The balance between state and federal health care financing for low-income people has been a matter of considerable debate for the last 40 years. Some argue for a greater federal role, others for more devolution of responsibility to the states. Medicaid, the backbone of the system, has been plagued by an array of problems that have made it unpopular and difficult to use to extend health care coverage. In recent years, waivers have given the states the flexibility to change many features of their Medicaid programs; moreover, the states have considerable flexibility to in establishing State Children's Health Insurance Programs. This book examines the record on the changing health safety net. How well have states done in providing acute and long-term care services to low-income populations? How have they responded to financial incentives and federal regulatory requirements? How innovative have they been? Contributing authors include Donald J. Boyd, Randall R. Bovbjerg, Teresa A. Coughlin, Ian Hill, Michael Housman, Robert E. Hurley, Marilyn Moon, Mary Beth Pohl, Jane Tilly, and Stephen Zuckerman.

In recent years the bishops of the United States have taken public positions on numerous domestic and international issues and have articulated these positions not only in statements but in congressional testimony, meetings with government officials, and similar efforts. Yet relatively few Americans are aware of this activity. Typically, bishops' statements are published in pamphlet form and receive passing coverage in the secular press. Although the bishops' advocacy has been forthright and frequently effective, it is not too widely recognized. This volume is intended as a record of the bishops' stands on social and political questions issued between 1966 and 1980. It contains statements on domestic and foreign policy by the USCC, the NCCB, the USCC Administrative Board, the NCCB/USCC Executive Committee, the USCC Committee on Social Development and World Peace, and the USCC Department of Social Development and World Peace.