State Information: The District of Columbia
This state-specific page on Washington, DC provides new materials published by Families USA, key health contacts, state government links, news and views from the state, and other resources that might be helpful to Washington, DC advocates. Click on the links below to view the information you are interested in.
The Language Access Act was signed into law on April 21, 2004. Hailed by the D.C. Language Access Coalition as an effective tool that will enable immigrants to fully participate in District government activities and services, the new law will give non-English speakers in the District access to health care and health care benefits. The Act is intended to increase access to government services and benefits.and requires D.C. government agencies to provide oral language services to those with limited English proficiency. It also requires such agencies to provide written translations of vital documents into those languages spoken by the larger language populations living in Washington, DC.
Key Health Contacts
Appleseed Foundation
727 15th Street NW, 11th Floor
Washington D.C. 20005
Phone: 202.347.7960
Fax: 202.347.7961
Email: info@dcappleseed.org
Website: www.appleseeds.net
The Arc of DC
415 Michigan Ave. NE, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20017
Bread for the City
1525 7th Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-265-2400
Fax: 202-745-1081
Email: info@breadforthecity.org
Website: http://www.breadforthecity.org/
Center for Nonprofit Advancement
Formerly the Washington Council on Agencies
1666 K Street NW, Suite 440
Washington, DC 20006
Phone: 202-457-0540
Fax: 202-457-0549
Email: info@nonprofitadvancement.org
Website: http://www.nonprofitadvancement.org/
DC AARP
601 E St. NW, Suite A1-200
Email: dcaarp@aarp.org
DC Fiscal Policy Institute
820 1st NE, Suite 460
Washington, DC 20002
District of Columbia Action for Children
1616 P Street NW, Suite 420
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-234-9404
Fax: 202-234-9108
Email: dcaction@dckids.org
Website: www.dckids.org
District of Columbia Coalition on Long-Term Care
4200 Butterworth Place NW
Washington, DC 20016
Phone: 202-895-9435
Fax: 202-895-0244
District of Columbia Health and Hospitals Public Benefit Corporation
1900 Massachusetts Ave. SE
Washington, DC 20003
Phone: 202-541-3818
Fax: 202-529-4264
District of Columbia Primary Care Association
1411 K Street NW, Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-638-0252
Fax: 202-638-4557
Email: dcpca@dcpca.org
Website: www.dcpca.org
Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)
1875 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 540
Washington, DC 20009
Phone: 202-986-2200
Fax: 202-986-2525
Email: webmaster@frac.org
Website: www.frac.org
The Food Resource and Action Center has for years been at the forefront of efforts to ensure that all Americans are adequately nourished. They work to improve access to nutrition programs that bring healthy foods into homes, schools, preschools, and afterschool programs. FRAC works at both the federal and state levels to push for food program policies and practices that will serve more who are in need, that will provide better nutrition, and that will do so with dignity. They work hand-in-hand with local groups, providing leadership, training, and comprehensive information and analyses. FRAC has also published a brochure in both English and Spanish that answers basic questions about immigrant access to Medicaid and other public health care programs in the city.
Greater Washington Coalition of Mental Health Professionals and Consumers, Inc.
P0 Box 15726
Chevy Chase, MD 20825
Phone: 301-585-5001
Website: Greater Washington Coalition
La Clinica del Pueblo
2831 15th St. NW
Washington, DC 20009
LegalAid Society of DC
1331 H St. NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20005
Legal Problems of The Elderly
740 15th Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-662-8686
Fax: 202-662-1032
National Hispanic Council on Aging
1120 Connecticut Ave. NW #260
Washington, DC 20036
National Minority AIDS Council
1931 13th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009-4432
Phone: 202-483-6622
Fax: 202-483-1135
Email: info@nmac.org
Website: www.nmac.org
United Planning Organization's Head Start
301 Rhode Island Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: 202-289-9100
Fax: 202-289-2649
Zacchaeus Medical Clinic
1329 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-265-2400
Fax: 202-745-1081
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State Government Links
Washington DC Website
Visit the Department of Health's website for more information on Medicaid-related issues.
