University of 
Michigan Documents Center


POLITICS OF HEALTH CARE

Health Management and Policy 684 and 685
Dr. William Weissert

Frames Index | No-Frames Version

BACKGROUND
Books | Citations | Encylopedias | GAO | Internet Search Engines | Journal Indexes
Journals/Full Text | News Media | Research Reports | Search Tips | Statistics | Think Tanks

SELECTED ISSUES
Comprehensive | Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") | Biological Defense | Children | Consumer Health Advice
Drug Abuse | Fertility | Guns | Health Insurance Coverage | Human Cloning | Human Research | Immigration
Medicare | Nutrition | Paperwork | Patients Bill of Rights | Prescription Drugs | Privacy
Rural Health | Senior Services | Stem Cell Research | Veterans

LOBBY GROUPS
Lobby Guides | Consumer | Industry | Political Parties | Professional | State Associations | Think Tanks

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Bills | Budget | Congress | Congressional Committees
Congressional Debates | Congressional Hearings | Congressional Members
Contracts | Courts | Executive Branch | Citations | GAO | Grants | Laws
Legislative Process | President | Regulations | Surgeon General

STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Ann Arbor | Michigan

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

Legislative Chart
DR. WEISSERT'S ISSUES MATRIX
Policy Process Matrix

Dr. Weissert's Bookmarks and Revisions

Directory Search

Last updated on December 19, 2012

UMich Only Web Links Available from Campus Ethernet Workstations and Proxy Server. Proxy Server provides remote access for distance education students. Universe products may not work with AOL but will work by dialing 1-800-232-3379.

Search Tips

Boolean Logic

    • Keyword Searching

IllustrationMIRLYN-ClassicMIRLYN-Web ProQuest Academic Universe
PHRASE k=health adj care health w care "health care" health care
AND k=health adj care and reform health w care and reform "health care" and reform health care and reform
OR k=managed or maintenance managed or maintenance managed or maintenance managed or maintenance
COMPLEX SEARCHING k=reform and (managed adj care or health adj maintenance) reform and (managed w care or health w maintenance) reform and ("managed care" or "health maintenance") reform and (managed care or health maintenance)
TRUNCATION k=dent? dent? dent? dent!


Tip Examples
Choose a tool which specializes in your area Congressional Universe for hearings rather than Google's Uncle Sam

Congressional Quarterly for Congress; ProQuest for general politics

Start with a narrow search "prescription drugs and medicaid" rather than "drugs and elderly"
Narrow your search when necessary Add more words "prescription drugs and medicaid and bush"
Limit field Some search engines allow you to specify a field for the words
Proquest (citations/abstracts v. full text)
Academic Universe (headline)
Use subject descriptors if available Congressional Universe has official headings (e.g. child day care or day care programs instead of day care
Broaden search Use alternate terms prescription drugs and (medicaid or elderly)
Search full text Proquest and Academic Universe have full text options

Books and Articles

MIRLYN

    • MCAT lists books in library system
    • ELEC indexes electronic journals available free on the web and through campus licenses, such as JSTOR

Journals

Full Text Journals

Comprehensive Titles

    • E-Journals at the University of Michigan (UMich Only)
      • Links to journals for which the library has purchased campus access
      • Arranged by discipline and title

    • MEDLINE (UMich Only)
      • Indexes since 1959
      • Search by author, title, keyword, journal
      • Can expand and limit headings
      • Can limit searches to titles with full-text
      • Order feature permits UMich affiliates to obtain printout

    • ProQuest (UMich Only)
      • Indexes some 2300 journal articles in all fields since the 1980s and provides the full text of many since the late 1990s
      • Includes popular and scholarly titles, such as Comparative Politics, Governing, International Political Science Review, The Journal of Conflict Resolution, and World Politics
      • Journals indexed by author, title, keyword, periodical, and date
      • Articles may be marked for downloading
      • Text in HTML and image formats
      • Sample keyword searches:
            prescription drug? and (cost or price)
            (prescription or designer) pre/2 drugs
            "patients bill of rights" w/10 republican

    • Public Health Journals (PHISA)
      • Annotated list of public health journals on the web
      • General titles, biostatistics, environmental health, epidemiology, and health administration/policy
      • Alternative list of electronic journals can be found at Healthweb

    • Wilson Select (UMich Only)
      • Full text of 800 popular journals on line since 1994
      • Journal List

Individual Titles

    • CQ Weekly Report (UMich Only)
      • Non-partisan periodical analyzing news in Congress
      • Includes major bills, background, lobbying
      • Full text of CQ since 1983
      • Initial page boots up to current issue
      • Separate search engines for articles and roll call votes can be limited by year
      • If remote server does not work, use National Journal/Congress Daily listed below

    • National Journal (UMich Only)
      • Full text of the National Journal, which analyzes executive branch politics, since 1977
        • Paper copy also in Graduate Library as JK 1 .N28 with current issues in Documents Center
      • Almanac of American Politics, which analyzes Congressional Districts and the politics of their representatives, since 1998
      • Committee Markup Reports since 1999
      • Public opinion polls and election polls since the late 1990s
      • Congress Daily

    • Pediatrics
      • Full text of medical articles since 1997
      • Browsable and searchable

    • Policy.com
      • Daily periodical with current policy news, issue of the week, and in-depth analysis of 20 current policy issues
      • Virtual Congress features speeches and votes on topics
      • Includes a policy chat room

    • Political Science Quarterly
      • Numerous articles about the politics of health care reform but most require a membership or subscription; UMich affilites should use one of the links immediately below
      • Political Science Quarterly, 1986+ (UMich Only)
      • Issues for 1886-2002 available through JSTOR (UMich Only)

    • Publius: The Journal of Federalism
      • Tables of Contents listed since 1971
      • The full text is located in the Graduate Library (JK 1 .P98) with current issues in the Current Serials Service
      • Full text since September 1992 available in ProQuest

    • Viddya, Medical News Service
      • Extensive news items on public policy, disease and treatment since 2000


