SCHIP Shortfalls, the Economy Disconnect, and Suburban Poverty

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities warns that 17 states will face federal funding shortages in critical SCHIP programs, with total shortfall across the states totaling nearly $1 billion.

A comprehensive look at how Americans think about the economy has led experts at the Economic Policy Institute to conclude that most Americans and elites are simply "Talking Past Each Other." Written by an economist, a pollster, and a speech writer, the new book offers insights to how most Americans view the economy and how policymakers can speak the language of the working American economy.

Think the uninsured choose to be? Some conservatives and free market advocates do. Debunking that myth, a new report published in Health Affairs shows that 81% of the uninsured are either eligible for public programs or need assistance to afford private coverage. The report was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and used data from the US Census 2005 Current Population Survey. Specifically, the report found that 25% of the uninsured are eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP programs and 56% have incomes that make them ineligible for public programs but need assistance to afford private coverage.

According to new research at the Brookings Institution, poverty is fleeing to the suburbs, with the suburban poor now outnumbering the urban poor by at least 1 million people -- a massive change since 1999 when the two populations were roughly equal.