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KFF’s policy research provides facts and analysis on a wide range of policy issues and public programs.
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.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the organization’s core operating programs.
In this commentary for Women’s Health Issues, a publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health, KFF experts discuss contraceptive coverage and financing policies, access points within the delivery system, and the role of mis- and disinformation.
Compared to the general population, individuals who are incarcerated have higher rates of mental illness, substance use disorder, and chronic disease. However, the federal “inmate exclusion” policy prohibits Medicaid coverage for people who are incarcerated (except for limited inpatient hospital services). When people leave incarceration, they are at greater risk of overdose death and suicide, as well as hospitalization and emergency department use. In a new explainer, KFF examines a new waiver opportunity that allows…
This analysis of trends in health insurers’ financial data shows that insurers’ gross margins per enrollee dipped slightly in 2024 across four markets, remaining highest in the Medicare Advantage market, followed by the individual (non-group) market, the fully insured group (employer) market, and Medicaid managed care. The analysis also examines insurers’ medical-loss ratios across the four markets.
This Health Policy 101 chapter explores the federal government’s role in health policy for the fragmented U.S. health care system. It examines the impact of the three federal branches and goes into further detail about the Department of Health and Human Services structure and the major congressional committees dealing with health care. It also briefly outlines the federal budgetary and regulatory process.
With federal regulators seeking public input on the potential benefits, costs, and implementation considerations of requiring private health insurance plans to cover over-the-counter preventive products without a prescription, a new KFF post explores the issues relevant to covering over-the-counter contraceptives. These contraceptives include Opill, the first daily oral contraceptive pill to receive FDA approval for over-the-counter availability. The analysis draws on the lessons learned from KFF staff interviews with more than 80 key players nationally…
This brief describes the facts about actions taken under both the Trump and Biden Administrations related to capping insulin copayments for people with Medicare and explains the differences between their approaches.
This brief looks at recent policy proposals including the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Law, the Medina v. Planned Parenthood decision, and the withholding of Title X funds and how they will impact the reproductive health safety net at the same time that there is an increase in the uninsured.
This brief examines the legal status of Crisis Pregnancy Centers, attempts to regulate them, and future efforts to expand their footprints as they gain more recognition and funding from local, state, and federal programs.
As the U.S. tries to address rising rates of mental health issues, the impact of the new 988 national crisis hotline and other innovations will be limited if states don’t have the underlying crisis services available when people are directed to them. The core crisis services include crisis hotlines that connect individuals to trained counselors, mobile crisis units that provide in-person crisis support services, and crisis stabilization units that provide short-term observation and crisis stabilization…
What does AI mean for patients in bed and doctors at the bedside? Host Chip Kahn and guest Dr. Robert Wachter, Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, discuss whether AI will produce a different kind of doctor in the future — a “clinician curator rather than a clinician-diagnostician.” The answer could define the future of medicine and the doctor-patient relationship.
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