Journal Indexes - Social Sciences

    • MIRLYN
      • ELEC lists electronic journals available on campus; the web version of MIRLYN provides direct links
      • Wilson (WILS) indexes periodicals in the social sciences and humanities
        • Citations often include abstracts
      • Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) indexes books, articles and government documents
      • Connect to MIRLYN

    • Public Affairs Information Service Bulletin (UMich Only)
      • Subject index to books, articles, and government documents on politics and economics since 1972 in Western European languages
      • Government documents include United States, United Nations, League of Nations, and State Governments
      • There are also paper versions (English, 1915+, Z 7163 .P98 and foreign, 1968+, Z 7164 .E2 P96)

    • Sciences and Social Sciences Citation Indexes / Web of Science 1956- (UMich Only)
      • Indexes current periodical articles by author, title/keyword, journal, and author's affiliation
      • Indexes cited authors by name, abbreviated title of book/journal and year
      • Results provide cross references between the cited author, the citating author, and related items
      • Social Sciences Citation Index Examples
      • Connect to MIRLYN to identify library location and call number of book or article

Journal Indexes - Medicine

    • American Medical Association Publications
      • Links to individual Archives series and JAMA
      • Lists contents available on web and provides abstracts of articles
    • MEDLINE (UMich Only)
      • Indexes since 1959
      • Search by author, title, keyword, journal
      • Can expand and limit headings
      • Can limit searches to titles with full-text
      • Order feature permits UMich affiliates to obtain printout
      • URL also links to the National Library of Medicine's PubMed with SFX links to the full text of journals owned by the University of Michigan
      • PubMed is also available separately (without UMich links) to the public

News Media

Comprehensive Sources

    • Academic Universe/LEXIS [Full Text] (UMich Only)
      • Full text of U.S. and foreign newspapers for past several years
      • Access General News Topics or General Medical and Health Topics; click on Sources at top of page for a complete list
      • Sample Search
          General News/Midwest Regional Sources
          medicare w/10 fraud and reform
          1/1/97 to 5/31/98
      • Distance Education Access
      • Academic Universe Search Guide

    • Electronic Newsstand [Full Text]
      • Links to popular newspapers and newsmagazines
      • Sections on government and health

Individual Titles

    • ABC News [Full Text]
      • Requires JAVA script for viewing
      • Visible without Java if graphics turned off
    • AllPolitics [Full Text]
      • Daily Internet periodical sponsored by Time, CNN and Congressional Quarterly
      • Includes news and public opinion polls on political issues
    • APB News
      • Current crime news
      • Includes some health care items
    • Cable News Network (CNN) [Full Text]
      • News stories on current political issues, often with the full-text of relevant documents
      • Recent material and election coverage archived in subject groups
      • Summaries or full text of recent CNN political programs
      • Good Remote Alternative
    • Christian Science Monitor [Full Text]
      • Daily newspaper with the full text of lead articles (U.S., international, cultural, crossword)
      • Archive back to 1980 searchable by subject
    • Editor and Publisher On-Line Newspapers [Some Full Text]
      • Links to over 1000 newspapers worldwide
      • Arranged by continent and country; for the United States, subdivided by state
      • Annotations describe publication, provide links, and give pricing information when applicable
    • Medscape Today
      • Daily news and features
    • New York Times [Full Text]
      • Full text of today's New York Times and a searchable archive
      • Initial registration required
      • Registration currently free in the U.S. but organization reserves the right to charge
      • Also on Academic Universe
    • Pathfinder [Full Text]
      • Hosts current issues of newsmagazines, including Time and People
    • PBS OnLine News Hour [Full Text]
      • Transcripts of daily political news reported by PBS beginning 1996
      • Includes links to background information
      • Samples include late term abortion issue, economics, freshmen in the 105th Congress, health
      • Search engine and index for browsing health topics
    • Rocky Mountain Media Watch
      • Essentially a lobby group against TV news stations which focus on entertainment
    • Washington Post [Full Text]
      • Full text of current issue and searchable archive for two weeks only
      • International section has news and web links to individual countries
      • National section has new and web links to individual states
      • Searchable index creates maps for individual U.S. business establishments
      • Good Remote Alternative
      • Also on Academic Universe

Encyclopedias

    • Healthopedia
      • Extensive number of articles on diseases, symptoms, medical tests, surgical procedures, and treating wounds

    • AllRefer Health
      • Articles on diseases, symptoms, and treating disease

Research Organizations

Federal | Private

Federal

    • Agency for Health Care Research and Policy
      • Clinical Practice Guidelines allow physician to enter symptom and obtain possible diagnoses and treatments
      • Clinical guidelines for patients (e.g. how to prevent strokes)
      • Research reports and statistics, including the Medical Care Utilization Survey and

    • Congressional Budget Office
      • On-line reports are primarily an economic analysis of the federal budget

    • General Accounting Office
      • General Accounting Office
        • Accounting standards for federal agencies
        • News of fraud cases
        • Archive of blue book reports to Congress are listed below
        GAO Blue Book Reports (GPO Access)
        • Full text of "Reports to Congress" on government resource management, October 1, 1994+
        • Searchable by keyword in text, report title, report identifier, and date
        • For a known report number, use quotation marks and type the number as shown: "PEMD-95-1"
        • Phrases require quotation marks: "medicaid fraud"
        • Boolean operations must be capitalized: medicaid AND fraud
        • Selected reports are available in paper copy (HJ 10 .R44), GPO microfiche (Micro-F X277), and American Statistics Index microfiche; ask Documents Center staff for assistance

    • Office of Technology Assessment
      • The OTA published research reports on science and technology policy until eliminated by Congress
      • GPO Access will serve as an index to the various OTA sites
      • Additional sources:
        • All reports, 1972-95, are available on CD-ROM in the Documents Center (Do 73)
        • Search MIRLYN for printed copies of OTA reports
        • OTA reports may also be available on Congressional Information Service microfiche located in the Documents Center

    • National Academy Press
      • Full text of issues in Online Science and Technology since 1996
      • Books available for purchase from the National Academy and its Institute of Medicine

Private (Think Tanks)

