Employer-Based Insurance: Coverage and Cost

Explores the variation in cost by employers and enrollees, types of employers that offer coverage, access to coverage by workers, and how costs would change, especially for small businesses, if new policies required coverage for all full-time workers

The Uninsured at the Starting Line: Findings from the 2013 Kaiser Survey of Low-Income Americans and the ACA

In January 2014, the major coverage provisions of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) went into full effect. These provisions include the creation of new Health Insurance Marketplaces where low and moderate income families can receive premium tax credits to purchase coverage and, in states that opted to expand their Medicaid programs, the expansion of Medicaid eligibility to almost all adults with incomes at or below 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL). The ACA has the potential to reach many of the 47 million Americans who lack insurance coverage, as well as millions of insured people who face financial strain or coverage limits related to health insurance. Though implementation is underway and people are already enrolling in coverage, policymakers continue to need information to inform coverage expansions. Data on the population targeted for coverage expansions can help policymakers target early efforts, provide insight into some of the challenges that are arising in the first months of new coverage, and evaluate the ACA's longer-term effects. The Kaiser Family Foundation has launched a new series of comprehensive surveys of the low and moderate income population to provide data on these groups' experience with health coverage, current patterns of care, and family situation. This report, based on the baseline 2013 Kaiser Survey of Low-Income Americans and the ACA, provides a snapshot of health insurance coverage, health care use and barriers to care, and financial security among insured and uninsured adults across the income spectrum at the starting line of ACA implementation. The report also examines how findings from the baseline survey can help policymakers understand and address early challenges in implementing health reform

Reporting on Pathways to Health Insurance Coverage: California's Experience

The Affordable Care Act opened new and expanded pathways to public health insurance coverage. Since 2014, many states have broadened their eligibility criteria for Medicaid, and have introduced new access points for Medicaid enrollment. During this time, publicly subsidized health insurance coverage also became available through state health insurance exchanges and through the federal health insurance marketplace. Recognizing there is a great deal to learn about who applies for and obtains these types of public coverage, the federal government and some states have established new data reporting efforts on how people use both new and existing pathways to health insurance coverage. In 2014 and 2015, Mathematica Policy Research supported the launch of such a reporting effort in California, with funding from the California Health Care Foundation. In this brief, we describe California's experience in reporting on applications, eligibility determinations, enrollments and coverage renewals for public insurance, highlight some of the practical implications of California's first few reports, and offer lessons for other states that are launching comparable reporting efforts. Key Findings: The open enrollment period drives enrollment growth for both qualified health plans and Medi-Cal, even though Medi-Cal enrollment remains open year-round. Insurance coverage was more stable over time than expected. During the second open enrollment period, 92 percent of individuals enrolled in qualified health plans in California renewed their coverage from the previous year. During that same period about 80 percent of Medi-Cal beneficiaries remained eligible for coverage. California's experience with reporting on public insurance coverage suggests that significant effort is needed to carefully define measures, produce data that are meaningful to multiple audiences, and communicate findings clearly. Public data reporting can be a powerful tool for advancing transparency and identifying areas for improvement. State officials in California now have an opportunity to examine local variation in application and enrollment measures to identify policy or process differences that might be driving different outcomes across the state

Realizing Health Reform's Potential: Young Adults and the Affordable Care Act of 2010

Outlines the 2010 healthcare reform provisions that will benefit young adults, including expanded eligibility for dependent coverage and Medicaid, new preexisting condition insurance plans, and premium subsidies. Estimates effects on coverage rates

The Impact of Health Reform on Health System Spending

Examines the 2010 healthcare reform law's impact on national health expenditures, through new coverage, savings in public programs, insurance exchanges, and health system modernization; the federal budget; Medicare; and premiums for private coverage

A Blueprint for Universal Health Insurance Coverage in New York

Explores options for implementing voluntary public program reforms, premium subsidies to make coverage more affordable, a new group insurance purchasing mechanism, and employer and individual mandates. Includes estimated costs and coverage impacts

Still not getting a fair deal : the under-representation of female athletes in television news coverage of the 2006 Commonwealth Games : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management in Communication Management at Massey University

This research investigates gender equity in New Zealand television news coverage of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Using content and frame analyses, the study evaluates the prime-time news coverage of the two largest free-to-air broadcasters, TVNZ and TV3. The results demonstrate that the hegemonic masculinity of sport is still reflected and supported by New Zealand's television news media. Women athletes received just 25% of the time spent reporting on the Games with male athletes receiving 43%. This was despite women making up 46% of the New Zealand Commonwealth Games team and winning 53% of the medals, indicating that participation and success had little correlation with the media's decisions about which athletes to report on. This study also highlights differences in the framing techniques used by the media in reporting on sportsmen and sportswomen. The research found the presence of gender-marking, preferential positioning, reliance on male sources and other framing devices. The ways these were used provided further evidence of the dominant presence sportsmen have over sportswomen in the New Zealand Commonwealth Games television coverage. On a positive note, the research found no sexualisation and very little stereotyping of female athletes, techniques which have been prevalent in international studies. This thesis outlines the need for New Zealand's television news media, particularly the public service broadcaster TVNZ, to reflect on the inequality they continue to demonstrate in their coverage of sportsmen and sportswomen and to put in place active measures to increase the levels of coverage given to sportswomen by New Zealand's mainstream media