From the U.S. Census Bureau, this report offers the latest statistics on income, poverty, and health insurance in the United States. The real median household income in the United States fell 3.6 percent between 2007 and 2008, from $52,163 to $50,303. Additionally, the nation’s official poverty rate in 2008 was 13.2 percent, which is up from 12.5 percent in 2007. The number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 45.7 million in 2007 to 46.3 million in 2008.

This issue brief is from HealthReform.gov, a Web site maintained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In rural America, around 50 million residents have challenges accessing health care and in recent years, poverty and access to adequate health care providers has been increasing in rural areas. Due to the economic crisis, rural areas are particularly vulnerable, and this issue brief offers information on the current state of health care in rural areas.

This report is from the Urban Institute and outlines how the tax system can be used to enroll uninsured children into Medicaid and SCHIP programs. In 2004, 89.4 percent of uninsured children who qualified for Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program lived in families who filed Federal income tax forms, and this method can be an effective outreach strategy to reach these vulnerable families.

The National Center on Substance Abuse and Child Welfare (NCSACW) is sponsored through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Administration for Children and Families. NCSACW works with States and Tribes to improve their service delivery for expanding cross-systems collaboration in an effort to improve outcomes for children and families in their states. TANF agencies can learn a framework, tools, and strategies for increasing cross-systems collaboration.

This report from the Government Accountability Office reviews the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Authors provide information on how States cover adults under SCHIP, approaches employed by States to reach all individuals eligible for SCHIP and how States have evaluated their outreach approaches.

Researchers at the Department of Human Development, California State University East Bay, conducted this study examining a model of income poverty, material hardship, parenting factors, and child health status to understand how material hardship and parental factors mediate the effects of poverty on child health. Utilizing data from the 2002 National Survey of American Families, researchers found that poverty has an independent effect on health, and its effects are partially explained by material hardship, parental depression and parental behaviors.

In 2006, the number of uninsured Americans rose to 47.0 million, and the number of uninsured children rose to 8.7 million, according to Census data. This policy brief, from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, reviews trends in health insurance and coverage through Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Low-income adults are more likely to be uninsured, as around 25 percent of people with incomes below $25,000 were uninsured in 2006, which is almost triple the rate among people with incomes over $75,000.

Mental health-related emergency department visits range from two percent to five percent of all hospital emergency department visits for children and youth. This brief is from the National Center for Children in Poverty and outlines mental health services in emergency rooms for children. Authors provide an overview of the challenges with mental health related emergency room visits and offers recommendations for better serving children and youth in this environment.

Lack of employer-sponsored health insurance can affect the productivity of workers and the health of their families. This paper is from the Urban Institute and offers information on access to employer-sponsored health insurance. By evaluating low-income working families, with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty level, the researchers examine patterns of access for health insurance.

This issue brief, authored by Mathematica Policy Research, is the sixth in a series on workers with disabilities and provides information on the Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment (DMIE). The DMIE is a program funded through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and provides funds for States to develop, implement, and evaluate interventions to improve health care coverage and employment services for adults with potentially disabling conditions. Authors review the objectives of the DMIE and information on the Demonstration in four States, and conclude with next steps on disseminating the results from projects around the country.