerns of physicians are delayed payments and other administrative burdens associated with the Medicaid program itself. A new study published in Health Affairs, entitled Do Reimbursement Delays Discourage Medicaid Participation by Physicians?, examines this issue through an analysis of state-level data from the 2004–05 Community Tracking Study Physician Survey. This study examines how Medicaid reimbursement timeframes affect physicians’ willingness to accept Medicaid patients. For free access to this article through the Center for Studying Health Systems Change, click here.

As described in National Priorities Partnership Sets Action Agenda to Improve Health Care (see link below), a new consortium of 28 organizations – including the National Association of Community Health Centers – was recently brought together to transform the quality and safety of health care for 2009 and beyond. The new partnership, convened by the National Quality Forum (NQF) and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, represents those who receive, pay for, deliver, and evaluate health care.

Six target areas will be addressed to help eliminate waste, harm, and disparities in order to create and expand world-class, patient-centered, and affordable health care. To access information about the new partnership through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation website, click here.

"From Volume to Value: Transforming Health Care Payment and Delivery Systems" is a new report showing how we can change costly and potentially dangerous payment incentives within the current U.S. health care system. Posing a major issue RE: the quality and cost of our nation’s health care, payment mechanisms currently reward the quantity of treatment rather than the quality of care. The report, from the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI), encourages solutions that could save billions of dollars and make expansion of health insurance to the uninsured more affordable.

The study asserts that by addressing urgent payment issues and overcoming related challenges, we can move proposed improvements from concept to reality through payment reform, quality improvement, and cost reductions within the health care system. To access the full report through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (the study’s funder), click here.

Good health and a nurturing environment during childhood are vital factors in determining potential health and well-being throughout life. America's Health Starts With Healthy Children: How Do States Compare? – a new resource from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – takes a closer look at children from different socioeconomic backgrounds in every state, documenting how healthy our nation's children are now and how healthy they could be if the U.S. realized its full health potential.

A new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) found evidence that people treated for depression in primary care clinics providing coordinated mental and physical health services do better and have fewer symptoms than patients treated at sites providing health services only. However, the authors could identify neither how this occurred, nor whether traditional beliefs about integrating mental and physical health services - or simply systematic practice - produced the benefit.

The study was co-funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Office of Women’s Health, and Office of Minority Health. To see the full report, click here.

“Patient activation” can be defined as an individual’s ability to control his or her own health and health planning. Engaging individuals in caring for their own health is a major concern for employers, health plans, and policy makers. According to a new study entitled How Engaged Are Consumers in Their Health and Health Care, and Why Does It Matter?, from the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC), patient activation levels vary significantly across the U.S. population, with less than half of the adult population at the highest level.

The study addresses how patient activation is especially low for people with low incomes, those with low levels of education, Medicaid enrollees, and people with poor self-reported health. Higher activation levels are associated with significantly lower levels of unmet need for medical care, and with greater support from health care providers for self-management of chronic conditions. To read more, click here.

A recent report – Premiums versus Paychecks: A Growing Burden for Indiana’s Workers – addresses a problem that is weighing more and more heavily on Indiana’s working families. In 2006, Families USA established the first state-by-state study documenting increasing health care premiums relative to stand-still earnings. Since then, health insurance premiums have continued their upward trend despite a rapidly weakening economy.

From 2000 - 2007, family health insurance premiums for Indiana’s workers rose 7.3 times more quickly than median earnings. On average, health care premiums for family coverage rose by 83.4% during this period, while median earnings rose by just 11.4%. The clear message is that health care costs are absorbing a larger portion of family budgets – and hurting more Indiana families – than was true eight years ago. To read more, click here.

Major health insurance changes around the country in 2007 resulted in a reduction of 1.5 million in the number of uninsured persons under age 65. A new policy brief from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, entitled The Decline in the Uninsured in 2007: Why Did It Happen and Can It Last?, examines the issues behind this drop and finds that the reduction was partially due to increased public coverage. This includes about 300,000 persons in Massachusetts, which implemented comprehensive health reform in 2007.

