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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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“KFF is an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. We have three major program areas: KFF Policy; KFF Polling; and KFF Health News (formerly Kaiser Health News), 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.

There Are Many MAHAs

In a new column, Dr. Drew Altman, Founding President and CEO, dissects the MAHA “movement.” He writes: “There appear to be many MAHAs, not one. You can care about pesticides, or food additives, or vaccines, or child health, or corporate influence, or all of the above, to varying degrees. The reason so many Americans say they support MAHA when asked in polls is that, like a restaurant with a large menu, there is something in it for many Americans to select. But, the one thing they care about most—their health care costs—isn’t on the menu.”

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  • Reopening is a Risk for Republican Governors

    From Drew Altman

    In an Axios column, Drew Altman analyzes recent data on COVID-19 cases and deaths and finds “The hardest-hit areas so far have mostly been in states with Democratic governors. But the number of coronavirus cases is now increasing more quickly in states with Republican governors.”

  • Most Americans are Practicing Social Distancing

    From Drew Altman

    Drew Altman analyzes data showing surprising numbers of Americans of all ages are sheltering in place and reporting social distancing, and discusses the implications in an Axios column.

  • Most Americans are Practicing Social Distancing

    From Drew Altman

    Drew Altman analyzes data showing surprising numbers of Americans of all ages are sheltering in place and reporting social distancing, and discusses the implications in an Axios column.

  • The Public Wants the Federal Government, Not States, in Charge On Coronavirus

    From Drew Altman

    Drew Altman’s column today analyzes new polling showing that rather than serving as backup to the states, the public wants the federal government to lead the nation’s coronavirus response. He writes, “The public seems to believe that in a health crisis of this magnitude, with a virus that doesn’t stop at state or international borders and the death toll mounting, a more uniform and aggressive national response is needed.”

  • Why the U.S. Doesn’t Have More Hospital Beds

    From Drew Altman

    With much of the news focused on the surge capacity of the nation’s hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, Drew Altman’s Axios column today examines why the nation has a shortage of hospital beds and what can be done about it. He writes, “It’s a result of past policies aimed at reducing hospital beds to control costs," he writes. "If we want to have surge capacity of hospital beds and equipment in place for the next crisis,…

  • Why the U.S. Doesn’t Have More Hospital Beds

    From Drew Altman

    With much of the news focused on the surge capacity of the nation’s hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, Drew Altman’s Axios column examines why the nation has a shortage of hospital beds and what can be done about it.

  • Even Supporters May Not Understand Medicare-for-All

    From Drew Altman

    In this Axios column, Drew Altman shows that the majority of supporters don’t know how Medicare-for-all works, with both positive and negative implications for support if they knew more.

  • Republican Voters Have Moved On from Hating the ACA

    From Drew Altman

    In this Axios column, Drew Altman analyzes KFF’s tracking poll and shows that the ACA is now yesterday’s issue for Republicans. They have shifted their sights to Medicare-for-all...at least for this election season.