PEPFAR May Improve Key Economic and Educational Outcomes, Not Just Health Outcomes December 12, 2022 News Release A new KFF analysis finds that the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the U.S. global HIV/AIDS response and the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history, is associated with improvements in key economic and educational outcomes in countries that received PEPFAR support. Specifically,…
Most Nursing Home Staff and Residents Are Not Up to Date with Their COVID-19 Vaccines December 12, 2022 News Release As winter approaches, a new KFF analysis finds that less than half (45%) of all nursing facility residents and less than a quarter of staff (22%) are up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations. That is a sharp drop from the 87 percent of nursing facility residents and staff who…
COVID-19 Vaccines Could Cost Billions of Dollars More Each Year If the Federal Government Ends Its Bulk Purchasing Program December 7, 2022 News Release If the federal government runs out of money to purchase COVID-19 vaccines, the per-dose price likely would skyrocket and could increase spending on vaccines by billions of dollars a year, a new KFF analysis finds. To date, the federal government has spent more than $30 billion on COVID-19 vaccines to…
The Nation’s Largest For-Profit Health Systems Have Typically Had Operating Margins That Meet or Exceed Pre-Pandemic Levels December 5, 2022 News Release Despite higher inflation and dwindling COVID-19 relief funding from the federal government, the nation’s largest for-profit health systems so far this year have operating margins that meet or exceed levels in 2019 prior to the pandemic, a new KFF analysis finds. The analysis examines the financial performance of the three…
The Small Share of Employers Offering Retiree Health Benefits Are Increasingly Turning to Medicare Advantage December 1, 2022 News Release Few employers offer retiree health benefits, and those that do increasingly are turning to Medicare Advantage plans to provide that coverage – a shift that has implications both for retirees and for federal spending, finds a new KFF analysis. Among the relatively small share of large firms (200 or more…
More Than Half a Million People in the U.S. Are On Waiting Lists for Medicaid Home- and Community-Based Services, But Waiting Lists Can Both Overstate and Understate Unmet Need November 28, 2022 News Release About 656,000 people across the country were on state waiting lists for home and community-based services financed through Medicaid waivers in 2021, finds a new KFF analysis. But such waiting lists are an incomplete and often inaccurate measure that can both overstate and understate unmet need. The data about waiting…
The U.S.-Mexico Border Region Faced a Range of Health Challenges Long Before the Current Immigration Surge November 21, 2022 News Release With intense immigration activity at the U.S.-Mexico border this year and attention focused on the plight of newly arriving migrants, a new KFF analysis finds communities along the border faced an array of socioeconomic challenges and weak health infrastructures well before this year’s surge. Texas – which has the most…
A Fall Update on COVID-19 Cases and Deaths, Vaccinations, and Treatments by Race/Ethnicity November 17, 2022 News Release KFF has updated its national analysis of race/ethnicity data of COVID-19 cases and deaths, vaccinations, and treatments as concerns grow over a potential increase in COVID-19 cases during winter and upcoming holiday gatherings and the low take-up of the COVID-19 bivalent booster vaccine among the eligible public. Despite earlier progress…
Abortion Bans May Limit Access to Certain Drugs Used to Treat Women with Cancer, Autoimmune Diseases, and Ulcers November 17, 2022 News Release A new KFF analysis finds that women comprise the majority of patients who rely on certain drugs that may be restricted in response to state abortion bans. Following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, some women in abortion-banning states have reported that clinicians and pharmacists denied them…
Fewer than Half of Employed Women Say Their Employer Offers a Paid Parental Leave or Family and Medical Leave Benefit November 16, 2022 News Release A new KFF analysis finds that fewer than half of employed women ages 18-64 say their employer offers a paid parental leave benefit, such as maternity or paternity leave (43%) or family and medical leave (44%). Access to these workplace benefits varies widely by employment status, income, location, and level…