The brief also projects that the current economic downturn and rising unemployment rate will likely cause the number of uninsured to grow by at least 2 million in 2008. To access the full text of the briefing through the Kaiser Family Foundation website, click here.

A The largest age cohort of uninsured Americans is between ages 20 and 30. While some young people forgo health insurance because they don’t consider health problems likely and choose not to spend money on health insurance, most are uninsured due to lack of access and affordability. An article summary entitled Growing Number of Young Uninsured Americans Deepens Health Crisis indicates that health care costs which go unpaid by this group eventually fall on everyone else.

To access the full text through the Cover the Uninsured website, click here.

The Numbers Tell the Story: Health Insurance and Poverty Rates

A new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reveals that the number of Americans living in poverty in 2007 climbed by 816,000, even as the poverty rate itself remained unchanged. Overall, the poverty rate remained higher, median income for working-age households remained lower, and both the number and percentage of Americans without health insurance remained greater than at the bottom point (2001) of the last U.S. recession.

According to the report, this is the first time poverty and typical working-age household incomes have actually worsened despite six consecutive years of economic growth. And a weakening economy makes it probable that in 2008 poverty will rise, median income will fall, and the number of uninsured will increase. To view the full report, click here.

Racial and ethnic disparities are closely connected to poorer health outcomes and lower quality of care. Language and cultural barriers can have a considerable impact when not fully addressed by health care organizations. One Size Does Not Fit All: Meeting the Health Care Needs of Diverse Populations , a report from the Joint Commission, provides a framework for health care organizations in developing practices to meet diverse patient needs. The goal of the report is to help these organizations overcome challenges to provision of safe, high quality health care in an increasingly complex system. To view the full report, click here.

With the steady rise in health care costs, employers are increasingly shifting the burden onto employees. Low-and middle-income families finding it difficult to pay for increasing out-of-pocket medical expenses are turning to credit cards and accumulating more medical debt. To better understand this phenomenon, Demos, a public policy and research organization, surveyed low-and middle-income households across the nation with credit card debt. From the resulting data, Demos compiled a report entitled Borrowing to Stay Healthy: How Credit Debt is Related to Medical Expenses,which discuss the survey’s key findings. To access the full report through the Annie E. Casey Foundation website, click here.

Updated National Data on Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage

A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau provides important national data on health insurance coverage, income, and poverty . Although the data show an increase in overall annual household income and a decrease in the number / percentage of individuals without health insurance coverage from 2006 - 2007, the results were not uniform across subpopulations. To view the full report - entitled Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2007 - please click here.

High Health Care Costs, Shrinking Coverage – An Unhealthy Combination on the Rise

Using data from its Biennial Health Insurance Survey, The Commonwealth Fund recently released a report entitled Losing Ground: How the Loss of Adequate Health Insurance is Burdening Working Families, examining the status of health insurance for U.S. adults under 65 and analyzing the impact on both family finances and access to health care. With the nation in an economic downturn, increasing numbers of families – 79 million of them, according to the new study – are finding themselves saddled with medical debt. The combination of high costs of care and decreasing coverage is causing more people to forego much-needed care. To access the full report, click here.

Study Demonstrates Valuable Role of Community Health Centers

A new study based on national data reflects the vital role Community Health Centers (CHCs) play in caring for some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations. The Geiger Gibson / RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative recently released a research brief entitled Uninsured and Medicaid Patients' Access to Preventive Care: Comparison of Health Centers and Other Primary Care Providers, highlighting the importance of preventive services to Medicaid recipients and the uninsured, and comparing CHCs’ prevention-based performance to that of other primary care practices.

The study concluded that Community Health Centers were far more successful than their counterparts in providing preventive services. The findings underscore the value of Health Centers in serving hard-to-reach populations, as well as demonstrating the importance of ongoing support for CHCs. To access the full report, click here.

