The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
In a new column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman writes about the “conundrum of health policy ideas” facing Democrats searching for new proposals because of competing, and complex, priorities: rebuilding Medicaid and the ACA after trillion-dollar cuts, reconstructing federal health agencies, and tackling underlying health care costs, when candidates want simple ideas they can campaign on and voters want their costs to come down.
This chart collection examines how life expectancy in the U.S. compares to that of other similarly large and wealthy countries. Life expectancy at birth in the U.S. increased 0.6 years from 78.4 years in 2023 to 79.0 years in 2024, its highest-ever level. However, the average life expectancy in comparable countries was 82.7 years, about 3.7 years longer than in the U.S., reflecting a persistently wide difference in life expectancy between the U.S. and comparable countries.
This poll finds that about as many adults are turning to AI for health information as social media, with health care costs and access driving many users, particularly younger users. Read the news release →
Amid reports of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at hospitals and President Trump’s reversal of policy protecting “sensitive locations” like hospitals, KFF’s Health Tracking Poll finds that a majority of the public say they are concerned about the Trump administration’s actions in health care settings.
CMS has recently announced a new approach to fraud that will rely more heavily on options to pause or withhold significant amounts of federal funding in cases of potential fraud, which could have broad implications for states and enrollees. This issue brief explains the new approach.
This brief provides an overview of deaths in ICE custody and detention centers under the Trump administration based on KFF analysis of ICE detainee death reporting and news releases and reviews recent reports of health care issues in detention centers.
The Administration’s latest funding deadline and guidance shift intensifies pressure to the reproductive health safety net at a time when the number of uninsured individuals is projected to rise due to Medicaid cuts and expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits, and Planned Parenthood clinics have lost their federal Medicaid funding.
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