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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.
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.
Meredith Freed is a senior policy manager with KFF’s Program on Medicare Policy. She performs research and analysis on a range of issues related to Medicare and the population it serves, including Medicare Advantage, oral health, prescription drug costs, and Medicare spending and financing. Prior to joining KFF, she was a senior research assistant at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, where she worked on a variety of projects related to Food and Drug Administration…
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides enhanced federal matching funds to states that expand Medicaid to nonelderly adults up to 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL, $17,236/year for an individual in 2019). The ACA enhanced match (93% in 2019, and 90% in 2020 and thereafter) is substantially higher than states’ traditional Medicaid matching rate. A few states have sought Section 1115 demonstration waiver authority from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to…
For the first time in a decade, states are reporting no overall growth in Medicaid enrollment last year and expecting minimal growth this year amid a stronger economy, a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey finds. The 18th annual 50-state survey of Medicaid directors reveals that enrollment was flat in state fiscal year (FY) 2018 (down an average 0.6 percent), and states are budgeting for minimal increases during FY 2019 (up an average 0.9 percent). States…
Source KFF analysis of a five percent sample of Medicare prescription drug event claims from the CMS Chronic Conditions Data Warehouse, 2007-2016.
In this Axios column, Drew Altman analyzes new poll findings which show how one issue breaks through the gridlock between Democrats and Republicans in health – the high cost of prescription drugs.
Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $19,616 this year, up 5% from last year, with workers on average paying $5,547 toward the cost of their coverage. The average deductible among covered workers in a plan with a general annual deductible is $1,573 for single coverage. Fifty-six percent of small firms and 98% of large firms offer health benefits to at least some of their workers, with an overall offer rate of 57%.
This week saw protests across the country voicing outrage over how widespread racism in the United States impacts black lives. Structural and systemic racism have created longstanding disparities across economic and health indicators for Black Americans – including the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 in Black communities and other communities of color.
Every week we recap the past week in the coronavirus pandemic from our tracking, policy analysis, polling, and journalism. This week saw reports of an increasing number of coronavirus hotspots at the same time the U.S. surpassed a new record -- the highest daily increase in new confirmed, cases so far in this pandemic: 39,972 on June 25.
Every Friday we’ll recap our new policy analysis, polling, and updates on coronavirus from the past week.
About two-thirds (65%) of voters say a candidate’s support for continued protections for people with pre-existing health conditions is either the “single most important factor” or “very important” to their vote in the upcoming midterms elections, finds the latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll. That’s a larger share than says the same about other health care issues, including bringing down prescription drug costs (58%), repealing the Affordable Care Act (53%), stabilizing the ACA marketplaces (52%), or…
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