2009 Edition of Covering Health Issues Available The latest edition of "Covering Health Issues" is now complete online, made possible by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. For the online version with interactive features, click here. To download a PDF duplicate of the print version , click here. You will find a dozen chapters on some of the hottest health policy topics -- health reform, health care costs, health care quality, employer-sponsored coverage, individual coverage, children's coverage, Medicare, Medicaid, long-term care, disparities, public health and mental health. Each chapter offers fast facts on the topic, background information, likely policy debates, tips for reporters covering this topic, story ideas for reporters, experts with contact information and helpful websites.   Read More

	Issue Brief: Health Information Technology -- More Than the Money Some health policy analysts believe that the main importance of health information technology lies in its potential for improving health care quality and reducing disparities -- whether it saves money or not. This issue brief explores the quality improvement aspects of health IT, and some barriers to its wider adoption. Written by Alliance health policy associate Deanna Okrent with the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  To download, click here.   Read More

	Long-Term Care: Exploring the Possibilities Almost every day, we learn of a new hearing or briefing about ways to improve our health care system. The White House, Congress, advocates and stakeholders are fully engaged. The elephant in the room during those discussions is long-term care. Despite being so large, it suffers from the possibility of being ignored. This March 9 forum, supported by the SCAN Foundation, brought together opinion leaders and stakeholders to explore options for the future of long-term care in the reform debate. Participants considered key policy questions on how to move from testing models at the edges to implementing feasible options through health reform. Read More

	Health Reform for New Health Reform Reporters For reporters who normally cover topics other than health reform, today’s reform debates can mean playing catch-up. They may be facing a new vocabulary – public plan option, health insurance cooperative, employer mandate, individual mandate. Maybe they're trying to figure out what all this means for readers, viewers or listeners. To help speed reporters along the learning curve, the Alliance for Health Reform sponsored a July 1 briefing. The resource materials compiled will be valuable for anyone wanting an overview of the health reform process in Washington to date, and where it's headed. Read More