The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
KFF’s policy research provides facts and analysis on a wide range of policy issues and public programs.
KFF designs, conducts and analyzes original public opinion and survey research on Americans’ attitudes, knowledge, and experiences with the health care system to help amplify the public’s voice in major national debates.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the organization’s core operating programs.
This brief examines the two presidential candidates’ records and other recent policy proposals that could inform starkly different directions for the program across key areas, including Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion, financing, eligibility, benefits, and cost-sharing, prescription drugs, long-term services and supports, and managed care.
These Foundation resources shed light on how the ongoing national debate about deficit reduction may affect Medicare, Medicaid and other health-care programs. These resources include analysis of specific savings proposals, polling on the public’s views of deficit-reduction options, summaries and comparisons of relevant elements of major deficit-reduction plans, and explanatory briefs and backgrounders describing key issues related to the debate. Drew Altman: The News Media and Entitlement Reform Medicare-Specific Analysis Policy Options to Sustain…
Our group that works on health care cost issues just updated an analysis that sheds light on what’s really happening to people in the individual health insurance market, the issue Secretary Sebelius, a former Kansas insurance commissioner, and others have put in the spotlight by calling on Anthem and other insurance companies to account for their proposed high premium increases. The analysis shows that people buying health insurance on their own in the individual market…
Drew Altman, Larry Levitt, Gary Claxton My colleagues have worked on this column with me and I invited them to join me as authors. As with pretty much every other discussion of health care going back to the days of Roosevelt, the great reform debate of 2009 (and now 2010) has been distilled into an ideological battle over the role of government. A government-sponsored "public option" has been off the table for a while now,…
Financial Incentives in the Long-Term Care Context: A First Look at Relevant Information This report reviews Medicare's payment policies as they may affect medical care for residents in long-term care environments, including a look at the financial incentives that could play a role in hospital and skilled nursing facility admissions. The report was prepared by Henry Desmarais at Health Policy Alternatives for the Foundation and released at an Oct. 12, 2010, policy briefing. Report (.pdf)
The President's FY 2005 Budget Proposal: Overview and Briefing Charts The overview and briefing charts present information on the President's FY 2005 budget proposal to Congress beginning with federal surplus/deficit spending historical data and a summary of the overall composition of the Administration's budget request. The charts then detail information on the President's funding proposals for major health programs. Overview & Briefing Charts (.pdf)
To Hospitalize or Not to Hospitalize? Medical Care for Long-Term Care Facility Residents This report explores factors that appear to drive relatively high rates of hospitalizations, based on interviews with doctors, nursing home staff and families in four cities. Key factors include liability concerns, limited onsite staff capabilities, difficulty reaching residents' physicians for care instructions on nights and weekends, better and more timely access to diagnostic tests in hospitals, and patient preferences. Physicians with patients…
In the latest post in the Policy Insights series, Jen Kates and Josh Michaud outline eight questions that are likely to shape the U.S. global health response in the last two years of the current presidential term and beyond. Follow Jen Kates and Josh Michaud on Twitter, and access previous columns in the Policy Insights series on kff.org.
As 2023 kicks off, a number of issues are at play that could affect coverage and financing under Medicaid. This issue brief examines key issues to watch in Medicaid in the year ahead.
This brief analyzes Medicaid enrollment and spending trends for FY 2024 and FY 2025, based on data provided by state Medicaid directors as part of the 24th annual survey of Medicaid directors.
© 2026 KFF