Background: HealthLinks is a workplace health promotion program developed in partnership with the American Cancer Society. It delivers a package of evidence-based interventions and implementation support to small worksites in low-wage industries. As part of a randomized, controlled trial of HealthLinks, we studied approaches to recruiting these…

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed, and intensified, health inequities faced by Latinx in the United States. Washington was one of the first U.S. states to report cases of COVID-19. Public health surveillance shows that 31% of Washington cases are Latinx, despite being only 13% of the state population. Unjust policies related to immigration, labor,…

The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) is in the midst of phasing in substantial increases in the contributions made by teachers, school districts, and the state of California. The phase-in period began in 2014-15. In the year prior, 2013-14, the total statutory contribution rate to CalSTRS from all parties was 18.3 percent of…

Purpose: To assess the impact on health care cost and quality among seniors of a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) pilot at Group Health Cooperative, an integrated health care system in Washington State. Design and Methods: A prospective before-and-after evaluation of the experience of seniors receiving primary care services at 1 pilot clinic…

Purpose: Distance to provider might be an important barrier to timely diagnosis and treatment for cancer patients who qualify for Medicaid coverage. Whether driving time or driving distance is a better indicator of travel burden is also of interest. Methods: Driving distances and times from patient residence to primary care provider were…

Context: The 2008 financial crisis had a far-reaching impact on nearly every sector of the economy. As unemployment increased so did the uninsured. Already operating on a slim margin and poor payer mix, many critical access hospitals are facing a tough road ahead. Purpose: We seek to examine the increasing impact of uncompensated care on the…

Washington State Medicaid mandates a second opinion when threshold safety parameters for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications are exceeded. This is found to save $1.2 million and saves 538 fewer patients from exceeding safety thresholds.

Throughout 2009, ZERO TO THREE worked to keep individuals informed of important and innovative policy developments happening throughout the country. This past year included many historic ups and downs--new and energetic faces arrived in the White House, Congress, and state governments ready to move this nation forward, and this nation entered an…

Purpose/Objectives: The Direct Verification Pilot tested the feasibility, effectiveness, and costs of using Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) data to verify applications for free and reduced-price (FRP) school meals instead of obtaining documentation from parents and guardians. Methods: The Direct Verification Pilot…

Context: Women who do not receive regular mammograms are more likely than others to have breast cancer diagnosed at an advanced stage. Purpose: To examine predisposing and enabling factors associated with mammography use among Hispanic and non-Hispanic White women. Methods: Baseline data were used from a larger study on cancer prevention in rural…

Health insurance, and especially coverage for children, has been a subject of recent political debate in Washington State, as well as on the national stage. Policy makers and health care providers can use high-quality state-level data to assess which children lack health insurance and devise possible solutions to address this need. Illustrating…

This report assesses hardship among children of immigrants nationwide and in states with large immigrant populations (California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Washington). Data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families show that hardship is greater for children of immigrants than for the children of…

School-based health centers (SBHCs) often are located in high-need schools and communities. Dental service is frequently an addition to existing comprehensive services, functioning in a variety of models, configurations, and locations. SBHCs are indicated when parents have limited financial resources or inadequate health insurance, limiting…

This document comprises the mandatory report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the Washington State legislature on proposed methods of controlling health care costs for school employees. It focuses on the costs to Washington's 296 school districts of providing health care coverage for approximately 80,000 employees. The introduction…

Salaries and employer-paid insurance benefits for faculty members at public community colleges in Washington were compared with those of other states to provide a basis for a salary increase recommendation to the Governor and the Legislature. Salary level assessment involved comparing average salary increases to the cost of living advance as…