Access & Coverage Resources
Coverage and Affordability
The Access Project
Organization with resources for people working to change health care policy to increase access at a local level.Alliance for Health Reform
News and updates about issues in health care and coverage.American Hospital Association: Access and Coverage
Multiple resources on coverage programs, outreach resources, and examples of hospitals' initiatives to expand access to care.American Project Access Network
A group from Asheville, North Carolina that has developed a model for coordinated charity care. The organization now exists to share the model with other communities.An Update on Saftey-Net Hospitals: Coping With the Late 1990s and Early 2000s.
Bazzoli, Kang, Hasnain-Wynia, Lindrooth, 2005.The Commonwealth Fund: Health Care Coverage & Access
Source of timely reports regarding insurance coverage and other access topics.Communities Joined in Action
This organization is dedicated to the goal of 100% access, 0 disparity in health care. Their page has several resources and links.Community Voices: Healthcare for the Underserved
W. K. Kellogg initiative managed by the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine.Cover the Uninsured Week
Organization dedicated to raising awareness about the severity of the lack of health care coverage.Ensuring Special Needs' Access to Providers in Managed Care Networks
Guide for state Medicaid agencies to assist them with increasing access to care. Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc, 2001.The HSA Insider
Non-profit resource for navigating Health Savings Account options.Health Care Coverage Options Database
Tool by the National Association of Health Care Underwriters designed to help make consumers aware of their coverage options, including public and private insurance. Also useful for anyone in policy work.Health Coalition on Liability and Access
Organization which has a website with resources about healthcare access. They focus on liability laws (malpractice) and reducing insurance costs as a way to keep costs down and provide better care to more people.Health Insurance Coverage: Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey
2004 survey data from the Centers for Disease Control.Health Research and Educational Trust: Access & Coverage
Independent research findings on Medicaid, the uninsured, and employer health benefits.Harvard School of Public Health, Kaiser Family Foundation, USAToday: Health Care Costs Survey
Public survey with comprehensive set of questions about health care costs.Improving Access to Health Care—Building a Community-Based Program
A guide to planning and implementing community initiatives to address coverage issues. Includes specific examples and worksheets. By the Robert W Johnson Foundation’s Communities in Charge Initiative, 2005.Kaiser Family Foundation:
Health Coverage & the Uninsured Reform Proposals
Health Insurance/Costs
Medicaid/SCHIP
Medicare
Kaiser Network Issue Spotlight: Medicaid
This site news and links to sites about Medicaid, as well as other health access issues.Medicaid—Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
The U.S. government’s Medicaid site.Medicare Rights Center
Explains Medicare benefits. Oriented toward consumers who need to know about the specifics of Medicare’s prescription drug coverage starting 2006. There is a free email newsletter.Medicare Tutorial
Powerpoint presentations from the Kaiser Family Foundation with data about health care coverage including Medicaid and minority and women’s health.Questions on Charges for the Uninsured
FAQ provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.RAND Corp: Health Care for the Uninsured and Underinsured
This website is a source of news and longer reports. Some of the links are free. RAND is a research organization that tackles big issues.Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Health Insurance Coverage
News, Research, Grants, and an overview of the issue.A State Policy Agenda to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
Policy interventions at the state level to eliminate minority health disparities. June 2004.
Cultural and Linguistic Barriers
Cross Cultural Health Care Program Cultural Competency Assessment Tools Bibliography
Bibliography of cultural competency assessment tools and links to other resources on their and other websites.Cultural Competence in Health Care—Emerging Frameworks and Practical Approaches
Makes the case for culturally competent healthcare, and outlines how to achieve it at multiple levels and in different workplaces and sources of care. The Commonwealth Fund, 2002.Culturally Sensitive Transgender Health Care
This website includes a guide for physicians serving transgender patients that promotes cultural sensitivity and awareness.DiversityRx.org: Models and Practices for Linguistic and Cultural Barriers to Health Care
Practical advice to create programs addressing linguistic or cultural barriers to health care access.Language Services Action Kit
Manual for advocates for appropriate-language/interpreter programs in hospitals. Addresses federal laws, funding sources, how to make the case for language services, and some next steps. National Health Law Program and The Access Project 2004.Limited English Proficiency, Primary Language Spoken at Home, and Disparities in Children's Health and Healthcare: How Language Barriers are Measured
Over the past two decades, the number of Americans who speak a language other than English at home has increased, as has the number of Americans with limited English proficiency (LEP). Previous research has shown that disparities in children's health and health care are associated with both of these factors. New research shows, however, that LEP is the more useful measure in gauging the impact of language barriers on children's health and health care.National Health Law Program’s Immigrant Health Resources
Legal advocates.Providing Language Interpretation Services in Health Care Settings: Examples From the Field
This reports looks at ways to provide oral interpretation in health care and how to manage/hire groups of interpreters to make sure they are available when needed. The Commonwealth Fund, 2005.Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Disparities
HRET Disparities Toolkit
News, Research, Grants, and overview of the problem of gaps in care experienced by racial/ethnic minorities.Who, When and How: The Current State of Race, Ethnicity, and Primary Language Data Collection in Hospitals
This study was the precedessor of the Toolkit, above. Deals with the state of demographic information collection in hospitals, including categories used, who collects information, and recommendations for best practices. Funded by The Commonwealth Fund and researched by HRET, 2004.
