Reports & Toolkits

Through our research we have found that women are continuously charged more for health coverage simply because they are women, and individual market health plans often exclude coverage for services that only women need, like maternity coverage. The report provides an in-depth analysis of these inequalities and explains how the Affordable Care Act explicitly removes these discriminations by 2014.

This report discusses child care center directors’ perspectives on Quality Rating and Improvement Systems and offers recommendations for strengthening QRIS so that they are more effective in helping families access high-quality care.

2010 marked the first full year of the recovery that began when the “Great Recession” officially ended in June 2009 but the latest Census Bureau data show that rates of poverty and extreme poverty rose in 2010, hitting women and families hardest. 

This brief, authored by Georgetown University Center for Children and National Women's Law Center, looks at current state efforts to align and simplify coverage for children and parents in Medicaid  and how the ACA moves states toward a more coordinated system of family-based coverage. As we examine these policies, it important to note that aligning policies and procedures is beneficial to states, as well as families. Simplified rules and requirements make it easier to communicate program information and to train eligibility workers, resulting in more consistent and accurate eligibility determinations. States that have maximized alignment and simplification policies not only ensure that eligible persons get and stay enrolled but also reduce the state’s administrative burden and costs, a high priority in the current fiscal environment. Finally, this brief makes suggestions on how states can transition toward ACA implementation and raises issues for further consideration.