Publications & More

Are you looking for help with your child's health insurance coverage?

The Catalyst Center focuses at the policy level to help create strategies that improve coverage and financing of care for children with special health care needs. We can't offer direct benefits counseling or advocacy to individuals, but some of the organizations and resources listed on our family resources page may be able to help you.

Below is a list of our publications sorted by topic.

View list sorted by date.

State Pages (Chartbook)

State-at-a-Glance Chartbook on Coverage and Financing of Care for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs

Health Care Reform

Issue Brief: The Affordable Care Act and Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Other Developmental Disabilities [PDF]
Section 9: What's New Under the Affordable Care Act [PDF], a section in Public Insurance Programs and Children with Special Health Care Needs: A Tutorial on the Basics of Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (A publication by the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) for the Catalyst Center, Feb. 2012)
Webinar: Children and the Medicaid Health Home State Plan Option (Co-hosted by the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) and the Catalyst Center, Dec, 2011)
What's the Deal with MOE? States want to cut Medicaid spending. Are CYSHCN at risk?[PDF] (March, 2011)
The Affordable Care Act: a side-by-side comparison of major provisions and the implications for children and youth with special health care needs [PDF] (companion piece to NASHP publication below) (February, 2011)
The Affordable Care Act and Children with Special Health Care Needs: An Analysis and Steps for State Policymakers [PDF] (A publication by the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) for the Catalyst Center) (January, 2011)
Webcast: The Affordable Care Act and Children with Special Health Care Needs (associated with the above NASHP publication) (January, 2011)
Chart: Selected Provisions in Federal and State Health Care Reform that are Important to CSHCN in Massachusetts [PDF] (October, 2010)
Presentation: National Health Care Reform: What Does it Mean to Massachusetts Children with Special Health Care Needs? [PDF] (October, 2010)
Fact Sheet: Health Care Reform: What's in it for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs? (A joint publication of Catalyst Center and Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs) (October, 2010)
Presentation: Essential Elements of Health Care Reform for CYSHCN: Looking to the Future: Opportunities and Challenges in Health Reform for MCH [PDF] (October, 2010)
Presentation: Essential Components of Health Care Reform for CSHCN [PDF] (January, 2010)
Presentation: What do CYSHCN Require from Health Care Reform? [PDF] (October, 2009)
The Essential Components of Health Care Reform for Children with Special Health Care Needs (September, 2009)
What Do Children with Special Health Care Needs Require from Health Care Reform? (July, 2009)
Health Care Reform and Children with Special Health Care Needs: Coverage is Not Enough (July, 2009)
Health Care Reform and the Massachusetts CommonHealth Program: An Important Foundation to Build on for Children with Disabilities (July, 2009)

Care Coordination

Webinar: Children and the Medicaid Health Home State Plan Option (Co-hosted by the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) and the Catalyst Center, Dec, 2011)
Care Coordination in a Statewide System of Care: Financing Models and Payment Strategies (October, 2010)
Designing Evaluation Studies of Care Coordination Outcomes for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (August, 2008)

Fundamentals

Family Opportunity Act (FOA) and Medicaid Buy-In Programs

Medicaid and Children with Special Health Care Needs

Public Insurance Programs and Children with Special Health Care Needs: A Tutorial on the Basics of Medicaid and The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)(A publication by the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) for the Catalyst Center, Feb. 2012)
Medicaid Matters for Kids Congressional Briefing: What We Told Them, on The Spark, Catalyst Center blog (Feb. 2012)
Webinar: Children and the Medicaid Health Home State Plan Option (Co-hosted by the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) and the Catalyst Center, Dec, 2011)
Children in foster care are children with special health care needs (Nov. 2011)
Medicaid and Children with Special Health Care Needs roundup page (July 2011)
White House meeting about Medicaid and Children with Special Health Care Needs on The Spark, Catalyst Center blog (July 2011)

Medical Debt and Family Financial Hardship

Video: Working Hard Isn't Enough: One Family's Struggle to Finance Their Child's Special Health Care Needs (October, 2010)
Breaking the Link between Special Health Care Needs and Financial Hardship (February, 2009)
Presentation: Financial Hardship Among Families of CSHCN [PDF] (2008)
Payer of Last Resort: Medical Debt and Financial Hardship among Families Raising Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (March, 2007)
Family stories (ongoing)

Paying for Additional Services

Financing Pediatric Palliative and Hospice Care Programs [PDF] (April, 2011)
Relief Funds: A Safety Net for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (August, 2007)

Family Involvement/Participation in Policy and Planning

Dancing with Data: Using data to support your message (November, 2010)
Video: Bridging the gaps for families of children with special health care needs: RI Pediatric Practice Enhancement Project (October, 2010)
Celebrate 2010: A decade of progress for children and youth with special health care needs (October, 2010)

Children's Mental Health Services

The Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project: Combining Innovation and Collaboration to Enhance Children's Mental Health Services in the Primary Care Setting (February, 2011)

News and Topics of Interest