The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
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.
This issue brief provides an overview of Medicaid spending and enrollment growth with a focus on state fiscal years 2022 and 2023. Findings are based on data provided by state Medicaid directors as part of the 22nd annual survey of Medicaid directors in states and the District of Columbia conducted by KFF and Health Management Associates (HMA). Findings examine changes in overall enrollment and spending growth.
This brief provides an overview of the tele-PrEP landscape, including how PrEP services (e.g., consults, lab work, prescribing, and monitoring) are provided and factors that facilitate its provision as well as barriers that remain. It is based on in-depth interviews with representatives from the major national telehealth companies providing tele-PrEP and other select tele-PrEP programs.
In response to prescription drug spending growth and heightened attention to drug prices, some policymakers have proposed allowing the federal government to negotiate the price of prescription drugs for Medicare and private payers. This brief describes the current status of drug price negotiation proposals, looks back at the history of proposals to give the federal government the authority to negotiate drug prices in Medicare, describes the negotiation provisions in key legislation (H.R. 3), and discusses…
This issue brief answers some key questions about abortion in the United States and presents data collected before and new data that has been published since the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
The October KFF Health Tracking Poll explores experiences with unpaid caregiving, and favorability of expansion of home and community based services (HCBS). It also examines experiences with difficulty affording and putting of health care services among seniors, favorability of the ACA and experience with determining eligibility for lower cost insurance as part of the COVID relief package.
This brief analyzes the latest CDC data on adolescent overdose deaths, finding that from 2022 to 2023, there was a small reduction in overdose fatalities among adolescents (from 721 to 708 deaths). Additionally, the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, has largely driven the increase in adolescent drug fatalities since the pandemic began, accounting for 76% of these fatalities in 2023. This analysis also explores federal and state policy responses to the drug crisis, such as requirements to…
This brief discusses federal mental health parity protections -- what they are, who they apply to, who enforces them and key policy issues as Congress and federal agencies evaluate improvements to the law to address gaps in mental health coverage and access.
Nearly 3 million Medicare Part D enrollees had out-of-pocket drug spending above the catastrophic threshold in a recent five-year period, finds a new KFF analysis that takes a comprehensive look at how many people on Medicare have drug expenses high enough to push them above that limit. While the Part D drug benefit has helped make drugs more affordable for people with Medicare, the lack of a hard cap on annual out-of-pocket spending under Part…
In his latest column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman asks if prior authorization review could be eliminated entirely, discussing how it might be done and the tradeoffs.
Most of the Public Lacks Confidence that President Biden, Congressional Democrats or Republicans Will Do the Right Thing on Drug Prices Allowing the federal government to negotiate with drug companies to lower drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries and people enrolled in private plans – a key cost-saving proposal in the Democrats’ massive reconciliation bill – is favored by large majorities across political partisans, even after they hear arguments from both sides, a new KFF Health…
© 2026 KFF