    • Alliance for Health Reform
      • Nonpartisan think tank on health coverage issues, especially for journalists
      • Health care coverage in the states, medicare, consumer protection, minority health
    • Alpha Center
      • Bibliography of publications on health policy and analysis
      • Web access to newsletters about state health policy initiatives
      • Health insurance coverage by various socioeconomic factors by state
    • Brookings Institution
      • Private, non-profit, independent institute analyzing U.S. government policy, economics and international relations
      • Occasional material on health care reform
      • Summaries of position papers on "hot topics" and selected Congressional testimony
    • Cato Institute
      • Conservative think tank with research studies and opinion pieces on public policy
    • Center for Democracy and Technology
      • Testimony and articles on internet issues
      • Includes privacy and encyrption, bandwidth, availability of government information
    • Center for Economic and Policy Research
      • Think tank on social and economic policy issues
      • Issue papers on the stock market, Social Security, globalization
    • Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
    • Health Law Resource
      • Separate web pages summarize such issues as telemedicine, Medicare and Medicaid, bioethics, and patient records
      • Provides links to federal and state laws and regulations, AMA opinions and decisions, and official reports, such as the RAND Corporation
    • Georgia Public Policy Foundation
      • Issue briefs on a variety of issues from a conservative perspective
    • Health Law and Policy Institute
    • Heritage Foundation
      • Dedicated to limited government, individual freedom, a free market, and strong defense
      • Text of public policy papers on various topics, including crime, education, foreign policy, health care, and trade
      • Index of Economic Freedom for countries in the world
      • Extensive list of conservative think tanks
      • Numerous statistics in support of its positions
    • Kaiser Family Foundation
      • Working papers on health care policy, HIV, media programs, reproductive health, and South Africa
      • State reports on medicare, medicaid, and other health insurance coverage
      • Expensive public opinion polls on health policy, morals, and politics
    • National Academy of Social Insurance
    • National Center for Policy Analysis
      • Brief summaries and statistics on an extensive number of health issues
      • Medicare, medicaid, pharmaceuticals, medical savings accounts
    • Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government
      • Public policy institute focusing on the role of state governments
      • Issue papers, grants, and on-going projects
    • Political Information
      • Indexes lobby group and think tank reports on the web
      • Devoted solely to political issues
    • The Century Foundation
      • Progressive think tank, formerly named Twentieth Century Fund
      • Position papers on economics, government, foreign policy, and health care
    • Urban Institute
      • Non-profit policy research organization on U.S. social and economic problems
      • Hot Topics includes position papers and testimony on such subjects as block grants, civil rights, education, health, medicare, and taxes

    • Related Web Page: Political Science Think Tanks

Selected Health Issues

Comprehensive

Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")

    • Health Care Law and You (Healthcare.gov)
      • Full text of law, key features, and timeline of what is changing when
      • Additional information on finding health insurance, comparing physicians and hospitals

    • Kaiser Family Foundation
      • Plethora of practical resources and statistics on health care
      • Individual costs for insurance, state coverage of medicaid, state plans on health care exchanges, what happens to person inadequately insured
      • Comparison of health care expenditures between countries

Biological Defense

Children

Consumer Health Advice

    • Dr. Koop
      • Brief medical advice by diagnosis or condition

    • Web MD Health
      • Popular consumer web site with tips on preventing and living with health conditions as well as information for the newly diagnosed
      • Includes extensive summaries of treatment options
      • Alternative medicine

Drug Abuse

Fertility

Guns

    • Violence Policy Center
      • Anti-gun lobby group
      • Numerous short reports on gun violence and legislation with some statistical data by state
      • Focuses on violence against women, children, and the elderly

Health Insurance Coverage

Human Research Subjects/Stem Cells

    • Embryo Research (CQ Researcher - UMich Only)
      • Debate issue covered in the December 17, 1999 issue
      • Background on issue
      • Two sides of the debate
      • Bibliography of further sources
    • Ethical Issues in Human Stem Cell Research (National Bioethics Advisory Commission)
      • Full text of studies in pdf format
      • Special section on religious issues
      • Dated September 1999
    • Medical Research Guide (Public Agenda)
      • Graphs, lobby groups, and public opinion on various medical research issues
      • Covers cloning, stem cell research, cancer, funding, and patents
    • National Bioethics Advisory Commission
      • Recommendations on human research, including stem cells, mental disorders, and human cloning
      • Fact sheets on human subjects of medical experiments
    • NIH Stem Cell Information
      • News, reports, and testimony on stem cell research
      • Draft NIH guidelines for stem cell research
    • Politics, Science, Morality of Stem Cell Issue (All Politics)
      • A CNN FAQ issued on July 18, 2001
      • Brief information on the issues and opinions of different interest groups
      • Good links to further resources
    • Stem Cell Research (Senate Committee on Appropriations
      • Special hearings held December 1998 - September 2000
      • Use Congressional Universe (UMich Only) to access prepared statements
        • Search CIS Index under SUBJECT: stem cell research; last five years
      • Paper copy of full text in Documents Center: Y4.AP6/2:S.HRG.105-939, Y4.AP6/2:S.HRG.106-413, and Y4.AP6/2:S.HRG.106-413/PT.3
      • Microfiche copy in Documents Center: CIS-NO: 99-S181-30, CIS-NO: 2000-S181-20, and CIS-NO: 2001-S181-18
    • Stem Cells: A Primer
      • Definitions of terms including pluripotent cells
      • Good and understandable descriptions of how stem cells work and their benefit for future research
    • Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents
      • Full text of Presidential statements and documents since 1993
      • Search "stem cell research" (using quotations) in subject line
    • Opinions
      • American Medical Association
        • Letters to Congress supporting embryonic stem cell research
      • Culture of Life Foundation
        • Christian organization promoting adult and umbilical cord stem cell research
        • Use search engine for articles
      • Gallup Poll
        • Results of a CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll taken July 10-11, 2001
        • Shows that Americans not following the stem cell debate but want cures for diseases
      • Pope John Paul
        • Text of statement in meeting with President George W. Bush on July 23, 2001

Immigration

    • Center for Immigration Studies
      • Survey of immigration topics (numbers, legal/illegal, wages) with annotated links to more in-depth information
      • Human rights, types of visas, etc.