New Report Shows Costs of Health Care for the Uninsured

Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured recently issued a comparative report on health care spending for uninsured populations. The study, entitled Covering the Uninsured in 2008: Current Costs, Sources of Payment, and Incremental Costs , indicates that the uninsured will spend $30 billion out-of-pocket for health care in 2008, while receiving $56 billion – 75% of it from government-related sources - in uncompensated care. The study also projects the cost to the nation’s health care system if all uninsured were covered by health insurance. The report, which updates a previous Kaiser Foundation study, was authored by researchers from George Mason University and the Urban Institute.To access the full report, click here.

Bringing the Pieces Together

Fragmentation in health care delivery, considered a fundamental factor in the overall poor performance of the nation’s health system, has become a critical issue. The Commonwealth Fund’s Commission on a High Performance Health System recently released the results of a study addressing the effects of fragmentation on the quality and delivery of care. The report – Organizing the U.S. Health Care Delivery System for High Performance Health – includes recommendations to foster a more collaborative health care system. The study focuses particularly on barriers to care at the community level and offers policy recommendations to stimulate better organization within the health system. To access the full report, click here.

New Report Addresses Critical Primary Care Workforce Shortage

A new report, Access Transformed: Building a Primary Care Workforce for the 21st Century, says that while the road to a stable primary care system in high-need communities lies in the success of the federal Community Health Center (CHC) program, these Centers face a growing shortage of primary care providers and nurses. According to an official with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), which helped produce the report, this is among the most important policy challenges currently facing our health care system.

Studies are increasingly finding that a nationwide shortage of primary health care professionals is becoming critical, especially in areas such as those served by CHCs. A growing inaccessibility of primary care services would most likely produce even greater deficits in America’s health, including worsening outcomes, widening health disparities, and substantial increases in health care costs. The new report - from NACHC, the Robert Graham Center, and George Washington University - cites state-level projections of rising patient need that is expected to seriously stretch the nation’s health care system in years ahead. To access the full report, click here.

Medicaid Responsiveness, Health Coverage, and Economic Resilience: A Preliminary Analysis

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies has released an important report on Medicaid’s responsiveness to the nation’s changing economy. Medicaid Responsiveness, Health Coverage, and Economic Resilience: A Preliminary Analysis suggests that Medicaid reductions currently being considered by Congress would necessitate firm caps on either Medicaid enrollment or federal Medicaid spending, either of which would pose significant problems for an increasing uninsured population.

The report shows that as economic conditions have increased the number of people qualifying for Medicaid, the program’s capacity to expand in response to the growing need has prevented millions of Americans from losing health coverage. For example, had Medicaid been capped at 1999 levels, the number of uninsured in 2004 would have been 6 million higher than it was. The study also found that enabling Medicaid to increase enrollment in response to recession actually helps with economic recovery. To access the complete report, click here.

Commonwealth Fund Study Documents U.S. Health System Problems

The first comprehensive method for measuring and monitoring U.S. health care outcomes, access, quality, efficiency, and equity was developed for the Commonwealth Fund in 2006. The Fund recently released Why Not the Best? Results from the National Scorecard on U.S. Health System Performance, 2008, documenting numerous shortcomings in America’s health care system.

Of perhaps greatest concern is that the indicator of access to care has significantly declined since 2006.  In addition, the U.S. has failed to keep pace with health outcome gains achieved by other countries, falling to last place among 19 nations (from 15th in 2006) on a measure of mortality amenable to medical care. Overall, across 37 core indicators of performance, the U.S. achieves an overall score of 65 out of a possible 100.

To view the complete study, click here. 

Health Disparities for Males of Color

A report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies entitled Community Health Strategies to Better the Life Options of Boys and Young Men of Color: Policy Issues and Solutions focuses on strategies to protect the health of males of color. It addresses five major areas:

(1) Access to community-based services;
(2) Enrollment in publicly supported health coverage programs;
(3) Mental health and substance abuse services (including integration of physical and behavioral health programs);
(4) Access to comprehensive health services reflecting the community’s cultural / racial composition; and
(5) Access to high quality health services within the criminal / juvenile justice and foster care systems.

To access the full report, click here.

Public Programs: A Solution?