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Other Resources
The District of Columbia Health Benefits Exchange Proposal provides answers to questions about how the exchange will work and how it will help District residents and small businesses obtain affordable health coverage. (October 2012) [Families USA]
Worry No More: Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions Are Protected by the Health Care Law provides estimates of how many people will be protected from discrimination based on their health status thanks to the health care law. For the first time, the state reports include county-level data, and they include state-level data that are broken down by age, income, and racial or ethnic group. (July-August 2012) [Families USA]
Being a Woman Just Got a Little Easier: How the Affordable Care Act Benefits Women outlines what women stand to gain under the Affordable Care Act. (July 2012) [Families USA]
Dying for Coverage: The Deadly Consequences of Being Uninsured estimates the number of Americans who are dying prematurely due to lack of health coverage. It includes state-level data that are broken down by week, month, and year that were generated using the methodology originally developed by the Institute of Medicine. (June 2012) [Families USA]
Decoding Your Health Insurance: The New Summary of Benefits and Coverage provides national and state-level data on the nearly 173.5 million people with private insurance who will be helped by these plain-language summaries that are required by the health care law. (May 2012) [Families USA]
Good Business Sense: The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit in the Affordable Care Act provides national and state-level estimates of the number of small businesses that will be eligible for this tax credit and of how much the credits will be worth. It also includes data on how many workers could benefit as a result, broken down according to racial and ethnic group. (May 2012) [Families USA and Small Business Majority]
The Bottom Line: How the Affordable Care Act Helps America's Families shows the net financial effects of the Affordable Care Act on family budgets. We found that lower- and middle-income families, both uninsured and insured, will be financial winners. | State Reports (October 2011) [Families USA]
Medicaid's Impact in the States: Helping People with Serious Health Care Needs examines how vital Medicaid is for residents with cancer, diabetes, chronic lung disease, or heart disease or stroke. For these people, Medicaid can be the difference between life and death, and program cuts would put them at risk. Released in partnership with three other groups. (September 2011) [Families USA]
Jobs at Risk: Federal Medicaid Cuts Would Harm State Economies provides state-level data that show the devastating impact the House Republican budget proposal would have. The proposal's substantial Medicaid cuts would harm program enrollees and their families and lead to a loss of business activity and jobs in all states. | Calculator (June 2011) [Families USA]
Cutting Medicaid in the States: Harming Seniors and People with Disabilities Who Need Long-Term Care provides state-specific numbers on how many people would be affected by cuts to Medicaid long-term care spending, as well as how Medicaid helps families, state workers, and businesses. (May 2011) [Families USA]
House Republicans Propose to Slash Funding for Medicaid, Medicare, and Other Health Coverage Programs takes a closer look at how the recent budget proposal would harm seniors, children, and state economies, including state-specific numbers. (April 2011) [Families USA]
States Are Benefitting from Provisions of the Affordable Care Act lists the number of people in each state who are already benefiting from each of five provisions. The provisions include measures that are helping small businesses provide coverage to their workers, helping seniors get free preventive care, and protecting children with pre-existing conditions. | Table (March 2011) [Families USA]
Protecting Seniors and People with Disabilities: Why It Is Important to Preserve the Maintenance of Effort Requirement in the Affordable Care Act discusses how stripping the maintenance of effort requirement from the ACA will have negative consequences for the many people who depend on Medicaid by allowing states to change eligibility requirements. (February 2011) [Families USA]
Worry Less Spend Less: Out-of-Pocket Spending Caps Protect America's Families examines how the Affordable Care Act will protect insured people from high medical costs through new caps on out-of-pocket spending. It provides state-level estimates of how many residents will have spending that exceeds these caps and by how much, and it looks at how many of those residents work for small businesses. (February 2011) [Families USA]
How Health Reform Helps Communities of Color is a series of state-based fact sheets that discuss how provisions in the Affordable Care Act--both those for the general public and those specifically designed to eliminate health disparities--help communities of color in each state. (September-October 2010) [Families USA]
Lower Taxes, Lower Premiums: The New Health Insurance Tax Credit examines how this tax credit will help both insured and uninsured Americans. It provides data on the number of people eligible, the total dollars available, and on how it will help working families in particular. (September 2010) [Families USA]
A Helping Hand for Small Businesses: Health Insurance Tax Credits analyzes the health reform provision that provides tax credits to small employers to help them buy health coverage for their workers. This report, which was commissioned along with Small Business Majority, provides national and state-level data on the number of small businesses eligible for the credit in 2010, as well as the number eligible for the maximum tax credit. (July 2010) [Families USA]
Health Reform: New Opportunities for States to Invest in Home- and Community-Based Services is a series of state-specific fact sheets that explore the new options for states to expand home- and community-based services through the health reform law and the reasons why expanding this type of services is a good idea. (Summer 2010) [Families USA]
