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From Drew Altman

Drew Altman is president and chief executive officer of KFF, a position he has held for more than 30 years since founding the modern-day KFF organization in the 1990s. He is a leading expert on national health policy issues and an innovator in health journalism and the nonprofit field.

View full bio | Read Dr. Altman's Beyond the Data columns

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President’s Message

“KFF is an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. We have four major program areas: KFF Policy; KFF Polling; KFF Health News (formerly Kaiser Health News); and KFF Social Impact Media, which conducts specialized public health information campaigns. Learn more about the organization. 

What’s unique about KFF, however, can’t be found in any description of our programs because we’re more than a sum of our parts. KFF is a one-of-a-kind information organization. Not a policy research organization. Not a polling organization. And not a news organization. But rather, a unique combination of all three. That’s the vision behind KFF, and it's this combination that allows us to leverage our combined expertise and assets to play our national role on health policy.” Read more

Beyond the Data

In his “Beyond the Data” columns, Drew Altman discusses what the data, polls, and journalism produced by KFF mean for policy and for people.

BTD Health Policy in 2026

Health Policy in 2026

In a new column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman forecasts eight things to look for in health policy in 2026. “First and foremost,” he writes, “is the role health care affordability will play in the midterms.” And, he notes: “The average cost of a family policy for employers could approach $30,000 and cost sharing and deductibles will rise again after plateauing for several years.”

View All Beyond the Data Columns

View the Latest: From Drew Altman

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  • The Semi-Sad Prospects for Controlling Employer Health Care Costs

    From Drew Altman

    In a commentary on KFF’s 27th employer health benefits survey, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman discusses the obstacles employers face trying to control their health care costs, and the reasons why they’ve never been meaningful supporters of government cost-containment efforts. He predicts that premium increases expected next year could lead to a new wave of higher deductibles and other forms of cost sharing for the 155 million Americans who rely on employer coverage. Read the column here.

  • The Problem Isn’t Trust in Vaccines, It’s That People Don’t Know Who to Trust

    From Drew Altman

    In a new “Beyond the Data” column, KFF’s President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman analyzes years of KFF polling on vaccines in light of the current controversies about them. The real problem, he says, is not lack of public confidence in the safety of vaccines — few say they are unsafe — it’s that polarization and misinformation have eroded confidence in what’s true or not, and in scientific institutions people used to rely on for the facts.

  • What to Make of the $50 Billion Rural Hospital Grants Program

    From Drew Altman

    In his latest Beyond the Data column, KFF President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman examines the controversial rural hospital grant program, noting “Will the new $50 billion rural hospital grant program in the big Republican tax and spending law just amount to a bunch of ribbon cutting and big check ceremonies, or will it help rural hospitals offset coming Medicaid cuts, help them in general, or all of the above?”

  • The Mystery of How Many People Are on Medicaid

    From Drew Altman

    In a new column, Dr. Drew Altman, KFF's President and CEO, examines the different counts of the number of people on Medicaid that are currently in use, which range from 69 to 83 million, and why it might matter. He also discusses other ways to assess the reach of the program: “possibly it’s useful to explain why there are different numbers out there about what seemingly is an all-time simple question: how many people are on Medicaid,” Altman says.

  • The Spotlight Is on Medicaid Cuts, But the ACA Marketplaces Could See a One-Third Cut in Enrollment

    From Drew Altman

    In his latest column, President and CEO Drew Altman shows how proposals contained in the House reconciliation bill could result in a one-third reduction in ACA Marketplace enrollment. “While all eyes are on the big Medicaid cuts being proposed in the House,” he writes, “significant changes are also being proposed that together would dramatically reduce enrollment in the ACA Marketplaces.”

  • On Medicaid Expansion, History Matters

    From Drew Altman

    In his latest column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman discusses the history of the battles over the ACA’s provisions that were designed to expand coverage for the uninsured, which helps explain the effort to cut federal funding for the Medicaid expansion today. The real underlying issues, he says, are the same divisions that have always plagued the debate about covering the uninsured.

  • The Sad State of Trust in the CDC and FDA

    From Drew Altman

    In his latest column, KFF’s President and CEO Drew Altman discusses how the low levels of trust in the CDC and FDA today seen in KFF’s recent survey findings present a danger should the country face another epidemic.