This article analyzes potential barriers in the U.S. to the patient-centered medical home model, which is considered policy shorthand for the reinvention of primary care. Barriers include developing new payment models, personnel and infrastructure funding, and methods to facilitate transforming...

There is broad consensus that family structure is inextricably linked with poverty and the well-being of children. This paper reviews the connections between poverty, family structure, and child well-being; explains the rationale for a new policy strategy focused on intervening more directly at...

Congestive heart failure (CHF)—the inability of the heart to pump enough blood to the body—is the leading cause of hospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries. Despite the fact that this is a chronic disease for which appropriate outpatient care can reduce hospitalizations, the...

State Medicaid and SCHIP agencies provide vital health coverage to low-income populations and other groups, but they have limited administrative resources to support enrollment and renewal. This brief looks at experiences of some state Medicaid and SCHIP agencies in using a process change model...

Mathematica and other experts working with the BSF team are helping agencies plan targeted healthy marriage initiatives for unwed couples who are about to or who have just had a baby. These guidelines will help interested sponsors design and deliver program services. In addition, the guidelines...

The new Medicare Part D benefit, which began on January 1, 2006, expanded Medicare to include prescription drugs, and it required beneficiaries to change how they interact with the program. Past experience with low enrollment in a variety of programs designed to aid low-income Medicare...

Provides a comprehensive profile of the program, including participant demographics, services provided, and performance outcomes, using data from 1999-2000. Notes that 57 percent of college-ready participants were admitted to a postsecondary institution, and 56 percent of those who dropped out...

In the 1990s, insurance companies and employers began to rely on managed care to control costs, and state governments followed suit by adopting managed care in Medicaid programs. To deal with the challenges associated with developing effective state Medicaid managed care programs, the Robert...