Are Consumers Confident or Worried About Their Health Care?

What are Americans most afraid of when it comes to health care? How many are delaying the care they need?

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Care Consumer Confidence Index (RWJF Index) found that Americans’ confidence in their health insurance coverage and access to health care dropped in July. The RWJF Index fell 5.2 points last month to 97.2, down from the June confidence level of 102.3.

Medicare-eligible seniors reported the highest RWJF Index score of any age group in July (106.8), but the survey also found the largest drop in confidence to be among individuals 65 years of age and older. Meanwhile, individuals age 50-64 had the lowest confidence level, falling to 90.7 in July.

Does the United States Provide the Best Health Care in the World?

Recent surveys show that the majority of Americans believe that despite spotty coverage, high costs and other problems, the U.S. health care system—and the quality of health care delivered—is the best in the world. But is it really?

A new analysis from the Urban Institute looks at the evidence on how quality of care in the United States compares to that in other countries and provides implications for health reform. Authors Elizabeth Docteur and Robert Berenson find that the evidence for American superiority in quality of care (or lack thereof) is a mixed bag, with the nation doing relatively well in some areas—such as cancer care—and less well in others—such as mortality from treatable and preventable conditions.

Americans Rank Health Care as Second Highest Priority

According to a new survey by the Harvard School of Public Health and RWJF, Health Priorities Survey: The Medical System and the Uninsured, Americans rank health care as the second highest priority for governmental action. Thirty-one percent of survey respondents ranked health care as one of the two most important issues for the government to address. Furthermore, 69 percent of Americans rate the nation’s system for providing medical care as “fair” or “poor,” while only 20 percent believe the system is “good” and eight percent see it as “excellent.”

Healthy Schools Honored by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation

President Bill Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation, joined American Heart Association President Clyde Yancy, M.D., and RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., at the Fourth Annual Healthy Schools Program Forum in New York to honor 114 schools from across the nation that are transforming themselves into healthier places for students to learn and staff to work.

Nearly one in three children and adolescents in the United States is obese or overweight. In response to this epidemic, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation established the Healthy Schools Program to help schools develop and implement policies and practices to promote healthy eating and increase physical activity.

Health Coverage: What's Fair When it Comes to Employer's Share?

One of the most controversial issues in health reform is the concept of an employer mandate—a requirement that most employers would either have to provide health insurance for their employees, or pay a percentage of total payroll costs to the government. RWJF and Health Affairs explore the concept—as well as the current state of employer-sponsored insurance—in the latest brief in a series that provide objective, nonpartisan analysis of policy proposals related to health reform.

What Does Emergency Department Utilization Reveal About the U.S. Health Sector?

A new Synthesis report by Joel Cantor, Sc.D., and Derek DeLia, Ph.D., describes what is known—and what is not known—about hospital emergency departments (ED) in the United States. The authors addresses key questions about the performance and sustainability of hospital EDs and what patterns of ED utilization reveal about the functioning of the U.S. health sector overall.

RWJF Launches Largest National Public Health Initiative to Stop the Spread of Teen Dating Violence

RWJF launched Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships, the largest initiative ever funded to target 11- to 14-year-olds to promote healthy relationships. RWJF and Blue Shield of California Foundation are investing $18 million in 11 communities across the country to identify and evaluate the most promising pathways to stop dating violence and abuse before it starts. RWJF is funding 10 sites around the country; Blue Shield of California Foundation is funding one site in California.

Building the Evidence for Quality Improvement Initiatives in Public Health Practice

RWJF is committed to increasing the successful application of quality improvement (QI) in public health departments. In addition to working to ensure that departments receive training and technical assistance to prepare for national public health accreditation and to improve the overall quality of governmental public health, the Foundation recognizes the need to build the evidence of the value and impact of QI in this field.

RWJF is funding 13 local, state and tribal health departments to evaluate the impact of a range of QI approaches on public health performance indicators, such as immunizations and management of foodborne illness outbreaks.

RWJF and Northwest Health Foundation Announce New Partners Investing in Nursing's Future Grants

Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future is a unique national initiative to help address the long-term shortage of nurses across the country. The program provides support to local and regional philanthropy to act as catalysts in their own communities and develop strategies for creating and sustaining a viable nursing workforce. The 10 grants awarded this year initiate the involvement of 19 local foundations and exemplify diverse partnerships in 12 states.