Medicare

Nutrition

Paperwork

Patients Bill of Rights

    • Patients Bill of Rights - 107th Congress
    • Patients Bill of Rights (S.1344, 106th Congress)
      • Thomas provides text of bill, amendments and debates
      • Debated on Senate floor the week of July 12 with roll call vote on July 15
      • Indefinitely postponed by Senate after provisions incorporated into H.R. 2990
    • Patients Bill of Rights (H.R. 2723,106th Congress)
    • Patients Bill of Rights H.R. 2990, 106th Congress)
      • Replaces earlier Senate and House bills
      • Laid on table as of February 2000
    • Pending Patient Protection Legislation (Kaiser Family Foundation)
      • Chart with detailed comparison of the provisions in conference version of H.R. 2990, the Patients Bill of Rights
      • Covers access to emergency services, hospital stays for mastectomies, etc.
    • Policy.com
      • Statements by lobby groups from the various sides of managed care reform
    • Senate Democratic Policy Committee
      • Links to S.6, an alternative bill sponsored by Tom Daschle
      • Lists medical cases and whether or not patients would be covered by Republican bill
    • Senate Republican Conference
      • Attacks cost of Daschle/Kennedy plan (S.6)
      • Virtues of S.1344
    • Senator Ted Kennedy
      • See press releases on the patients rights issue

Prescription Drug Coverage

Privacy

Rural Health

Senior Services

Veterans

Interest Groups

Lobby Guides | Consumer | Industry | Political Parties | Professional | State Associations

Lobbying Guides

    • Charity Lobbying in the Public Interest (Independent Sector)
      • Comprehensive guide to lobbying laws
      • Guidance on working with legislative staff
      • Effective communication
      • Examples of successful lobbying
      • Effective communication

Consumer Groups

Industry

Political Parties


Professional Groups

State Associations

    • Council of State Governments
      • Suggested State Legislation is the primary source for recommended policy
      • Web site includes organizational information and an index of CSG printed publications
      • Health Policy Monitor is a quarterly periodical on health policy issues affecting state government
    • National Conference of State Legislatures
      • Federal-State Relations includes policies and testimony on health care
      • Intergovernmental Health Policy Project provides the full text of current State Health Notes
      • Organizational information, publications, and conferences
      • Extensive links to state legislative web sites
    • National Governors' Association
      • Extensive list and full text of policies on federal-state relations, economic development, human and natural resources
      • Issue briefs, press releases
      • Background and the administration of welfare reform
      • Links to governors of the states and territories, their biographies, election status, and web sites
    • Stateline (PEW Research Center)
      • Summary of news articles about state legislative issues for all 50 states
      • States can be compared and ranked on population, economic, crime, budget, and environmental factors

Statistics

Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

    • Surveys and technical documentation on health risk behaviors (smoking, dental visits, immunizations, binge drinking etc.) since 1996
    • Large microdata sets in ASCII or DBF format as well as questionnaires
    • Trends provides pretabulated data on health risk behaviors for the nation and state

CDC Wonder

    • Searches and Queries permits searching of data sets and reports
    • Subjects include mortality, natality, AIDS, STDs, fluoridation, Census
    • Some data broken down by state or local area
    • Various formats available; data may be sent via e-mail or you can wait while on-line
    • Tutorial for mortality data

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services

    • Medicare and medicaid data via press releases and detailed reports
    • Formerly known as Health Care Financing Administration

ChildStats

    • Population, economic, health, and education statistics for the nation
    • International comparisons
    • Nurturing fatherhood

Community Health Status Indicators Project

    • County level data for the United States on death by cause, infant mortality, life expectancy, unhealthy days
    • Rates county by peer counties

Computer-Assisted Survey (UC-Berkeley)

    • Data sets from the 1972-94 General Social Survey, 1972-92 National Election Survey, and 1991 National Health Interview Survey
    • Data may be manipulated on-line
    • Quick start instructions for the initiate:
      • Choose Demonstration Survey Data Archive
      • Choose the survey you would like and the "browse" option; start
      • Choose "Alphabetical Variable List"
      • Choose your variables and write down their corresponding code names
      • Go back to the original screen and choose "run crosstabulations;" start
      • Imagine the output as a spreadsheet and type in the desired vertical and horizontal code names; also choose output as statistics or percentages
    • National Health Interview Survey Example
      • Choose Alphabetical List to determine birthyr is code for birthyear and hep12 is number of short-term hospital stays in last twelve months
      • Click on run crosstabulations
      • Use hep12 as hortizonal, birthyr as vertical, click on statistics and run percentages
      • Result is number and percent of people born 1880-1992, by individual year, who had none, one, two or more hospital stays

Health Insurance Coverage

    • Census Bureau
      • Longitudinal and cross-sectional health insurance statistics by state and various socioeconomic characteristics
      • Data covers 1987-99
    • State Children's Health Insurance Program (HCFA)
      • Provides grants to states for providing health insurance to poorer children under medicaid
      • State statistics on enrollment
      • Laws, regulations, and individual state plans
    • Uninsured in America (PBS News Hour)
      • National survey results (pdf format) of public perceptions of the numbers and causes for people without health insurance coverage
      • Surveys of the uninsured about the effects and problems they encounter
      • Pop-up menus with a chronology of health insurance in America, individual state requirements for child health coverage, and the percent of non-elderly who are uninsured

Issues 2001

    • Essentially public opinion polls for the 2000 elections

Medical Expenditure Panel Survey

    • Summary data on the U.S. citizens withouth health insurance or living in nursing homes
    • HTML or Adobe Acrobat format
    • More detailed data available for purchase

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (CDC)

    • Weekly articles on death, accidents, and disease, 1993+
    • Includes interative tables for 122 cities

National Center for Health Statistics

    • News releases on natality, marriage, divorce, mortality, and selected subjects
    • FastStats is alphabetical list by subject and state/territory of brief descriptive data (e.g. teen births)
    • Data Warehouse has extensive links to published and unpublished tables on mortality, natality, and behavioral risk factors
    • Health, United States 1996-97 and Injury Chartbook is its annual report in pdf format
    • Includes downloadable files for use with Adobe Acrobat
    • Health 2000 draws relationship between health status, income, and race (pdf format)
    • Good Remote Alternative to Statistical Universe

