Blog Home

Archive for the 'Children' Category




Alice Noble And Mary Ann Chirba On Severability: Life Is A Highway


March 29th, 2012
 
by Alice Noble and Mary Ann Chirba

On Day Three of arguments about the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court turned its attention to the question of severability. Should the Court find that the ACA’s minimum coverage requirement is indeed a proper exercise of Congress’s right to regulate interstate commerce, today’s arguments were all for naught. However, if the... Read the rest of this entry »

Paul Ryan’s Health Care Fantasy


March 22nd, 2012
by Jonathan Oberlander

Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan is frequently hailed for his fiscal responsibility and political courage.   After all, the Congressman has now put forward not one but two budget plans that offer “a blueprint for safeguarding America from the perils of debt, doubt and decline” and take on sensitive issues like Medicare.   Ryan seems to have emerged... Read the rest of this entry »

Implementing Health Reform: Contraception And Student Health Plans


March 17th, 2012
by Timothy Jost

On March 16, 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services published a final rule regarding student health plans, an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking explaining how it intends to handle coverage of contraception services, and a notice regarding the early retiree reinsurance program.  This blog post addresses these issuances.  Separate blog posts will address... Read the rest of this entry »

It Takes A Village: Caring For Children With Diabetes


January 23rd, 2012
 
by Michelle Katz and Lori Laffel

Editor’s Note: The January 2012 issue of Health Affairs is a thematic volume titled “Confronting The Growing Diabetes Crisis.” Ariella was a different child, thin and shy, when I first met her about a year and a half ago, just after her 6th birthday. Her mother had noted her thirst and hunger, and, despite this... Read the rest of this entry »

Adolescents And Young Adults: Bringing A Neglected Group Into Cancer Research


January 13th, 2012
 
by Leonard Zwelling and Eugenie Kleinerman

“A child is not a small adult,” but an adolescent is not a large child.  Adult oncologists, reluctant to care for cancer patients under the age of 16, believe that adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients should be within their purview.  We believe younger cancer patients are a special group needing special attention, even... Read the rest of this entry »

Young People With Diabetes Fare Worse Educationally, Financially


January 10th, 2012
by Chris Fleming

Having diabetes can carry  many health consequences, but a new study in the January issue of Health Affairs shows that it also highly influences a young person’s ability to complete high school, be employed, and earn a living wage.  High school dropout rates among young people with diabetes are six percentage points higher than for... Read the rest of this entry »

Implementing Reform: Funding And Flexibility For States On Exchanges


November 30th, 2011
by Timothy Jost

As 2011 comes to a close, we draw ever closer to January 1, 2014, the day when the most significant changes wrought by the Affordable Care Act will come into effect.  Indeed, we are only weeks away from the halfway point between March, 2010, when the ACA was signed into law and October, 2013, the... Read the rest of this entry »

Census Numbers: The Safety Net Is Working


September 15th, 2011
by Henry Aaron

Editor’s Note: For more Health Affairs Blog coverage of the new Census Bureau health insurance data, see Nina Owcharenko’s post. Most of the newspaper coverage of the just-released Census Bureau data on health insurance coverage has focused changes in coverage between 2009 and 2010.  Since the advent of the Great Recession, the reduction in health... Read the rest of this entry »

Narrative Matters: Reporting Child Abuse


July 26th, 2011
by Chris Fleming

In the newest Health Affairs Narrative Matters essay, a seventeen-year-old West African immigrant who’s off to college says her facial bruising was inflicted by her father, and a young pediatrician learns about — and rethinks — the process of reporting child abuse and working with Child Protective Services. The essay, “Oh, My Father Hit Me,”... Read the rest of this entry »

Michelle Obama’s ‘Let’s Move’ Is Losing Its Footing


June 28th, 2011
by

First Lady Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign, launched on February 9, 2010, initially closely fit what obesity research data calls for, with its focus on children and its attention to exercise and better eating (rather than dieting), including its very title, “Let’s Move.”  At the launch, the first lady announced four major areas of focus: providing... Read the rest of this entry »

