Health Care Coverage Expansions Focus of State Coverage Initiatives Report

WASHINGTON, February 9 - State Coverage Initiatives (SCI), an initiative of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has released a report examining recent state health care coverage expansions as the number of uninsured Americans continues to grow. Titled "State of the States," the report features perspectives of key state policy leaders and analysis of issues ranging from welfare reform to buy-in programs to the safety net and insurance markets.

"As national proposals once again emerge for health care reforms, this compilation of what states have been able to do both on their own and in response to federal initiatives shows the range of state actions and their varying degrees of success," says David Helms, director of the SCI program.

In addition to looking back at what has been accomplished thus far, the report also identifies a number of emerging issues that states are likely to face in the coming years, including access to pharmaceuticals, oral health services, and sustaining enrollment in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). It also touches on future directions of insurance markets, including the viability of the employer-based health insurance system and the potential growth of the individual insurance market.

"While the states continue to work on the uninsured problem, it is clear that they will need both the impetus and funding from federal initiatives," Helms concludes.

For a copy of "State of the States," contact LeAnne DeFrancesco at LeAnne.DeFrancesco@academyhealth.org.

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Alpha Center (www.ac.org) is a non-profit health policy center dedicated to improving access to affordable, quality health care. Based in Washington, D.C., Alpha Center serves as the national program office for State Coverage Initiatives.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (www.rwjf.org), based in Princeton, N.J., is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. It concentrates its grantmaking in three goal areas: to assure that all Americans have access to basic health care at reasonable cost; to improve care and support for people with chronic health conditions; and to reduce the personal, social, and economic harm caused by substance abuse - tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs.

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