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"Health Spending in the United States and the Rest of the Industrialized World." By Gerard F. Anderson and others. IN: Health Affairs, vol. 24, no. 4 (July/August 2005) pp. 903-914.

Full Text at: content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/reprint/24/4/903

["U.S. citizens spent $5,267 per capita for health care in 2002 -— 53 percent more than any other country.... The two most important reasons for higher U.S. spending appear to be higher incomes and higher medical care prices."]

[Request #S54609]

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California's Hospital Seismic Safety Law: Its History, Implementation and Progress. By Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. 2005. 22 p.

Full Text at: www.pe.com/imagesdaily/2005/09-28/2005_State_Seismic_Report.pdf

["Inland hospitals expect to spend hundreds of millions of dollars over the next several years to repair or replace buildings that the state says are at significant risk of collapse during a major earthquake. The state's 2008 deadline to make the changes is unrealistic and could affect patient care by diverting money to construction."]

[Request #S54610]

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The Price of Illness: Cost Sharing and Health Plan Benefits. By California Health Care Foundation. Insurance Markets Issue Brief. (The Foundation, Oakland, California) Septmeber 2005. 10 p.

Full Text at: www.chcf.org/documents/insurance/ThePriceofIllnessConsumerCostSharing.pdf

["Rising health insurance premiums threaten to make coverage unaffordable for many Californians, prompting insurers to introduce plans with greater cost sharing. Such new insurance formulations often appear first in the individual market, which serves as a crucible for product innovations because purchasers pay 100 percent of their premium, making them particularly price sensitive.... The analysis finds that individuals who purchase comparatively comprehensive coverage could still incur extensive medical expenses and run the risk of exposing themselves to unexpectedly high bills."]

[Request #S54611]

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Snapshot Individual Health Insurance Market. By California HealthCare Foundation. (The Foundation, Oakland, California) 2005. 24 p.

Full Text at: www.chcf.org/documents/insurance/SnapshotIndividualMarket05.pdf

["Among the questions addressed by the project are: 1) Who buys individual insurance? 2) How do consumers respond to price changes? 3) Can only healthy people purchase individual insurance? 4) Are there barriers, exclusive of price, to purchasing coverage?"]

[Request #S54612]

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Insurance Markets: What Health Insurance Pools Can and Can't Do. By California HealthCare Foundation. (The Foundation, Oakland, California) November 2005. 12 p.

Full Text at: www.chcf.org/documents/insurance/WhatHealthInsurancePoolsCanAndCantDo.pdf

[This issue brief begins by explaining why pools are not the same as large employer groups, then goes on to explore the risks any voluntary purchasing pool faces and the conditions necessary for a pool to overcome those obstacles and succeed."]

[Request #S54613]

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Medicare Coordinated Care Demonstration Program After One Year. By Arnold Chen and other. Mathematica Policy Research Incorporated. (Mathematica, Princeton, New Jersey) July 29, 2005. 159 p.

Full Text at: www.mathematica-mpr.com/publications/pdfs/medicalcare.pdf

["This report describes the ... Medicare Coordinated Care Demonstration Project.... The following questions are addressed: 1) Who enrolls in the progam? 2) To what extent does the program engage physicians? 3) How well is the program implementing its approaches to improving patient health and reducing health care costs? The program has indeed enrolled patients with relatively high health care costs in the year prior to enrollment.... Using nurse care managers who have worked with patients’ physicians before has helped in facilitating communication.... The nurse care managers are providing patient education that combines factual information with help changing behavior and improving self-care skills."]

[Request #S54614]

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Department of Health Services: Participation in the School-based Medi-Cal Administrative Activities Program Has Increased, but School Districts Are Still Losing Millions Each Year in Federal Reimbursements. By California State Auditor. (The Auditor, Sacramento, California) August 2005. 59 p.

Full Text at: www.bsa.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2004-125.pdf

["School districts' reimbursements have significantly increased since fiscal year 1999-2000. Despite receiving $91 million for fiscal year 2002-03, we estimate school districts could have received at least $57 million more had all school districts participated."]

[Request #S54615]

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National Consumer Health Privacy Survey 2005. By Forrester Research, Inc. (California Healthcare Foundation, Oakland, California) November 2005.