National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)

    • Quality Compass rates participating health plans (e.g. HMOs)
    • Summary national data on childhood immunizations, health care screening, access to health care, and percentage of mental health patients readmitted to hospitals
    • Includes the organization's annual report

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

    • Data on health habits (nutrition, doctor's visits), health risks (smoking), and health outcomes (gall bladder, cancer)
    • Some longitudinal coverage since the 1960s
    • Data in ASCII format and codebooks in pdf

Public Health Library (University of Michigan)

    • Extensive links to biostatistics on the Internet

Statistical Resources on the Web

    • Annotated links to over 20 categories of government and non-government statistics
    • Large sections on demographics, economics, and health
    • Optional cumulative frames index

Statistical Universe (UMich Only)

    • Indexes and abstracts all published federal government statistics since 1974, business and state governments since 1980, and international agencies since 1983
    • Begin search with Power Tables
      • Power Tables has the full text of the most popular statistical tables
      • Example: aids and mortality as keyword; previous two years; U.S. sources; and by state
    • Choose Abstracts if you don't find what you need in Power Tables
      • This usually provides a web link or a citation to microfiche in the Documents Center but seldom has the full text
      • Example:
        • "aids and mortality" in any field; last two years; published by any source; and arranged "by state"
      • Results list indicates of web links to data (i.e. full text attachments) available
      • If full text not available, search MIRLYN by title, come to the Documents Center with the microfiche number (e.g. ASI 1998 4142-1), or search the Federal Web Locator for the agency web site
    • See Statistical Universe Guide and the Statistical Universe Slide Show for additional details

Internet Search Engines

AltaVista

    • Extensive keyword index to the text of individual web pages

Excite

    • Extremely fast index to the text of individual web pages
    • Provides a relevancy ranking

Google's Uncle Sam

    • Keyword index to federal government web sites with a .gov or .mil extension

Health Web

    • Definitive web guide to health administration, biostatistics, public health and medicine
    • Includes organizations, public and commercial sites, and discussion groups
    • All links are annotated

HotBot

    • Advanced Searching permits Boolean combination of words with a .gov or .mil extension
    • Sample: prescription drugs [Boolean phrase] and .mil or .gov [domain]

Michigan Electronic Library

    • Popular interface to the web with a focus on Michigan sources
    • Browsable and searchable

Public Health Library

    • Services and electronic resources in the School of Public Health

Yahoo

    • Comprehensive classified subject list of world-wide web sites

Federal Government

Bills | Budget | Congress | Congressional Committees
Congressional Debates | Congressional Hearings | Congressional Members
Contracts | Courts | Executive Branch | Grants | Laws
Legislative Process | President | Regulations
ISSUES MATRIX

Executive Branch

Comprehensive Listings

    • United States Government Manual, 1995/96+ (National Archives)
      • Directory of agencies and officials, primarily in the Executive Branch
      • Describes agency activity and cites legislative authority
      • Searchable by keyword and browsable since 1997/98
      • The paper copy is located at the Documents Desk as JK 421 .A3 and in most U.S. libraries

    • Federal Agency Web Sites (LSU)
      • Cleancut alphabetical listing of federal agency web sites
      • Includes search engine

    • Federal Information A-Z (Duke University)
      • Alphabetical list of agencies, titles, and subjects available on the web
      • Focus is on federal government but includes foreign and international agencies

    • Government by Sterby
      • Comprehensive links to all branches of the federal government
      • Especially good for independent and quasi-governmental agencies

Indexes

    • Google's Uncle Sam
      • Keyword index to federal government web sites with a .gov or .mil extension

    • Government Information Locator Service (GPO)
      • Browse or search available descriptive abstracts of government information files, including electronic, print, and unpublished data
      • Pointer GILS Records refers to complete information files maintained by several agencies
      • Pathway GILS Records refers to broad agency summaries created by GPO

    • HotBot
      • Advanced Searching permits Boolean combination of words with a .gov or .mil extension
      • Sample: prescription drugs [Boolean phrase] and .mil or .gov [domain]



Individual Agencies



President



Grants and Contracts



Congress

Legislative Process

    • Issues Matrix
      • Matrix of member, party and lobby issues
      • Includes lists of web sources

    • Public Policy Matrix
      • Outline of the policy change process from a legislative and executive perspective
      • Includes influences on the decision
      • Links to related materials available on the web at the University of Michigan

    • Enactment of a Law
      • Senate description of the legislative process
      • Includes information unique to the Senate, including ratification of treaties and executive (closed) meetings
    • How Our Laws Are Made
      • Extensive House of Representatives guide to the legislative process with definitions and explanations of each step
    • Summary version
    • Legislative Histories Tutorial
      • Step-by-step guide to University of Michigan Library materials on legislation

Directories of Congressmen

    • Almanac of American Politics (UMich Only)
      • Political biographies of Congressmen and their districts
      • Good source for analysis
      • Issues for 1998, 2000, and 2002 available
    • Congressional Yellow Book (UMich Only)
      • Most current directory of Congress available
      • Brief biographies of Congressmen and great detail on legislative staff assignments in Washington and in their respective districts
      • Directories of committees and subcommittees with similar detail on their legislative staffs
      • Congressional YellowBook is searchable on its own or in conjunction with the Federal, State, Municipal, Associations, and NonProfit sector books
      • Can search by location, industry, name, or personal characteristics (job title, degree, alma mater)

    • Contacting the Congress
      • Most updated directory of Members of Congress
      • Includes committee and subcommittee assignments

    • House of Representatives
      • Calendars and daily floor schedules
      • Links to Member web sites

    • Senate
      • Directory of Members and Committees

Directories of Committee Assignments

    • Congressional Yellow Book (UMich Only)
      • Most current directory of Congress available
      • Brief biographies of Congressmen and great detail on legislative staff assignments in Washington and in their respective districts
      • Directories of committees and subcommittees with similar detail on their legislative staffs
      • Congressional YellowBook is searchable on its own or in conjunction with the Federal, State, Municipal, Associations, and NonProfit sector books
    • Contacting the Congress
      • Directory of committee assignments for the current Congress (only)
      • Arranged by committee and subcommittee
      • Lists individual members, their e-mail addresses and web sites, phone and fax numbers
      • Links to the committee web site
    • Official Congressional Directory (GPO Access)
      • Biennial directory of Congress, committee assignments, and biographies
      • Begins with the 104th Congress, 1995-96
      • For committee assignments, go to the browsable on-line revisions at the top of the page; standing committee assignments follow the section on state delegations