Obesity Epidemic May Make Mortality Gains Short-Lived


June 23rd, 2011
by Chris Fleming

For those who assume that the next generation of Americans will live longer than their parents, a new “three-dimensional” method of forecasting vital health statistics shows how this may not prove to be the case. Most Americans enjoy better health today than in the past, with significant declines in death rates from the top three... Read the rest of this entry »

The ‘Decade Of Vaccines’: Promise And Challenge


June 14th, 2011
by Chris Fleming

Vaccinating children around the world against infectious diseases has saved the lives of millions over the past several decades. Now new opportunities exist to overcome remaining challenges, according to articles in the June 2011 issue of Health Affairs, Strategies For The Global ‘Decade Of Vaccines, published June 9. The new Health Affairs volume explores the... Read the rest of this entry »

Remembering Barbara Starfield: A Primary Care Champion


June 13th, 2011
by Chris Fleming

Barbara Starfield, a seminal figure in the health services research community who made landmark contributions in primary care and other areas, died suddenly on Friday, June 10, of an apparent heart attack. Health Affairs extends its deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Dr. Starfield. To help honor Dr. Starfield’s career, Health Affairs is... Read the rest of this entry »

Most Kids Vaccinated, But Some Parents Still Worry


June 10th, 2011
by Chris Fleming

Most children in the United States are getting regularly scheduled immunizations for infant and childhood diseases. But a new survey shows that some parents remain unpersuaded that all vaccines are safe or even necessary. The survey was published yesterday in the June issue of Health Affairs, a thematic volume titled “Strategies For The ‘Decade Of... Read the rest of this entry »

Health Affairs Briefing Reminder: Strategies For The Global ‘Decade Of Vaccines’


June 7th, 2011
by Chris Fleming

Immunizing the world’s children against infectious diseases has dramatically cut childhood death and suffering in recent decades.  In 2010, philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates called for a new “Decade of Vaccines” to vault the progress dramatically forward. The June 2011 issue of Health Affairs, sponsored by the Gates Foundation, examines the strategies that will be... Read the rest of this entry »

Health Affairs Briefing: Strategies For The Global ‘Decade Of Vaccines’


May 31st, 2011
by Chris Fleming

Immunizing the world’s children against infectious diseases has dramatically cut childhood death and suffering in recent decades.  In 2010, philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates called for a new “Decade of Vaccines” to vault the progress dramatically forward. The June 2011 issue of Health Affairs, sponsored by the Gates Foundation, examines the strategies that will be... Read the rest of this entry »

Protecting Children from Environmental Chemical Exposures: An Economic Priority


May 24th, 2011
by Leo Trasande

In the May Health Affairs issue, Sarah Vogel and Judy Roberts map out the disastrous history of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the major legislation that regulates chemicals.  TSCA makes it difficult for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to restrict use of any of the 62,000 chemicals already in commerce.  It does not... Read the rest of this entry »

The Beacon Communities At One Year: The SE Minnesota Experience


May 23rd, 2011
by Erin Knoebel, Daniel Jensen, Lacey Hart, and Barbara Yawn

Editor’s note: The federal government’s Beacon Program provides funding to 17 communities that have already made inroads in the development of secure, private, and accurate systems of electronic health record (EHR) adoption and health information exchange. This is the third in a series of Health Affairs Blog posts in which leaders of several Beacon communities... Read the rest of this entry »

Strengthen Restrictions On Health-Threatening Chemicals, Says Study


May 10th, 2011
by Chris Fleming

With growing evidence of the link between exposure to toxic chemicals and chronic diseases, especially in children, the United States needs to step up its efforts to protect the public from hazardous chemicals, say researchers writing in the May issue of Health Affairs. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), stymied by the outdated Toxic Substances Control... Read the rest of this entry »

Public Coverage Programs: Solving the Enrollment Dilemma


May 9th, 2011
 
by Alain C. Enthoven and Leonard Schaeffer

Editor’s Note: In addition to Alain Enthoven and Leonard Schaeffer (photos and bios above), this post is coauthored by David Helwig and Phil Lebherz. Helwig retired as President and CEO West Region for WellPoint, Inc., and he also served as chief executive officer and president of Blue Cross of California. Lebherz is Chairman of LISI,... Read the rest of this entry »

Click here to email us a new post.