By Joanne Kenen
There are ample resources for covering health policy at the state and federal level. Here are some particularly useful ones – but they will lead you to others.
- Best summary of the law, from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF): 13-page PDF, 318K
- Implementation timeline, from the KFF
- The Commonwealth Fund
Great overview-learning health care sites
- Association of Health Care Journalists: Lots of resources, some public, some open to members. Many of the resources and descriptions here are drawn from AHCJ’s Health Policy page. AHCJ also has information on databases (and how to use them) from the CDC and elsewhere.
- Kaiser Family Foundation and Kaiser Family Foundation’ Health Policy Source: Tracks the latest studies and developments on health care reform.
- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
- Alliance for Health Policy: Lots of toolkits, resource guides, downloadable events and seminars designed specifically for training journalists, including the sourcesbook Covering Health Issues (2011 update).
- Health Affairs: An academic journal but much of the material is quite accessible, and there are blogs and health policy briefs.
- Reporting on Health
- Health Policy GPS: A project run by George Washington University’s Hirsh Health Law and Policy Program and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Some of the information is basic, other more technical. Probably not the starting point for most journalists but it can flesh out details when you need them.
Twitter is a great health care reporting tool. Sure there’s plenty of noise and rhetoric, but a fair amount of smart policy people also chime in. #hcr (health care reform) and #aca (affordable care act) are the best hashtags to watch. (Also #aging, #health #insurance #exchanges #Medicare, #Medicaid #eol (end of life), #hpm (hospice and palliative medicine), #hospitals, etc., etc., etc. Follow me and see which of the people I follow are useful to you: @JoanneKenen (and don’t forget @AHCJ_Pia and @AHCJ)
Think tanks and interest groups
- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: A highly-respected liberal research center with a focus on state and federal fiscal policies and programs that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals. Issues reports and blog posts on health and entitlements, easy for a nonspecialist to understand.
- Urban Institute: Lots of work on Medicaid and other coverage issues.
- U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Health care: Conservative critique of federal Health Policy.
- Physicians for National Health Program: Single payer advocates.
- American Enterprise Institute’s Policy Studies on Health Care Reform: Center-right to right critique of the Affordable Care Act.
- Heritage Foundation’s Health Care Initiative: Conservative group sharply opposes.
- National Federation of Independent Business: Health Care Reform and Small Business
Government
- Congressional Budget Office: The CBO is the official “scorer” or estimator of legislation. The website has a huge trove of data, some more technical than other. The Director’s blog breaks down some of the ideas into simple English.
- There is a section on Selected CBO Publications Related to Health Care Legislation, 2009-2010.
- There is a section on other health policy, including Children’s Health Insurance Program and Physician Payment.
- Don’t be put off by the daunting title of this March 2011 CBO analysis: “Reducing the Deficit: Spending and Revenue Options” (256-page PDF, 2.5M). It has good one- or two-page nonspecialist descriptions of federal programs that could be changed in the ongoing budget debate. Many changes would be felt in local communities.
- CBO Glossary: Not light reading but still useful one-stop-shopping for government financial terms.
- “The Path to Prosperity: A Blueprint for American Renewal,” Paul Ryan’s budget from the House Budget Committee. The page takes you to summaries of the Medicare and Medicaid provisions. Don’t expect to find all the legislative details; the congressional budget resolutions are pretty big picture, and other committees fill in the blanks.
- Medicare Payment Advisory Commission: MPAC advises Congress on a broad range of Medicare issues; its reports are posted online. Lots of background on various health sectors.
- Government information on the Affordable Care Act provisions: Updated information is at Health.gov, the HHS website (media site) and the CMS website (whose press page also has link to fact sheets).
- This PDF from the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (16 pages, 405K) gives a good precise description of the role and responsibilities of the exchanges, as well as how the states and federal government may divvy up the tasks. Particularly useful is the chart on page 5 explaining the five key functions of the insurance exchange:
- Consumer Assistance
- Plan Management/Selection
- Eligibiilty (who goes into what program, what subsidies may apply)
- Enrollment
- Financial Management
The timetable on page 15 shows what states have to do between now and 2014.
- Affordable Insurance Exchanges: more help in understanding exchances from the HHS Center for Consumer Information & Insurance Oversight.
Delivery system reform: changing how health care is delivered
- The New Wave of Innovation: How the Health Care System Is Reforming: This resource for journalists from The Commonwealth Fund looks at emerging innovations, providing examples from different sectors across the country, to inform journalists and others of the ways in which the system is reforming itself. It may also provide ideas for journalists who are interested in exploring the early effects of Health Policy and the implications for the future.
- IHI (Institute for Healthcare Improvement)
- Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (govt): Tons of local and statewide initiatives here.
- Dartmouth Atlas
- Many of the major medical organizations and trade groups also have innovation projects: Family Physicians, AMA, American Hospital Association, etc.
State and local resources
All the sites above can help you localize your stories, but here are some resources targeted specifically at the state or county level. Some are projects or grantees of the national groups above. Groups like the Chamber of Commerce and NFIB also have local affiliates, as do the AMA, the AHA and other organizaitons.
- RWJF County health rankings
- National Academy of State Health Policy
- KFF State Health Facts: A division of the Kaiser Family Foundation, it is a boon to local reporters, providing free, easy-to-use health data for all 50 states.
- National Conference of State Legislatures: A bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staffs of the states and territories. It provides summaries on state implementation of Health Policy, Medicaid, budgets and other health-related topics.
- State Network: A program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation helping states with technical assistance on coverage expansion under the Affordable Care Act.
- State Refor(u)m: An online network for Health Policy implementation that connects health officials from different states, and with outside experts.
- State Health Access Data Assistance Center
A personal favorite
In this narrative piece for the Washingtonian Magazine, I found a family with three generations of doctors, and through their story I followed an arc of American medicine. It’s a light read – not a “policy piece” – but it gently weaves in a great deal of health policy.
Want to keep track of Washington health news? POLITICO’s Pulse does an early edition for paid subscribers, but you can get a slimmed down version emailed to you free at about 9 a.m. weekdays. Sign up under “newsletters” on the right side of POLITICO’s home page. Kaiser Health News also has a daily news summary, a roundup of national reports.
Joanne Kenen (@JoanneKenen) is AHCJ’s Health Policy topic leader. If you have questions or suggestions for future resources, please send them to joanne@healthjournalism.org.