Health Reform: Help for Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions discusses how, under health reform, no one will be denied coverage, charged a higher premium, or sold a policy that excludes coverage of essential benefits because of pre-existing conditions. The report presents the number of Americans with diagnosed pre-existing conditions who, absent reform, would be at risk of being denied coverage in the individual insurance market. It breaks down this number by age, income, and race. (May 2010) [Families USA]
How Health Reform Helps the People of the District of Columbia looks at the many benefits that health reform will bring to the state, including cracking down on insurance company abuses, ending runaway premiums, and providing financial security. (May 2010) [Families USA]
Lives on the Line: The Deadly Consequences of Delaying Health Reform examines what would happen if Congress fails to pass health reform. Specifically, it provides national and state-level estimates of the number of deaths that would occur due to lack of health coverage if reform doesn't pass. It also quantifies how many Americans died due to lack of health coverage since the last effort to pass reform in 1994. (March 2010) [Families USA]
Guide to Finding Health Coverage: District of Columbia Millions of Americans have no health insurance, and finding health insurance can be difficult. If you are looking for coverage, this guide can help point the way. Whether you have recently lost your job, are an early retiree, or have a serious medical condition, this guide includes numerous resources that may help you find the coverage you need. (Updated 2009) [Families USA]
The Uninsured: A Closer Look–Residents of D.C. without Health Insurance examines how many state residents were uninsured during 2007-2008. The report also takes a closer look at the number of uninsured, who they are, and how long they were uninsured. It mirrors the data in our national report, Americans at Risk: One in Three Uninsured. (April 2009) [Families USA]
District of Columbia Expansions visit here for archival information on expansions within the District of Columbia. (Last updated 2009) [Families USA]
Premiums versus Paychecks: A Growing Burden for the District of Columbia's Workers. The impact of changes in employer-based health insurance premiums and earnings in the District of Columbia. (October 2008) [Families USA]
Dying for Coverage in the District of Columbia For the more than 47 million Americans who are uninsured, lack of health insurance can have dire consequences: medical debt, missed care, and even premature death. This first-ever state-specific report examines the number of deaths due to lack of health insurance. (April 2008) [Families USA]
SCHIP Reauthorization: What's at Stake for District of Columbia? New state-specific reports show how much money the District of Columbia could gain from SCHIP Reauthorization and what that money would mean the District of Columbia's economy. (May 2007) [Families USA]
Guide to Finding Health Insurance Coverage: Millions of Americans have no health insurance, and finding health insurance can be difficult. If you are looking for coverage, this guide can help point the way. Whether you have recently lost your job, are an early retiree, or have a serious medical condition, this guide includes numerous resources that may help you find the coverage you need. (Update March 2007) [Families USA]
No Shelter from the Storm: the District of Columbia's Uninsured Children. This fact sheet takes a closer look at uninsured children in the District of Columbia—who they are and what kinds of services they miss out on as a result of being uninsured. Written by Families USA for the Campaign for Children's Health Care. (September 2006) [Families USA]
The Council of the District of Columbia's Web site offers valuable information on pending and passed legislation, state representatives, and the legislative process.
The DC ACT Legislative and Information Alert updates residents, service providers, the media, and policy makers on issues pertaining to children, youth, and families.
NACHRI, in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), has released 2005 updates of their state-specific Medicaid fact sheets. These fact sheets detail the importance of the Medicaid program to the health care of children in every state, as well as the critical role children's hospitals and pediatricians play in serving all children. Click here for a map that will take you to information specific to your state. (July 2005) [National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI)]
Introduction to Health Care Rights for Adults in D.C. discusses the following: how District residents can get Medicaid; the DC Health Care Alliance; other health care programs, including those that provide prescription drug coverage; and hospital bills. (November 9, 2004) [Health Assistance Partnership]
The Uninsured: A Closer Look: A fact sheet with state-level data from One in Three: Non-Elderly Americans without Health Insurance, 2002-2003. (June 2004) [Families USA]
Good Medicine for State Economies, 2004 Update: Medicaid provides essential health care services for an estimated 51 million people of all ages and economic classes. Medicaid also plays a unique role in stimulating state economies. This report provides national and state-level data on the effects of Medicaid spending on state business activity, employment, and employee earnings. These updated numbers can be used to predict the economic impact of potential state Medicaid spending increases or cuts in fiscal year 2005.| Medicaid Calculator with updated figures (May 2004) [Families USA]
Who's Uninsured in Washington, DC and Why? is a four-page fact sheet providing information on the uninsured population in the state -- their numbers and characteristics and some of the reasons they are uninsured. (November 2003) [Families USA]
Long-Term Care for the Elderly in the District of Columbia This report examines the issues and challenges involved in providing quality long-term care for the elderly. (May 1999) [The Urban Institute]
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