Background Information

    • American Health Line (UMich Only)
      • Daily periodical with a summary of legislative issues affecting health care in Congress and the states
      • Available since 1992
    • CQ Weekly Report (UMich Only)
      • Non-partisan summary of legislation before Congress
      • Identifies most important bills, lobbying, and politics
      • Full text of CQ since 1983; separate search engines for articles and roll call votes
      • Separate section for CQ Researcher which provides briefing reports on public policy issues
      • Corresponding paper copy of the Weekly Report in Doc.Cen. JK 1.C12--Ref. with older issues in Grad Library Stacks
      • Some articles also appear in All Politics
      • If remote server does not work, use National Journal/Congress Daily listed below
    • Congressional Quarterly Almanac [Library]
      • Browse annual table of contents or index
      • Usually published six months after end of previous year
      • Doc.Cen. JK 1 .C756--Ref.
    • Congress and the Nation [Library]
      • Cumulative summary of the CQ Almanac, 1945-
      • Doc.Cen. JK 1001 .C75
    • National Journal/Congress Daily (UMich Only)
      • Weekly periodical on government agencies; includes major legislative issues
      • Archived and searchable since 1977
      • JK 1. N28 with current issues in Documents Center--Docs.Ref.
    • Policy.com
      • Daily periodical with current policy news, issue of the week, and in-depth analysis of 20 current policy issues
      • Virtual Congress features speeches and votes on topics
      • Includes a policy chat room

Bill Indexes/Texts/Status

    • THOMAS
      • Indexes Congressional bills since 1973 by subject, sponsor, committee, and status of legislation
      • Best public source for keyword indexing of bills
      • Includes text of all bill versions
      • Good Remote Alternative to Congressional Universe for bill indexing

    • Congressional Universe (UMich Only)
      • Indexes Congressional bills since 1989 by subject, keyword, sponsor and date
      • Provides the full text and legislative status

    • Notes

      • For omnibus bills which contain many components (e.g. budget, appropriations), it may be necessary to search by subject rather than bill number in Congressional Quarterly, Congressional Universe, and the Congressional Record

Committee Publications

    • Includes hearings (testimony), committee prints (research reports), markupsreports (recommendations on bills), and documents (Executive Branch communiques)

    • Hearings and Committee Prints
      • Congressional Universe (UMich Only)
        • Search under CIS Index
        • Indexes published hearings (1970+), committee prints (1993+), and reports (1989+) by subject, keyword, committee, and date
        • Provides an abstract of publications located in the Documents Center in paper and/or microfiche format
        • Includes the full text of selected testimony beginning 1988; linked from abstract and separately searchable under Testimony

    • Markups
      • These are committee meetings held after a hearing to make changes in a bill and vote on it
      • The transcripts are seldom published officially
      • Unofficially there are several news services which cover selected markups
      • In
      • In Testimony section of Congressional Universe, use the term "mark-up or markup" (1988+)
      • You can search National Journal Markups by committee, keyword, date, and bill number (1999+)

    • Reports and Documents
      • Congressional Universe (UMich Only)
        • Search under Congressional Publications
        • Indexes committee reports by subject, keyword, bill number, and date
        • Provides the full text of reports since 1989
      • Thomas
        • Full text of committee reports (i.e. recommendations) since 1993 searchable by keyword, bill number, report number, and committee
        • Reports segmented into easily viewable segments
        • Links to the full text of the legislation in question and legislative status
      • Reports and Documents via GPO Access

Floor Debates

    • Congressional Universe (UMich Only)
      • Search under Congressional Publications
      • Full text of Congressional Record since 1985
      • Searchable by keyword, speaker, and date
    • Congressional Record via GPO Access
    • THOMAS
      • Congressional bills and Congressional Record, 1993+
      • Best public source for keyword indexing of bills and Congressional Record due to proximity searching
      • Best source for text of the Congressional Record
      • Includes text of all bill versions
      • Prior to 1993, available in the Graduate Library stacks with issues beginning 1985 in the Documents Center as J 11.R

Related Political Information

Current Laws

    • Health Law Resource
      • Separate web pages summarize such issues as telemedicine, Medicare and Medicaid, bioethics, and patient records
      • Provides links to federal and state laws and regulations, AMA opinions and decisions, and official reports, such as the RAND Corporation
    • United States Code
      • Text of all laws in force
      • United States Code (via Congressional Universe)
        • Search under Bills, Laws and Regulations
        • Full text of all laws updated monthly to incorporate newly-passed laws
      • United States Code (via Cornell Law School)
        • Text of all laws in force as of 1997/98
        • Searchable by popular title of law, title and section of the U.S. Code, or keyword
        • Currently the best interface
        • Good Remote Alternative to Congressional Universe
        • Paper copy of U.S. Code in Doc.Cen. KF 62 .A2

Current Regulations

Courts

    • Academic Universe (UMich Only)
      • Full text of federal Supreme, Circuit, and District court opinions
      • Full text of state Supreme and appellate court decisions
      • See Academic Universe Guide for search strategies
    • Federal Courts (Admin. Office of the U.S. Courts)
      • Articles on and a description of the U.S. court system
      • Directory of automated access to court records arranged by type of court and district
    • Laws Online
      • Directories
        • U.S. and State executive, legislative and judicial branch officers
        • Includes names, contact information and web links
      • Web links to federal and state court decisions

State Governments

Associations

    • Council of State Governments
      • Organizational information and telnet interface for assistance via e-mail
      • Index of CSG publications
    • National Conference of State Legislatures
      • Newsletters, policies, and testimony on federal-state relations
      • Organizational information, publications, and conferences
      • Extensive links to state legislative web sites
    • National Governors' Association
      • Extensive list and full text of policies on federal-state relations, economic development, human and natural resources
      • Issue briefs, press releases
      • Background and the administration of welfare reform
      • Links to governors of the states and territories, their biographies, election status, and web sites

