6/17/2010: Now that health reform is law, reporters covering this subject have a new challenge: keeping readers, viewers and listeners engaged through the long implementation process. This toolkit will help. Features story ideas from seasoned reporters and links to dozens of resources. Also included: a list of experts with contact information and helpful websites.

5/18/2010: Constitutional challenges health reform were already in the works before President Obama signed the new reform law on March 23. On what grounds are states objecting? Are any of the lawsuits filed likely to succeed? This new toolkit, written by Kevin Arts of the Alliance, addresses both questions.

3/3/2010: Health reform passed in March 2010 thanks, in part, to a budget reconciliation bill that made changes to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This toolkit explains how reconciliation works, and offers links to resources that go into more detail on subjects such as the “Byrd rule” and the important role of the Senate parliamentarian.

12/4/2009: The coverage of abortion in a reformed health care system has become a topic generating considerable emotion in health reform debates. This resource list will help readers better understand what drives the positions of those taking sides on abortion within health reform.

10/16/2009: Health insurance cooperatives, or co-ops, have drawn attention as an alternative way for Americans to buy health insurance. Owned by their members, co-ops are seen by some as more palatable than a government-run public plan. What exactly are health insurance co-ops? What’s been their track record? Why do they succeed, or fail? Why do proponents like them, and what objections do opponents have? This new toolkit from the Alliance for Health Reform addresses these questions and others and also includes fast facts, links to 31 resources including case studies, story ideas for reporters, 34 selected experts with contact information, links to 17 selected websites, and a glossary.

1/3/2008: This toolkit, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will help you understand how health information technology (IT) is slowly changing health care, and how analysts disagree about the value of some technologies. We offer an introduction to issues such as protecting patient privacy and the cost of new technologies. This resource also offers story ideas, selected experts with contact information, selected websites of interest and a glossary.

11/27/2007: (Updated 8/1/2008) This toolkit, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will help you understand trends in U.S. health spending, and some of the reasons why spending is going up. We also cover some ideas for restraining health care costs. In addition, this resource offers story ideas, selected experts with contact information, selected websites, and a glossary.

11/14/2007: This toolkit, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, offers links to resources that will help you understand how children in the U.S. get health coverage, and the importance of employer-sponsored coverage and public programs to children. We offer an overview of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), with an update on congressional reauthorization of the program. This resource also offers key facts, story ideas for reporters, selected experts with contact information, selected websites, and a glossary.

11/9/2007: A Reporter's Toolkit: Medicaid This toolkit, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will help you understand who the Medicaid program covers, how it is financed, how it differs from Medicare, how states can alter Medicaid through federal waivers, and what the future holds for the program. This resource also offers key facts, brief background, story ideas, selected experts with contact information, selected websites and a glossary.

11/1/2007: This toolkit, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is designed for reporters covering health issues during Campaign 2008, but will be useful for others looking for up-to-date resources on the uninsured. The toolkit features dozens of links to useful websites and articles, including links to websites tracking presidential candidates' health reform plans. It also includes key facts, background, story ideas, lists of experts and websites, and a glossary.

9/12/2007: Congress and the White House are gridlocked on SCHIP reauthorization beyond November. President Bush has vetoed the first SCHIP bill to cross his desk. CMS has issued tough new rules governing when states can open up their SCHIP programs to children above 200 percent of the federal poverty. One reason for all of the above: crowd-out – the phenomenon of people dropping private health coverage when public coverage becomes more easily available. This toolkit, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, helps explain why crowd-out occurs and offers links to late-breaking developments affecting SCHIP enrollment. A list of experts and websites is also included.

8/7/2007: Many policy experts believe that sweeping general reform to our national health system is not likely to happen without success stories from state-level reforms. Yet many state reforms may be in conflict with the federal statute known as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA. This toolkit, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, covers the basics and ERISA and presents expert opinion on both sides of the ERISA vs. state reform issue.

7/13/2007: Over the past three years, enrollment in Medicare private fee-for-service (PFFS) plans has increased significantly. These plans offer a potentially greater choice of providers than beneficiaries will find in Medicare HMOs or PPOs. They often provide extra benefits not found in traditional Medicare. Beneficiaries attracted to the plans hope to lower their out-of-pocket costs compared to what they would pay in traditional Medicare. However, the plans have drawn the interest of federal budget cutters since they cost more per beneficiary than traditional Medicare. Moreover, beneficiaries have been reporting confusion about the plans and sometimes, enrollment fraud. Some private fee-for-service beneficiaries have been denied services by physicians who previously accepted their traditional Medicare coverage. This toolkit, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, contains resources that describe the basics of PFFS plans, advantages and incentives included in the plans, and the challenges that PFFS enrollees have encountered along the way.

7/5/2007: Starting July 1, every adult in Massachusetts is required to have health coverage (except for 60,000 people exempted by the state). This toolkit, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is designed to help you understand the state's pace-setting near-universal coverage plan and its implications, with links to representative articles and documents from across the ideological spectrum. You will also find a list of selected experts and websites. We recommend these articles and experts to you, and welcome your suggestions for additions to our list. You may email those to info@allhealth.org