Health Literacy
Agency for Health Research and Quality: Literacy and Health Outcomes
Information about evidence-based measures of the impact of health illiteracy and the effect of different methods of intervention.Council of State Governments: Official Guide to Health Literacy and Health Literacy Toolkit
Good resource for issues in health literacy.Harvard School of Public Health: Health Literacy Studies
Site contains links to variety of information about health literacy including research and applicable/instructional materials.Healthy Steps for Children
Programs focused on helping parents to understand the first three years of child development.NIH’s National Library of Medicine: Health Literacy Bibliography
Extensive bibliography of health literacy publications.Virginia Adult Education Health Literacy Toolkit
Techniques for improving health literacy of community members.Women and Health Literacy
Article includes techniques for culturally aware care and better communication between patient and physician.
Geography and Transportation
Children’s Health Fund: Child Health Transportation Agenda
An organization which works to make sure children can actually get to the care they need.Guidelines for Shortage Area (MUA/MUP/HPSA) Designation
Legal guidelines for being designated a MUA/MUP or HPSA, including instructions for application from the Bureau of Health Professions.Health Professional Shortage Areas and Medically Underserved Areas/Populations Defined
“This summary is provided to assist health care facilities in their efforts to become designated as a health professional shortage area (HPSA), medically underserved area (MUA), or medically underserved population (MUP).”Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) Database and Medically Underserved Area/Population (MUA/MUP) Database search engines for service availability level by geographic region and health specialty.
HPSA/MUA/MUP Information
Texas Medical Association explains these designations in easy-to-understand terms.National Rural Health Association
A “voice of rural health, promoting leadership, communication, education, research, and advocacy since 1978.”Rural Health Disparities and Access to Care
Fact sheet about rural access issues.
Mental Health Care
Barriers to Care Among Persons with Psychiatric Symptoms
(Requires free registration to read articles).Mental Health--A Report of the Surgeon General
Collection of reports on issues in Mental Health, including Access 1998-2002.National Mental Health Association: Access to Mental Health Care
Information about barriers to mental health care.Pathways and Barriers to Mental Health Care in an Urban Multicultural Milieu: an Epidemiological and Ethnographic Study
Laurence J. Kirmayer, Guillaume Galbaud du Fort, Allan Young, Morton Weinfeld, Jean-Claude Lasry, 1996.Perceived Barriers to Mental Health Care for American Indian and Hispanic Veterans: Reports by 100 VA Staff
McGill University, 2002.RAND Corp: Are People With Mental Illness Getting the Help They Need?
Issue brief, 2000.US Dept. of Health and Human Services: National Mental Health Information Center
Information, programs, publications, and other resources.
Oral Health Care
Access to Oral Health Services for Low-Income People—Policy Barriers and Opportunities for Intervention
Report by the National Congress of State Legislatures.Does Oral Health Matter?
by the Health Policy Institute of Ohio. Report outlines issues in access to oral health care, effects of lack of access, and strategies and solutions.
Pharmaceutical Affordability
Drug Assistance Programs from Pharmaceutical Companies
Most pharmaceutical companies run programs aimed to facilitate the accessibility to needed medications for patient who are in financial difficulties and are not eligible for Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance.Kaiser Family Foundation: Prescription Drugs
Resources for information about prescription drug coverage and access. Frequent updates.National Conference of State Legislatures Resources of Pharmaceuticals Cost and Access
A selected list of recent government, academic, industry and consumer studies, analyses and related publications, designed to assist state-based research. Most are available on the web, with direct links included. 2005.Partnership for Prescription Assistance
Organization that brings together America’s pharmaceutical companies, doctors, other health care providers, patient advocacy organizations and community groups to help qualifying patients who lack prescription coverage get the medicines they need through the public or private program that’s right for them.Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America
The PhRMA represents the leading research-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the United States. Contains information about Patient Assistance Programs.Rx Assist
RxAssist provides physicians and other health care providers with the information they need to access programs which help their patients afford medications.State Pharmaceutical Assistance Programs
As of July 2005 at least 41 states have established or authorized some type of program to provide pharmaceutical coverage or assistance, primarily to low-income elderly or persons with disabilities who do not qualify for Medicaid.
Racial and Ethnic Disparities
American Association of Medical Colleges Tool for Assessing Cultural Competence Training
Tool designed primarily for medical schools and residency programs to improve cultural competency training for health care providers.American Medical Association: Eliminating Health Disparities
Advocacy briefs, aimed primarily at providers.Applied Research Center: Closing the Gap
Report with proposed solutions to race-based health disparities. Requires registration for download.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Ending Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities
Information about the government response to Racial and Ethnic health disparitiesThe Commonwealth Fund: Underserved/Minorities
Publications, Tools, News, Grant Information, and Data/SurveysKaiser Family Foundation:Minority Health
News and publicationsPolicies to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Child Health and Health Care
Beal describes an arsenal of weapons available for reducing racial disparities in health care: broadening health care coverage, adopting common quality improvement efforts, improving the training of health care providers, and boosting the ranks of minority clinicians. Health Affairs 2004.Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care
Board on Health Sciences Policy and Institute of Medicine, 2003.