Executive Branch

    • State and Local Government
      • Comprehensive link for state government web sites, updated daily
      • Links to federal and non-government national organizations serving state and local governments
    • StateSearch (National Association of State Information Resource Executives)
      • Subject arrangement of state government web sites and publications
    • See State and Local Government for additional indexes and state government associations

Legislative Branch

    • American Health Line (UMich Only)
      • Daily periodical with a summary of legislative issues affecting health care in Congress and the states
      • Available since 1992
    • Florida Legislature
      • Searchable laws of Florida
      • Citizens guide to State Legislature
      • Current bills
    • National Conference of State Legislatures
      • Newsletters, policies, and testimony on federal-state relations
      • Organizational information, publications, and conferences
      • Extensive links to state legislative web sites
    • State Capital Universe (UMich Only)
      • Indexes current codes and administrative regulations of all states
      • Indexes bills and bill status since 1990
      • Includes official political journals of selected states and newspaper of record for all states
      • Various policy briefs from the National Conference of State Legislatures
    • State Legal Information
      • Links to legislative web sites in all 50 states
    • Stateline (PEW Research Center)
      • Summary of news articles about state legislative issues for all 50 states
      • States can be compared and ranked on population, economic, crime, budget, and environmental factors

Laws and Regulations

    • Academic Universe/LEXIS (UMich Only)
      • State codes (laws-in-force) appear under State Legal Research
      • Can only search one state at a time
      • Choose state and then state code
      • Sample Search
          State Legal Research/Michigan/Code
          medicaid w/5 fraud
    • Assessing the New Federalism
      • State data base includes statistics and law tracking for the 50 states and D.C.
      • Fiscal, economic, demographic data
      • Information about income security, health, employment, housing, and child welfare programs
      • EXAMPLE: State Data Base - Use Online - Begin - Health Insurance/Proceed - Minimum Group Size/Proceed - All Years - for state laws on minimum size of group health insurance coverage
      • Similar procedure for data on food stamps and AFDC caseloads
      • Includes articles on state social service policies
    • Health Law Resource
      • Separate web pages summarize such issues as telemedicine, Medicare and Medicaid, bioethics, and patient records
      • Provides links to federal and state laws and regulations, AMA opinions and decisions, and official reports
    • State Capital Universe (UMich Only)
      • Indexes current codes and administrative regulations of all states
      • May be searched by state and keyword or across states by keyword
      • Provides full text and notes
      • Includes Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest
    • State Legal Information
      • Links to free state government web sites with new laws and legal codes

Michigan

Executive Branch

    • Michigan Budget, FY 1997+
      • Budget proposals to the Legislature by program and department

    • Michigan Department of Community Health
      • The agency was created in January 1996 by Executive Order 1996-1
      • It consolidates the Dept. of Public Health, the Dept. of Mental Health, and the Medical Services Administration
      • Web site describes agency mission and activities
      • Public Health and Mental Health Code
      • State health initiatives, including immunizations
      • Consumer advice - AIDS, cancer
      • Health Statistics has county profiles with deaths by cause

    • Michigan Governor's Office
      • Governor's speeches and press releases on policy topics
      • Executive Orders, State of the State address
      • Links to other state government web sites

    • Michigan Executive Branch
      • Annotated links to the Governor and Executive Branch web sites

Legislative Branch

Legislative Process
    • Citizen's Guide to State Government
      • Organization chart of three branches of government
      • Directory of executive departments with phone numbers
      • Descriptions of the Michigan legislative process, directories of legislative members and committees, how to contact government officials
      • Number of signatures needed for petitions; number of state legislative and court officials by political party for counties and cities
    • How a Bill Becomes a Law
      • Description of the legislative process from the Michigan legislature
    • Michigan Legislative Histories at the University of Michigan
      • Step-by-step guide to the legislative process
      • Cites printed materials, on-line services, archives, and telephone numbers
      • Sources of Michigan Legislative History provides similar information from the Library of Michigan Law Library perspective

Legislation Background Information
    • Detroit News
      • Newspapers may be the best single source for state politics
      • Newspaper is searchable since August 1996
      • Also available on Academic Universe (Umich Only) and ProQuest (Umich Only)
    • Citizens Research Council of Michigan
      • Analyzes state and local government finances and organization (e.g. tax assessments, funding a new Detroit stadium)
      • Research reports on policy proposals as well as selected testimony before the state legislature
      • Web site indexes publications since 1916 and provides the text of some publications
    • Gongwer News Service
      • Behind-the-scenes political report on the Michigan Legislature and legislation
      • Quotations by legislators and lobbyists made on the floor, in committee, and in news conferences
      • Coverage begins with September 1993
      • Searchable by date or keyword
      • Single-site password available in Documents Center; ask staff for sign-on
    • Legislative Analyses
      • Summaries of all House bills and Senate bills referred to the House
      • Analyzes problem the bill addresses, impact, pros and cons
      • Paper copies filed by bill number at the U Mich Law Library
      • Legislative Analyses (Mich. Dept. of Consumer and Industry Services)
        • Full text of selective analyses within the department's purview, 1996+
        • Includes insurance, real estate, accounting, partial-birth abortions
    • Michigan in Brief
      • Analyzes 65 issues likely to come before the State Legislature
      • Examples include AIDS, assisted suicide, casinos, civil rights, crime, firearms, Headlee Amendment, roads, taxes and welfare reform
      • Provides background with statistics, pro and con arguments, and web or address sources for additional information
      • Appendices address a variety of non-legislative issues (foundations, volunteerism, basic statistics and state symbols)
      • Economic, political and cultural history of Michigan since the 17th Century
      • Concise but meaty descriptions of state and local government
      • Sponsored by the Michigan Nonprofit Association, Council of Michigan Foundations, and Public Sector Consultants
    • Michigan Municipal League
      • Summary of proposed state legislation affecting local governments
      • Federal/state relations, environment, and public works
      • Includes links to bills and Michigan Municipal League position
      • Municipal lobbying primer
    • Senate Fiscal Agency Reports
      • List of special and recurring reports on economic issues of legislative concern (e.g. prisons, local government debt, charter schools) beginning 1994
      • Most reports are not available on-line but contact information is provided for obtaining them
    • State Capital Universe (UMich Only)
      • Various policy briefs from the National Conference of State Legislatures for past ten years
      • State Net Capitol Journal for Michigan since 1998 and State Capitols Report covering all states since 1994

