Policy Update

States Move to Offer Health Care

States across the nation may soon enact measures to expand health care coverage as state legislatures take up the issue. More than 40 million Americans are currently uninsured, and popular proposals in various states include guaranteed medical coverage to all children, subsidized small-business medical insurance, and tax incentives to make coverage more affordable. Some states are even considering universal health coverage for all residents.

Experts have noted that states are experimenting more with health policy than any time in the past 20 years. The change seems to be the result of several factors, including new, more flexible rules about how states spend federal Medicaid dollars, budget surpluses in several states, and a shift in the political climate. Read More

Rate of U.S. Health Care Growth Slows for Third Consecutive Year

The rate of health care spending growth in the United States has decreased for the third year in a row, according to a new report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Office of the Actuary. In 2005, U.S. health care spending increased only 6.9 percent, the lowest reported increase since 1999. In 2005, the U.S. spent $1.988 trillion, or $6,697 per person, on health care. State and federal governments paid about 40 percent of these health care costs, totaling $736.3 billion.

Most of the slowdown can be attributed to a reduced rate of prescription drug spending growth; other areas of healthcare spending maintained or even increased their growth rates. Home health care, for example, was the fastest growing spending category, increasing 11 percent in 2005—the third consecutive year of double digit growth. The report was prepared by the Read More

New Fact Sheets on Federal Long-Term Care Financing; Family Caregivers' Contribution "Sizable"

The Georgetown University Long-Term Care Financing Project recently released two revised fact sheets. The first, "National Spending on Long-Term Care," looks at total spending for nursing home and home care services nationwide. It stated that "out-of-pocket payments by people receiving long-term care and their families financed 19 percent, or about $37 billion, of long-term care services in 2004. The role of families of individuals with long-term care needs is much greater, however. The indirect costs associated with family caregiving, including time away from paid work and other activities, can be sizable."

The other fact sheet, "Medicaid and Long-Term Care," describes Medicaid's role in financing long-term care, with a new focus on home and community-based services, rather than facility-based care. Read More

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