alaska health insurance news

Rural health insurance resources via the Rural Assistance Center
Rural health insurance resources related to rural health and human services, with information provided by the Rural Assistance Center

• News: Debit Cards Advance Cash for Health Bills
  Workforce Management article tells how few employers have wanted to risk advancing interest-free money to help employees pay medical bills, but Edward Jones, the St. Louis-based financial investment firm, is one exception.
• Tool/Web Site: Coordination Myths and Realities: Insurance
  Addressess issues of insurance coverage related to human services transportation. Provides links to organizations that provide insurance or that can offer model programs, toolkits, laws, and other related information. -- National Resource Center for Human Service Transportation
• News: 1 More Hurdle to Clear for Mental Health Bill
  Associated Press article via Washington Post, (DC) reports that people with mental illness would get better health insurance coverage as part of a giant financial bailout the Senate passed Wednesday, but the legislation's fate remains uncertain.
• Funding opportunity: Coverage Ideas From the Field
  Funding for a broad range of applicant-initiated projects related to national health reform. -- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• News: PBS to Premiere Documentary on Uninsured
  AHA News reports that the PBS series P.O.V. on Sept. 30 will premiere the documentary Critical Condition, which profiles four individuals without health insurance.
• News: Yearly Premiums for Family Health Coverage Rise to $12,680 in 2008, Up 5 Percent, as Many Workers Also Face Higher Deductibles
  Premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose to $12,680 annually for family coverage this year with employees on average paying $3,354 out of their paychecks to cover their share of the cost and the scope of that coverage has changed, with many more workers now enrolled in high-deductible plans, according to the 2008 Employer Health Benefits Survey released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
• Tool/Web Site: Cover the Uninsured
  Information on events, resources, facts and publications addressing the issue of uninsurance. -- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• News: Health Insurance for Working Farmers
  KFYR-TV Bismarck, (ND) article tells how more than 2,000 farmers across the Midwest were surveyed by about their experience paying for healthcare and the effects of the costs.
• News: Study Shows America's Farm and Ranch Families are Struggling With Rising Costs of Health Care
  America's farm and ranch families are paying top dollar for health insurance that inadequately covers their needs and causes them significant financial risk, according to a report released today from The Access Project and sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
• Publication: State of the States: Rising to the Challenge
  Identifies State's health care reform activities. -- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Tool/Web Site: Access for All America: Expanding the Reach of Community Health Centers To Provide Care to Those without a Health Care Home
  Working to reduce the ranks of Americas medically disenfranchised by preserving, strengthening and expanding health centers from a stable base to reach a total of 30 million patients by the year 2015. -- National Association of Community Health Centers
• Publication: State of the States: Rising to the Challenge
  Discusses the number of uninsured in each state. Includes a section on Access Barriers Persist in Rural Areas on pages 12-13. -- AcademyHealth
• Publication: Health Insurance Coverage in America: 2006 Data Update
  Includes a set of tables providing detailed information about health insurance coverage of the following subpopulations: nonelderly, children, nonelderly adults, and working adults. -- Kaiser Family Foundation
• Publication: Wrong Direction: One Out of Three Americans Are Uninsured
  Provides a detailed analysis of who the uninsured Americans are, where they live, how long they have been without health coverage, andtheir demographic characteristics. -- Families USA
• Publication: A Roadmap to Health Insurance for All: Principles for Reform
  Explores the different health insurance coverage options and how they improve quality and efficiency as well as gain control over spiraling health care costs. -- Commonwealth Fund
• Publication: Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Health Care for American Indian and Alaska Native Elders
  Policy brief reporting findings from a study assessing health insurance coverage and access to health care among American Indian and Alaska Native elders (Native elders), using data from a national survey that included more than 8,300 Native elders. -- Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
• Publication: More Americans, Including More Children, Now Lack Health Insurance
  Provides Census data on the number of uninsured Americans. -- Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• Publication: Health Insurance Coverage in Rural America: Chartbook
  Information on rural-urban differences in health insurance coverage and differences in socio-economic and employment characteristics of those living in rural versus urban counties. -- Kaiser Family Foundation
• Publication: 2007 Health Insurance Survey of Farm and Ranch Operators
  Issue brief describing health insurance coverage among farmers and ranchers. Based on a survey of non-corporate farm and ranch operators in seven states: Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. -- Access Project
• Publication: Rural Families More Likely to be Uninsured and Have Different Sources of Coverage
  Research and policy brief examining patterns of health insurance coverage within rural families and comparing family-level insurance status for rural and urban families. -- Maine Rural Health Research Center
• Tool/Web Site: State Expansions Resource Center
  Describes ways that states across the country are expanding affordable, quality health coverage to more people. -- Families USA
• Funding opportunity: CVS Caremark Community Grants
  Grants to support children with disabilities and healthcare for the uninsured. -- CVS Caremark
• Publication: The State Childrens Health Insurance Program: Lessons and Outlook
  Highlights the lessons on covering children that have emerged from nearly 10 years of experience in the SCHIP program and lays out the major issues for SCHIP reauthorization. -- Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
• Publication: SCHIP Turns 10: An Update on Enrollment and the Outlook on Reauthorization from the Programs Directors
  Provides the latest data on SCHIP enrollment trends nationally and across the states and includes findings from structured interviews with directors from ten states. -- Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
• Tool/Web Site: The Commonwealth Fund ChartCart
  An online resource that offers free and convenient access to charts on various health care themes developed by The Commonwealth Fund. -- Commonwealth Fund
• Tool/Web Site: Childrens Coverage and SCHIP Reauthorization Issue Module
  Includes information about childrens health insurance coverage and SCHIP in different sections including a background brief, key data, policy research, webcasts/presentations, and key organizations. -- Kaiser Famil