Bills
    • Michigan Legislative Information, 1997+
      • Full text of bills with legislative status and links to the House and Senate Journals
      • Find Bill: locate bills by bill number, subject category, or sponsor
        • Links to bill text, enrolled bills (final version becoming law), status, Journals (Adobe Acrobat format), and LEGISLATIVE ANALYSES
      • House Bills and Senate Bills arranged by bill number
        • Links to bill text, status, and Journals (Adobe Acrobat format)
      • Journals arranged by date; provide proceedings, voting records, and sometimes a text but not debates; Adobe Acrobat format
      • Calendars are last five House and Senate floor calendars
    • State Capital Universe (UMich Only)
      • Full text of bills since 1991 and bill status since 1990
    • Paper Copies of Bills
      • Available at the U Mich Law Library; current texts are also available on LEXIS
      • Indexed by LEXIS, Status of Legislation, and the bound House and Senate Journals
    • Status of Legislation
      • Indexes bills by subject and sponsor
      • Lists all legislative actions on bills
      • Doc.Cen. KFM 4215 .A32 - Ref.

Legislative Calendars
    • Committee Calendars
      • House and Senate meeting schedules for the upcoming weeks
      • Includes subject or bill and meeting room
    • Floor Calendars, 1997+
      • Last five calendars available through Michigan Legislative Information

Committee Hearings and Reports
    • Search MIRLYN or the Library of Michigan Catalog for the text of published committee publications
    • Most committee hearings and reports are unpublished
      • Contact the committee chairperson for the accessibility of tapes or transcripts

Journals
    • Michigan Legislative Information, 1997+
      • House Journals and Senate Journals available in Adobe Acrobat format
      • Searchable by date with additional links from the bill status section of the web site
      • Includes proceedings, roll call votes, and occasionally the text of a bill but not the debates
    • Historic Journals
      • House Journals (J 87 .M5c with current in the Documents Center) and Senate Journals (J 87 .M5b with current in the Documents Center) contain the text of proceedings
      • Most debates are not published; contact the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate for the availability of tapes or transcripts

Laws

    • Enrolled Bills, 1997+
      • Enrolled bills are the final version before becoming law
      • Text is available through the Michigan Legislature web site
      • Search by subject, sponsor or bill number under Find Bill
      • Links to the enrolled text are found under the bill status

    • Michigan Statutes Annotated through Academic Universe/LEXIS (UMich Only)
      • State codes (laws-in-force) appear under State Legal Research
      • Choose state and then state code
      • Sample Search
          State Legal Research/Michigan/Code
          medicaid w/5 fraud

    • Michigan Compiled Laws
      • This is the official version
      • Michigan Compiled Laws
        • Searchable by keyword and section
        • You do not need to register despite login screen
      • Michigan Compiled Laws - Paper
        • Text of all laws in force in 1979; web version more updated
        • Doc.Cen. KFM 4230 1979 .A24 - Ref.
        • Paper version pdated by Michigan Public and Local Acts (Doc.Cen. K .M62 A2 - Ref.) and West's Michigan Legislative Service (Doc.Cen. KFM 4225 .W51 - Ref.)
      • State Capital Universe (UMich Only)
        • Index and full text of Michigan Statutes Annotated
        • Annotations include links to relevant court decisions
        • Also has Martindale-Hubbell Law Digest, which provides easy indexing to laws across all states

Regulations

    • Michigan Administrative Code
      • Text of all executive agency regulations in force
      • Searchable by department, number and keyword
      • Updated on a daily basis
      • The latest paper version, 1979, is located in the Documents Center as Doc.Cen. K .M62 A3 - Ref.
        • Paper updated by annual supplements (same call number) and the quarterly Michigan Register (Doc.Cen K .M62 A31 - Ref.)
    • Administrative Rules (Office of Regulatory Reform)
      • Rules and proposed of Michigan executive departments beginning 1995
      • Arranged by agency and to be indexed by keyword
    • Executive Orders
      • Governor's executive orders beginning 1991
    • State Capital Universe (UMich Only)
      • RegAlert for Michigan since 1998
      • Does not include Michigan Administrative Code

Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor City Government

    • Directory of city services and departments with summary, contact information and links to agency if available
    • List of current City Council members and historical list of Ann Arbor mayors

Huron Valley Community Network

    • Links to local education, government, law, and library information
    • Includes a directory of county offices and a community calendar

Washtenaw County Court System

    • Describes judges, jury system, and operations of the criminal, civil and family divisions
    • Court dockets and instructions for filing documents
    • Eventually will provide for the electronic filing of court documents
    • Considered a prototype for the State of Michigan

Washtenaw County Government

    • Subject index to county services and departments
    • Application forms; list of county government job opportunities
    • Schedule of official county events and current policy issues
    • Directory of county officials and Board of Commissioner minutes

Washtenaw County Social Services Directory (COMNET)

    • Directory of social service programs includes contact information, mission, and community served
    • The directory is part of a larger Southeast Michigan community network
    • Registration is preferred but guest access is also available

Additional Local Governments

International

Human Rights Watch

    • Current news on human rights situation worldwide
    • Special sections of international standards for children's and women's rights
    • Regions section has regional and country reports on human rights practices

Reference Tools

Citation Guides

    • Guide to paper and web citation guides
    • Guides include citations to various formats

Reference Tools

    • Writing guides, dictionaries, acronyms, thesauri
    • Associations, travel information

Navigation Map


Grace York, Coordinator, Documents Center
Christina Campbell, Documents Assistant, August 2000
The University of Michigan Library
Send comments and suggestions to graceyor@umich.edu

http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/healpol.html

Since December 30, 1996 this page has been accessed