Medical Debt: The Canary in the Coal Mine for Health Care Affordability September 5, 2024 Perspective With Vice President Harris promising to address medical debt as part of her economic plan, KFF Executive Vice President for Health Policy Larry Levitt explores why it is a symptom of the broader problem of affordable health care and reviews recent efforts to address it in this JAMA Health Forum post.
The Semi-Sad State of Consumer Protection In Health Care January 7, 2025 From Drew Altman In this column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman explores the state of consumer protections in health care and explains why, even with consumer frustration clear, Congress is unlikely to pursue major new health insurance protections but there could be some modest steps.
Springfield, Ohio: How Candidates Amplify Misinformation September 24, 2024 From Drew Altman In his latest column, KFF President and CEO Drew Altman explains the impact of misinformation about immigrants, examining the challenges of correcting misinformation shared by candidates or potentially amplifying it.
The Health System Appears To Be Selling LGBT+ People Short August 2, 2021 Perspective With much focus on equity in the nation’s health care system during the pandemic, Drew Altman’s Axios column brings attention to warning signs about health care provided to LGBT+ individuals.
On Medicaid Expansion, History Matters May 9, 2025 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 Bigger Story, and Agenda, Behind GOP Changes to Obamacare, Medicare and Medicaid November 21, 2016 Perspective This column was published as a Wall Street Journal Think Tank column on November 21, 2016. Early media coverage of the Republican health-care agenda has concentrated on plans to repeal and then replace the Affordable Care Act. The larger story is GOP preparations for a health policy trifecta: to fundamentally change the…
How the Republican Health Agenda Could Play Out December 2, 2016 Perspective In this Wall Street Journal Think Tank column Drew Altman discusses how Republicans will assume ownership of health care’s policy and political problems as they assume control, and how that may affect their plans for the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid and Medicare.
The Republican Health-care Plan the Country Isn’t Debating February 9, 2017 Perspective In this Washington Post op-ed, Drew Altman discusses how Republicans’ ideas to change Medicaid and Medicare and repeal the Affordable Care Act would fundamentally change the federal role in health, calling it: the biggest change in health we are NOT debating.
What’s Really At Stake In the Medicaid Spending Debate June 2, 2017 Perspective In this Axios column, Drew Altman highlights that the federal debate about the American Health Care Act’s Medicaid spending reductions will ultimately be a debate about every state’s general budget spending priorities, as states discuss whether to offset reductions in federal revenues with some combination of cuts to their Medicaid programs, increased taxes, and cuts to spending in other areas.
Don’t Expect Medicaid Work Requirements to Make a Big Difference April 3, 2017 Perspective Under the Trump Administration, some Republican governors may look to move their Medicaid programs in a more conservative direction. In his latest column for Axios, Drew Altman discusses the arguments about Medicaid “work requirements” and why few people are likely to be affected by them in practice.