Ways to expand health insurance for people with low incomes vary, from broadening public programs to relying on tax subsidies that enable individuals to purchase private insurance. A related study by The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, in collaboration with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, was recently featured in the journal Health Affairs.

Access to Medical Care Increasingly in Jeopardy

More and more Americans are going without or delaying medical care, according to the findings of a recent report from The Center for Studying Health System Change. The report – Falling Behind: Americans' Access to Medical Care Deteriorates, 2003-2007 – documents declining access between 2003, when one in seven Americans reported not getting or delaying needed care, and 2007, when one in five reported the same thing. While access deteriorated for both insured and uninsured people, the insured experienced a larger relative increase in access problems. Click here to view the report.

Success of Community Health Centers (CHCs)

The year 2001 launched a major national expansion of the Community Health Center (CHC) network, the main source of health care for some of the most vulnerable populations across the country. CHCs funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) provide comprehensive primary care to those who would otherwise either go to overcrowded and costly Emergency Rooms, or simply forego badly-needed care. Reports show that HRSA-funded Health Centers touch more than 16 million llives annually.

Using patient stories, Health Center examples, and background statistics, a new report entitled Health Centers: America´s Primary Care Safety Net - Reflections on Success 2002-2007 details the broad reach of CHCs across the country, offering a glimpse into the work of these Centers in overcoming economic, cultural, and language barriers that can too often stand in the way of health care for patients on the margins of society.

Click here to access the complete document through HRSA´s website.

"Medical Home" Model: Full Steam Ahead

Both public and private health care stakeholders are increasingly moving toward innovative models of service delivery that better support effective, patient centered primary care. An issue briefing recently released by the National Association of State Health Policy (NASHP), in partnership with the Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative, focuses on the growing shift towards the concept of a "Patient Centered Medical Home," which establishes primary care teams that attend to the comprehensive needs of patients and that provide whole person, patient centered care.

This briefing, Strategies States Can Use to Support the Infrastructure of a Medical Home, examines ideas states can utilize to support practices that facilitate the Medical Home model.  To access this briefing through NASHP's website, click here.

Indiana Ranked 34th Among States in Child Well-Being  

The 19th annual Kids Count Data Book is a major initiative of the Annie E. Casey Foundation to develop a national and state-by-state profile of the well-being of America's children.  It ranks states on 10 key measures and provides data on the economic, health, education, and social conditions of America's children and families. The latest Kids Count Data Book ranks Indiana 34th among states in child well-being.

The study found that the percentage of Indiana's children living in poverty in 2006 rose one percentage point to 18% - the same percentage as the declining rate nationally. Indiana is ranked 39th in infant mortality rate and 38th in child death rate. To access the 2008 Kids Count Data Book, click here.

Health Care Coverage for Young Adults: An Important Update

Young adults 19 - 29 years old are the leading subset of the U.S. population lacking health insurance, with 13.7 million being uninsured in 2006. Nearly 40% of high school graduates not attending college, as well as 1/3 of college graduates, are typically uninsured at some time during their first year following graduation. Employer-based health policies cover dependents only up to a certain age; however, some states are passing laws to expand such coverage to the ages of 24 or 25 under parental policies.

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Children's Health Across the 50 States

A great many children in all 50 states receive health care funded by the federal government. While child health is a major agenda item for state officials, many states struggle more than others in addressing this priority.  The Commonwealth Fund Commission recently examined the performance of each state using the State Scorecard on Health System Performance, concluding that access to health care - as well as health care quality, costs, outcomes, and equity - vary widely among states, creating numerous opportunities for improvement.

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Hospital Emergency Departments Looking to Primary Health Centers for Help

With hospital emergency departments (EDs) around the nation teeming with non-urgent patients, many are working to redirect appropriate patients to outpatient clinics or Community Health Centers. Efforts to promote greater use of primary care providers are being made in an attempt to increase access to care, enhance quality, and contain costs, especially for low-income, uninsured, and Medicaid patients.

