31-40 of 152 results

  • The Regulation of Private Health Insurance

    Feature

    This Health Policy 101 chapter explores the complex landscape of private health insurance regulation in the United States, detailing the interplay between state and federal regulations that shape access, affordability, and the adequacy of private health coverage. It focuses on key laws such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Employer Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and discusses how regulations impact the private insurance market, illustrating the challenges consumers face in navigating this system.

  • The Mental Health Crisis Within the Mental Health Crisis

    From Drew Altman

    In his new column, KFF CEO Drew Altman discusses how America’s mental health crisis affects families. The number of families experiencing a serious mental health-related event is large enough to constitute a crisis within the larger mental health crisis.

  • New KFF Analysis Examines Rapidly Evolving Federal Policies For Substance Use Disorder Treatment for the Opioid Epidemic  

    News Release

    A new KFF analysis finds that 24 percent more buprenorphine, a medication to treat opioid use disorder, was dispensed in 2022 than in 2019, the year before the pandemic brought a surge of opioid overdose deaths – and a focus on how to expand access and treatment. This upward trend in buprenorphine distribution, already in motion before the pandemic, continued throughout the COVID public health crisis, suggesting continued improvements in access to treatment even as…

  • The Debate Over Federal Medicaid Cuts: Perspectives of Medicaid Enrollees Who Voted for President Trump and Vice President Harris

    Report

    The Republican-led Congress is considering plans to cut Medicaid to help pay for tax cuts, with the House budget resolution targeting $880 billion or more in potential reductions to federal Medicaid spending. To better understand the experiences of Medicaid enrollees and their perceptions of potential changes to the program, KFF conducted five virtual focus groups in January, including three groups with participants who had voted for President Trump in the 2024 election and two groups…

  • Key Facts About Hospitals

    Feature

    This analysis presents key facts about hospitals with more than 40 charts related to national spending on hospital care, characteristics of the hospital industry, rural hospitals, use of hospital care, out-of-pocket spending and medical debt, hospital prices, hospital finances, and charity care.

  • The Affordable Care Act 101

    Feature

    This Health Policy 101 chapter provides an overview of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), a major reform of the U.S. health care system aimed at reducing high uninsured rates and alleviating issues like high out-of-pocket costs and coverage exclusions for preexisting conditions. The ACA significantly altered many aspects of the health system and the chapter explores its mechanisms, such as the Health Insurance Marketplaces, and the evolution of the law since its passage in 2010…

  • Addressing the Opioid Crisis: A Look at the Evolving Landscape of Federal OUD Treatment Policies

    Issue Brief

    Federal policies governing substance use disorder treatment have undergone rapid changes during the pandemic; however, the extent to which these changes can address the surge in opioid overdose deaths is unclear. Some of these policy adjustments are permanent, while others could revert to pre-pandemic regulations. In this brief, we examine the following 5 key federal policies and implications for access and treatment for OUD.