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Seven-year-old Alex Rowe, who has a rare bleeding disorder, soon will have private health insurance again.  He is among more than 5 million Americans under the age of 19 with a pre-existing medical condition who cannot be denied coverage by insurance companies beginning as early as September under a key provision of the health care reform law. Covering consumers with pre-existing health problems has long been a point of contention and figured prominently in the national health reform debate.

This knowledge path about child and adolescent health insurance and access to care has been compiled by the Maternal and Child Health Library at Georgetown University. It offers a selection of current, high-quality resources that analyze data, describe effective programs, and report on policy and research aimed at advancing health coverage and improving health care access for children and adolescents. Emphasis is placed on Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Separate sections present resources for professionals (health professionals, program administrators, policymakers, and researchers) and for families. A special topics section presents resources that address health reform, outreach and enrollment, and school-based and school-linked care. This knowledge path will be updated periodically.

The ink was hardly dry on the health-care overhaul law when foundations, industry groups and consumer advocates began putting together guides to the new rules. Here are some Web sites worth keeping an eye on:

Click here to download the full flyer (PDF) What: The public is invited to join a community conversation with a panel of health care, business and community leaders about the present and future of health care and health care reform; no jargon, politics or 'slick' presentations. When: Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 7:00-9:00pm Mountain Where: Helena Regional Airport, Upper Level Meeting Area

Those who suffer from mental illness will be well-served by the new health care reforms, according to Angela Kimball, director of state policy for the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

The health overhaul package passed by the House Sunday and sent to the Senate for final action is the most far-reaching health legislation since the creation of the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

While the underlying Senate bill will become law as soon as President Barack Obama signs it, additional changes will occur if the Senate passes the reconciliation-bill part of the package. The following is a look at the impact of the entire package, which would extend insurance coverage to 32 million additional Americans by 2019, but also have an effect on almost every citizen. Here's where things stand and how you might be affected:

The new healthcare reform laws have immediate and long-term impacts on Montana businesses and citizens. Please join us for an education session and discussion regarding how you can make the new health care reform laws work for you and your community. Please RSVP at HealthCareLaws@bcbsmt.com Refreshments will be served.

A series of changes sparked by the health care law passed earlier this year will begin to take hold later this week, increasing access for individuals with disabilities. Starting Thursday, insurers will no longer be able to deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions. Lifetime coverage limits will also largely disappear. And, it will become harder for insurance companies to cancel coverage or deny claims. At the same time, insurance plans will be required to include certain preventive services such as vaccinations at no cost. What’s more, kids will be able to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until they turn 26.

President Barack Obama’s heath care reform proposal released Monday includes many of the provisions disability advocates have been pushing for. The $950 billion proposal comes ahead of a bipartisan health care summit planned for Thursday and retains many elements advocates consider favorable for people with disabilities. Notably, the plan would prevent coverage denials based on a preexisting condition and allocate additional federal funds to expand Medicaid.

This short summary describes the health coverage provisions contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, including the individual mandate requirements, expansion of public programs, health insurance exchanges, changes to private insurance, employer requirements and cost and coverage estimates.

For parents of children with multiple medical problems, keeping up with countless doctor's appointments, ongoing tests and a variety of medications can be overwhelming, especially for those in challenging socioeconomic situations. 

As a result, families often wind up using the emergency room, the country's most expensive form of care delivery, to get help for their kids.

But a growing concept in health care reform called the "medical home" offers parents a way to simplify, organize and coordinate the complexities of their medically fragile child's health care needs. The medical home is not a location but an approach to care coordination designed to provide a constant trusted source of care, typically by a general pediatrician.

After years of debate, a health overhaul is finally becoming a reality. Now what?

Many big provisions don't kick in until 2014, including the mandate for most folks to have health insurance and many new requirements for health-plan designs. Before then, you'll see a mishmash of other things go into effect at various times—and of course some of the changes depend on the Senate passing the House's so-called sidecar, or reconciliation, bill of changes.

Here are some ways you can start dealing with the new health-care landscape.

The Villers Fellowship for Health Care Justice was created in 2005 by Philippe Villers, Founder and President of Families USA. Each year, the Villers Fellow works in our health policy department and assists our organization's efforts to improve access to health coverage for all Americans, especially for low-income and other vulnerable communities. Specifically, the Villers Fellow will conduct research on a range of health care policy issues and write and contribute to publications that are relevant to health reform implementation and other health policy issues.