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Integration of Behavioral Health and Primary Care

Important recent findings indicate that while approximately 50% of all behavioral health care was delivered in a medical setting, many behavioral disorders were undiagnosed and others were under-treated. But health care professionals are now looking at a more comprehensive approach to patient care, utilizing a treatment system in which coordinated and holistic avenues of care generate more desirable outcomes, leading to a healthier society.

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National Report: "Do Primary Care Physicians Treating Minority Patients Report Problems Delivering High-Quality Care?"

Racial and ethnic disparities can contribute not only to health problems within a primary care physician's patient population, but also to lower reimbursements for the provider. A recent study - "Do Primary Care Physicians Treating Minority Patients Report Problems Delivering High-Quality Care?" (Health Affairs, Vol. 26/No. 3, April 2008) - indicates that physicians in high-minority practices with substantial reliance on low-paying Medicaid also receive lower private insurance reimbursements, and thus have lower incomes. Such constrained resources make it harder to provide optimal care by inhibiting full care coordination, minimizing time spent with individual patients, etc.

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Indiana Ranked Next to Last in Public Health Spending

A new study by the Trust for America's Health, a nonprofit organization working to protect and enhance the health of US communities, ranks Indiana 49th - better than only Kansas - in spending for public health. The study, Shortchanging America's Health 2008: A State-by-State Look at How Federal Public Health Dollars are Spent, analyzes key state health statistics and public health funding levels.

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New Study Shows Health Insurance Costs Outstripping Insurance Coverage

An issue of critical national importance is that of potentially devastating health insurance cost inflation in the face of slowing increases in family income. Working Americans are increasingly worried not only about holding onto their jobs, but also about maintaining affordable health insurance for their families.

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Access to Care for All America - Making the Dream a Reality
Cover the Uninsured Week: April 27 - May 3, 2008

With less than a week left, communities around Indiana are gearing up for Cover the Uninsured Week, a national campaign organized by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Through cooperative efforts, this week is yet another stepping stone to increasing national awareness about the critical need for affordable and accessible health care coverage.  With more than 840,000 uninsured in Indiana (47 million in the U.S.), this week presents a powerful opportunity to bring about structural health care reform. 

Study Results: Hoosiers Dying Due to Lack of Health Coverage

It's no surprise that the number of America's uninsured is at an all-time high, and rising. Each year, more Americans struggle with the often insurmountable problem of access to affordable healthcare. Their struggles range from going into medical debt to not being able to receive appropriate care at all, which too often results in serious medical problems or even death.

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New Trend Likely in Personal Health Care Costs

The last four years have seen a consistent decline in personal spending on health care. But given economic trends and a general downturn in health status, the spending picture isn't going to continue looking up. That's the conclusion of a recent study, Don't Break Out the Champagne: Continued Slowing of Health Care Spending Growth Unlikely to Last, published in Health Affairs (Vol. 27, No. 1, Jan.-Feb . 2008).

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Recent Study: "Uninsured and Dying Because of It"

The absence of health care for the uninsured has become an increasing problem that not only reduces quality of life, but also increases the risk of death. Uninsured and Dying Because of It- a report recently released by the Urban Institute - updates extended research by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on the powerful relationship between health coverage and health outcomes.

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New Study Shows Health Impact of Income, Education, Related Factors

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's new report - Overcoming Obstacles to Health: Toward a Healthier, More Fair America - dramatically demonstrates how the chances of becoming ill or even dying prematurely are impacted by powerful social forces.  The study also provides new evidence of how health disparities relate to race, ethnicity, etc.

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Special Report:
"The Medical Home: Disruptive Innovation for a New Primary Care Model"

A new report from the Deloitte Center for Health Studies addresses the growing concept of the "medical home."  This is a model in which primary care clinicians and allied health professionals provide not only continuing hands-on health services, but also coordination of the full spectrum of care needed by their patients.  In many respects, this is the model employed by Community Health Centers.

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Community Health Centers (CHCs) Wrestle with Rising Demand
More Patients – Primarily Uninsured – Being Seen

Despite federal funding increases, Community Health Centers (CHCs) – the backbone of the nation's safety net – are struggling to meet rising demand for care, particularly for specialty medical, dental and mental health services, according to a recent report by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).

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