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 issue brief examines the key provisions of the 2010 health reform law that will expand health coverage and are likely to improve access to care for people of color, as well as some of the other provisions that will likely have either a direct or indirect impact on health disparities. Issue Brief (.pdf)) Previous Version: November 2009 (.pdf)
This brief summarizes key findings from the full collection of 2010 Part D Data Spotlights examining key trends in the private stand-alone drug plans available to Medicare beneficiaries. The spotlight is one in a series analyzing key aspects of the Medicare Part D drug plans that will be available to beneficiaries in 2010. The analysis was conducted jointed by Jack Hoadley and Laura Summer of Georgetown University, Elizabeth Hargrave of NORC at the University of Chicago,…
This Part D Data Spotlight documents the wide variations across the private stand-alone drug plans with respect to coverage of drugs, what enrollees pay for those drugs, and restrictions and limitations placed on their use. These variations have potentially significant implications for beneficiaries’ access to medications and out-of-pocket costs. The spotlight is one in a series analyzing key aspects of the Medicare Part D drug plans that will be available to beneficiaries in 2010. The…
NEW: Foundation brief looks at implications of 2011 quality ratings for Medicare Advantage plans. This Kaiser Family Foundation issue brief examines the key changes in this year’s health reform law that will reward bonuses to private Medicare Advantage plans based on quality rating. Medicare currently rates plans on a five-star scale, with five stars representing the highest quality. The brief analyzes plans based on their quality rating for the current year and also examines enrollment…
This brief provides details of the benefit and cost-sharing rules that will govern the coverage available under health reform to these newly eligible adults Medicaid beneficiaries, and it identifies key considerations for state policymakers making Medicaid benefit design choices.
This piece looks at how Louisiana uses “express lane eligibility" to increase and streamline the enrollment of low-income children in its Medicaid program. It is the first in a Spotlight on Technology series profiling several states' innovative applications of technology to Medicaid enrollment efforts. The series illustrates a range of approaches that states can adopt to improve their systems now and to prepare for the expansion of Medicaid under health reform. Spotlight (.pdf)
This report, based on discussions with leading state Medicaid directors in May 2010, examines how Medicaid agencies are preparing for a lead role in implementing health reform while continuing to deal with the impact of the recession. The report augments the most recent annual Medicaid budget survey report, released in September 2009, and a mid-year update report released in February 2010. NOTE: Updated report on fiscal years 2010 and 2011 now available. Report (.pdf)
The new health reform law will require most U.S. citizens and legal residents to have health coverage by 2014. It provides new options for coverage by expanding Medicaid eligibility to more low-income people and creating a state-based system of health insurance exchanges through which individuals can purchase coverage, with federal subsidies for many. This brief and accompanying explanatory chart summarize key requirements that states face under health reform to construct coordinated and consumer-friendly enrollment systems…
With Medicaid set to expand under health reform, the program will begin to reach individuals who have previously had little interaction with the health care system. The data in this brief profile uninsured adults with incomes at or below 133 percent of the poverty level who, because of health reform, will be eligible for Medicaid in 2014 based on income. It focuses on those who received no medical care over a two-year period to help…
The health reform law will expand Medicaid to millions of low-income adults, including many childless adults who have historically been ineligible for the program, necessitating one of the largest enrollment efforts in the program's history. This report, based on interviews with officials in seven states and the District of Columbia and national experts, examines lessons learned from past state experience covering childless adults through waiver and state-funded programs and profiles the programs included in the…
© 2026 KFF