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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.
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This volume highlights how new vaccine requirements and the spread of anti-mRNA sentiments are fueling confusion and distrust. It also examines reactions to a federal report on gender-affirming care for minors and investigates how TikTok is being used to promote false health claims through deepfake personas targeting young women.
Starting in May of last year, HHS Secretary Kennedy and the CDC/ACIP began to make changes to the federal vaccine schedule for children, culminating in an announcement on January 5 of this year with the most wide-ranging changes to date. This policy brief tracks the number of states that have announced they are no longer following federal government recommendations for childhood vaccines as of January 20, 2026.
A new features from AI companies, like ChatGPT Health and Claude for Healthcare, aim to provide personalized health guidance, but may still provide wrong or dangerous health advice. And, as the U.S. experiences a severe flu season, a vaccine-strain mismatch may be contributing to misconceptions that flu vaccines are ineffective.
CMS released guidance for states that would end waivers allowing continuous Medicaid eligibility for children and adults. Ending continuous eligibility will increase disenrollment, but not all who lose coverage are no longer eligible… more
Disparities in health and health care for people of color and underserved groups are longstanding challenges. This brief provides an introduction to what health and health care disparities are, why it is important to address disparities, the status of disparities today, recent federal actions to address disparities, and key issues related to addressing disparities looking ahead.
CBO’s latest projections of Medicaid spending and enrollment from February 2026 show how enrollment and spending are expected to change over the next decade, accounting for the historic policy changes and their expected reductions in future federal Medicaid spending, as well as other economic and technical changes. This policy watch compares CBO’s February 2026 projections of Medicaid spending and enrollment to earlier CBO projections.
In a special follow-up poll of the same women voters who were previously interviewed in June (before President Biden announced he wouldn’t run for reelection), KFF finds substantial shifts in favor of Vice President Harris across a range of key election issues, including the handling of rising household and health care costs, as well as increased enthusiasm for the candidates and motivation to vote. As the presidential election draws near, the survey also shows a…
How race, ethnicity, and nationality have been defined and measured has important implications for health disparities, affecting who can access health, social, and economic resources. While narrow and inconsistent race and ethnicity categories have obscured inequities and limited the ability to address the diverse needs of different populations, data on race and ethnicity have also been used to address disparities by informing policies and interventions.
For adults who are uninsured, there are limited options for getting a free COVID-19 shot.
The U.S territories – American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) – have faced longstanding fiscal and health challenges exacerbated by recent emergencies. This issue brief provides background on how Medicaid financing differs between U.S. territories and states and what these differences mean for funding as well as health care coverage and access.
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