Access to Services & Benefits

In this brief, we highlight experiences and practices from substance use treatment providers and their human services partners when serving people of color. We selected providers that focused on serving people of color, and this study was not intended to assess outcomes or effectiveness of any of the practices highlighted.

This issue brief provides updates on state Medicaid policies regarding delivery of telehealth services by provider types and modalities, as of January 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic substantially accelerated interest in and utilization of telehealth across all payers including Medicaid.

Per Section 223(d)(7)(A) of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) of 2014 (Public Law 113-93), the HHS Secretary must submit to Congress an annual report on the use of funds provided under all demonstration programs conducted under this subsection, not later than one year after the date on which the first state is selected for a demonstration program under this subsection, and annually t

Head Start preschool programs provide high-quality early childhood education (ECE) services for children ages three to five and engages families in comprehensive services to support health and well-being.

Nutrition assistance programs have been shown to increase children’s health and well-being and decrease the risk of child maltreatment. At the same time, food insecurity rose in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic had wide-ranging impacts on health care delivery, particularly services that require in-person interactions. For patients needing access to medications to treat pain or certain substance use disorders, the COVID-19 pandemic presented particular challenges for continuity of treatment.

This issue brief analyzes changes in health insurance coverage and examines trends in access to care among Black Americans using data from 2011-2020. This Issue Brief is part of a series of ASPE reports examining the change in coverage rates and access to care after implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) among different racial and ethnic populations.

Telehealth services expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey (HPS) in 2021, this Issue Brief analyzes national trends in telehealth utilization across all payers and examines how use of video-enabled vs. audio-only telehealth services differ across patient populations.

This report provides an overview of the characteristics of the immigrant population in the United States, their health status and barriers to care, recent trends in health insurance coverage, their access to Federal health programs, and how they have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. It also offers possible policy approaches to improve health care equity for this diverse population.

Participation in the social safety net varies widely across programs—from 15 percent among eligibles for subsidized child care (CCDF) to over 75 percent for Medicaid/CHIP and EITC.  Participation differs by race and ethnicity, yet patterns are not consistent. In general rates differ more across programs than between race-ethnic groups.