["Although two thirds of national respondents say they are aware of federal protections for their personal medical records, ... one out of eight consumers has put their health at risk by engaging in such behaviors as: avoiding their regular doctor, asking their doctor to fudge the diagnosis, paying for a test because they didn't want to submit a claim, or avoiding a test altogether. Chronically ill, younger and racial and ethnic minority respondents are more likely than average to practice one or more of these risky behaviors."]

Executive Summary. 5 p.
http://www.chcf.org/documents/ihealth/ConsumerPrivacy2005ExecSum.pdf

Slide Presentation. 35 p.
http://www.chcf.org/documents/ihealth/ConsumerPrivacy2005Slides.pdf

[Request #S54617]

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The Effect of Cost-sharing on the Utilization of Prescription Drugs for Chronically Ill Patients. By Matthew Solomon, RAND. (RAND, Santa Monica, California) 2005. 135 p.

Full Text at: www.rand.org/pubs/rgs_dissertations/2005/RAND_RGSD193.pdf

["The utilization and cost of prescription drugs have risen dramatically over the past two decades. In an effort to control these rapidly rising costs, nearly all health plans have increased their cost-sharing requirements.... This dissertation seeks to explore the effect of cost-sharing on the initiation of and adherence to prescription drug therapy."]

[Request #S54618]

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Proposed Identification of Environmental Tobacco Smoke as a Toxic Air Contaminant. By California Environmental Protection Agency. (The Agency, Sacramento, California) 2005. 19 p.

Full Text at: www.arb.ca.gov/toxics/ets/finalreport/execsum.pdf

["The state of California established a program to identify the health effects of toxic air contaminants and to reduce exposure to these contaminants to protect the public health.... This report ... presents an evaluation of exposures to environmental tobacco smoke and the potential health effects associated with these exposures."]

[Request #S54620]

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Uninsured Californians and Access to Prescription Drugs. By Mistique Felton and others. The Nicholas C. Petris Center on Health Care Market and Consumer Welfare. (The Center, Berkeley, California) September 2005. 53 p.

Full Text at: www.petris.org/projects/uninsured_&_access_FULLREPORT.pdf

[“This report updates estimates of uninsured populations and their characteristics, and reviews existing programs that are designed to improve the access of the uninsured to prescription medications…. This report seeks to inform and improve our understanding of the issues surrounding access to prescription drugs in California.”]

[Request #S54624]

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Snapshot California's Uninsured 2005. By California HealthCare Foundation. (The Foundation, Santa Monica, California) 2005. 19 p.

Full Text at: www.chcf.org/topics/download.cfm?pg=insurance&fn=SnapshotCaliforniaUninsured05%2Epdf&pid=437052&itemid=115467

["The decline in employer-based health coverage and the increase in public health insurance coverage leave the number of uninsured in California unchanged from 2004 at approximately 6.5 million, or just over 20 percent of the non-elderly population.... The growth over time of the uninsured population is a complex problem, driven by numerous economic and demographic forces. This snapshot examines the issue in California through the lens of various factors to contribute to a better understanding of the influences that affect health coverage in the state."]

[Request #S54625]

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[This section links to items in Studies in the News since the last Health Care Supplement.]

HEALTH CARE POLICY

"Health." IN: Studies in the News, (October-December 2005).

["Mental health service for adolescents;" "Child development services and Medicaid managed care;" "Ease of purchasing anabolic steroids;" "End of life care;" "Environmental toxins in people;" "Physical fitness in schools;" "Childhood obesity;" "Young caregivers in the U.S.;" "Health information technology;" "Health insurance coverage and Latino population;" "Medicare drug benefit options for Californians;" "Medicare drug benefit impacts nursing facilities;" "Medicare drug plan impact on chronic disease;" "Parents prescription drugs harming teens;" "Air pollution and mortality;" "Medicaid costs shift to states;" "How to lower prescription costs;" "Medicaid codes and child development;" "Pharmaceutical pricing lawsuit;" "Implementing telemedicine;" "Medicaid grants;" "Medicare and state pharmaceutical legislation;"]

[Request #S54627]

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