From the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation, this research brief uses data from a 2005 study to examine health coverage, access and the financial impacts of health care for low-income parents and their families. It was found that low-income uninsured parents are mostly without access to health coverage and are much more likely to have uninsured children than those with insurance. In fact, four in ten low-income parents are without access to health coverage and are much more likely to have uninsured children than those with insurance.

GAO conducted this study on dental services for children on Medicaid because the 31 million children on Medicaid are particularly vulnerable to tooth decay, which, if untreated, may lead to more serious health conditions. Research looked at the data that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requires States to report on the provision of dental services. Children on Medicaid should have access to services to treat dental disease, as these services are critical for ensuring that children and adolescents are healthy and prepared to learn.

This report is from the National Center on Children in Poverty, and provides information on state policy choices surrounding early childhood policies. State polices regarding early childhood are affected by federal changes in programs such as Medicaid and the Child Care and Development Fund, and this leads to variance across the country.

The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services authored this document on rural health and human services in the United States. This report examines the following key topics: Medicare Advantage, Head Start, and substance abuse. Findings confirm the difficulty of implementing human services in rural areas.

This fact sheet, from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, provides an overview of the health of African American men, including mortality rates, health status, insurance coverage, and access to care. Authors find that African American adult men are more likely to lack health insurance than boys, as are adult men in the Midwest and the South, compared to the Northeast and the West.

This resource is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG), and provides information on OIG’s initiatives from the last 30 years. OIG has continued to work in audit, investigative, and evaluative oversight of Medicare, Medicaid, and the group of public health agencies that comprise HHS. The Office is also confronting new issues in public health under the recent Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, emergency preparedness and response and health information technology initiatives.

In this policy brief from the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan, authors examine the relationship between education and health. The findings include evidence that better educated people have lower morbidity rates from the most common diseases in the United States. Authors conclude that education policy has the potential to improve the overall health in our country.

Utilizing the National Center for Children in Poverty’s Family Resource Simulator, this article reviews policies in Illinois that support work and self-sufficiency among families. It was found that Illinois is successful in providing adequate family resources, but rewarding progress in the workforce is still a challenge. The Simulator showed that full-time, low-wage workers in Illinois cannot afford basic family necessities—including housing, food, health care, child care, and transportation—without the help of public work supports.

Utilizing the 2005 Current Population Survey data, this Urban Institute brief examines national patterns of coverage among families with State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) eligible children. One important issue with SCHIP Reauthorization is that the SCHIP program does not reach all of those eligible for the program. It was estimated in 2002 that 3 million children were uninsured despite SCHIP eligibility.

Mathematica authored this brief, which is an evaluation of the Covering Kids and Families Initiative, funded through the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation to increase the use of the State Children's Insurance Program (SCHIP) for low-income families. Specifically, this brief offers information on best practices for expanding the span of the SCHIP program and increasing enrollment in the SCHIP and Medicaid programs.