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Archive for the ‘health reform’ Category

U.S. Ranks Last Among High-Income Nations on Preventable Deaths

In health reform, Public Health Policy on September 28, 2011 at 5:22 pm

The United States ranks last among 16 high-income, industrialized nations when it comes to deaths that could potentially have been prevented with timely access to effective health care, according to a new Commonwealth Fund–supported study in the journal Health Policy.

Based on an analysis by Ellen Nolte and Martin McKee, other nations lowered their “amenable mortality” rates an average of 31 percent from 1997–98 to 2006–07, while the U.S. rate declined by only 20 percent, from 120 to 96 per 100,000 people. At the end of the decade, the amenable mortality rate in the U.S. was almost twice that in France, which had the lowest at 55 per 100,000.

Source: Excerpted From The Common Wealth Fund 9/28/11

New Analysis of the 2010 Census Labor Statistics

In health reform, Low-Income Families, Tax Policy on September 28, 2011 at 4:38 pm

The National Women’s Law Center’s analysis of 2010 Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics state data is now available, and we wanted to share [their] findings. The series of state-specific fact sheets covers:

  • Poverty rates among women by race and ethnicity,
  • Poverty rates among children,
  • The wage gap,
  • Health insurance coverage for women and children, and
  • Women’s unemployment.

The series is available online at: http://www.nwlc.org/statepovertydata.

Source: Excerpted from The National Women’s Law Center 9/28/2011

Unions Make the Middle Class

In health reform, Low-Income Families, Public Health Policy, Retirement Security on April 17, 2011 at 10:28 pm

Without Unions, the Middle Class Withers

A study released by the Center for American Progress American Worker Project reveals the importance of unions in creating and keeping a strong middle class.

Why should anyone—especially those who are not union members—care that union membership is at record lows and likely to fall even further? Because if you care about the middle class, you need to care about unions.

Critics of unions claim they are unimportant today or even harmful to the economy, but unions are essential for building a strong middle class. And rebuilding the middle class after decades of decline and stagnation is essential for restoring our economy.

Unions make the middle class strong by ensuring workers have a strong voice in both the market and in our democracy. When unions are strong they are able to ensure that workers are paid fair wages, receive the training they need to advance to the middle class, and are considered in corporate decision-making processes. Unions also promote political participation among all Americans, and help workers secure government policies that support the middle class, such as Social Security, family leave, and the minimum wage.

[Directly excerpted from the Center for American Progress American Worker Project on April 17, 2011. Download the complete study Unions Make the Middle Class.]

Speaking Out! We reject cuts to our children’s future!

In health reform, Low-Income Families, Public Health Policy on March 3, 2011 at 12:20 am

Congress is now debating deep cuts to discretionary spending, where most child services draw their funding. While Congress may think of this spending as “discretionary,” we think that child care, early education, nutrition, and other nurturing is mandatory for every child in America.

Among the proposed cuts is a $1 billion slash to Head Start, which could take away quality care for more than 218,000 children. Other federal cuts could mean as many as 150,000 families losing child care assistance. In all, there is more than $60 billion in cuts being discussed, many of them targeting families.

This is not how to help families still struggling from the recession. These families need new investments badly right now: one in five children lives in poverty; nearly one in four lives at risk of hunger; and one in three is overweight or obese. Read the rest of this entry »

Repealing Health Reform’s Maintenance of Effort Provision Could Cause Millions of Children, Parents, Seniors, and People With Disabilities to Lose Coverage

In health reform, insurance industry, Low-Income Families, Public Health Policy, Retirement Security on February 13, 2011 at 6:10 pm
A number of Republican governors have asked Congress to repeal the maintenance of effort provisions of the Affordable Care Act, which generally requires states to hold coverage steady in their Medicaid and CHIP programs until 2014. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a paper that highlights the harmful effects such a repeal would have on children, working parents, and the economy.

 

[The full paper, released on February 10, 2011 from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, can be downloaded here.]

 

Misunderstandings Regarding State Debt, Pensions, and Retiree Health Costs Create Unnecessary Alarm

In health reform, Public Health Policy on February 4, 2011 at 7:19 pm

Misconceptions Also Divert Attention from Needed Structural Reforms

A spate of recent articles regarding the fiscal situation of states and localities have lumped together their current fiscal problems, stemming largely from the recession, with longer-term issues relating to debt, pension obligations, and retiree health costs, to create the mistaken impression that drastic and immediate measures are needed to avoid an imminent fiscal meltdown. 
 
The large operating deficits that most states are projecting for the 2012 fiscal year, which they have to close before the fiscal year begins (on July 1 in most states), are caused largely by the weak economy.  State revenues have stabilized after record losses but remain 12 percent below pre-recession levels, and localities also are experiencing diminished revenues.  At the same time that revenues have declined, the need for public services has increased due to the rise in poverty and unemployment.  Over the past three years, states and localities have used a combination of reserve funds and federal stimulus funds, along with budget cuts and tax increases, to close these recession-induced deficits.  While these deficits have caused severe problems and states and localities are struggling to maintain needed services, this is a cyclical problem that ultimately will ease as the economy recovers.
 
View the full report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
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