RWJF State Health Reform Assistance
Network Initiative

As part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) State Health Reform Assistance Network initiative, the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) examined commercial and Medicaid health insurance markets in eight U.S. metropolitan areas: Baltimore; Portland, Ore.; Denver; Long Island, N.Y.; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Birmingham, Ala.; Richmond, Va.; and Albuquerque, N.M.

The project examines both how these markets function currently and are changing over time, especially in preparation for national health reform as outlined under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. In particular, this project includes a focus on the impact of state regulation on insurance markets, commercial health plans’ market positions and product designs, factors contributing to employers’ and other purchasers’ decisions about health insurance, and Medicaid/state Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) outreach/enrollment strategies and managed care.

Community Reports

HSC will publish Community Reports for each of the eight communities. In addition, key findings from the eight sites will be analyzed in two publications, one on commercial insurance markets and the other on Medicaid managed care.

• Competitive Albuquerque Health Insurance Market Gears Up for Coverage Boom
• Baltimore: Health Insurance Market Primed for National Health Reform
• Alabama’s Pass on Medicaid Expansion Leaves Birmingham’s Uninsured with Weak Safety Net
• Denver: Competitive Insurance Market Awaits National Health Reform
• Long Island Follows Bumpy New York Road to National Health Reform
• Minneapolis-St. Paul: Health Care Market Geared Up for National Health Reform
• Portland, Oregon: Health Insurance Market Geared Up for National Health Reform
• Federal Exchange Option and Indecision on Medicaid Expansion Create Uncertainty for Richmond, Va., Market