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 volume analyzes false narratives about autism rates in Cuba and among Amish people in the U.S.; health-related cases before the Supreme Court, including challenges to bans on conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ minors and school vaccine mandates; and the limitations of AI chatbots as primary sources of health information.
This volume examines how the cancellation of contracts to develop a bird flu vaccine and unfounded claims by new vaccine advisors reflect persistent myths about the safety of mRNA technology. It also explores false claims linking COVID-19 vaccines to miscarriage and analyzes how reactions to a Supreme Court ruling on gender-affirming care for minors highlights misconceptions and inflammatory language.
This edition highlights vaccine hesitancy and misinformation around MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccines as children return to school and measles cases resurge in parts of the U.S. It also examines emerging narratives around COVID-19 vaccine misinformation following the FDA approval of COVID-19 boosters and false claims linking mpox to the vaccines.
A new KFF-Washington Post partnership survey of parents explores their experiences with and views about vaccines for their children, including a look into how they make decisions related to vaccines and where they are uncertain or confused about their safety. The poll comes as the Trump administration’s Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to question the childhood vaccine schedule and to raise doubts about vaccine safety and effectiveness. Based on interviews…
People who don’t have a trusted health care provider are more likely than people with one to believe or lean toward believing several common myths about vaccines, a new KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust reveals. Similarly, people who use social media or artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots at least weekly for health information are more likely than those who don’t to endorse these false vaccine claims. One example: Among adults who say they…
This volume examines how prompting techniques can reduce incorrect medical information from AI chatbots; false claims linking vaccines to sudden infant death syndrome; the promotion of an industrial solvent as an allegedly suppressed cancer cure; misunderstandings about the risks of overdose from fentanyl exposure; and ongoing myths about sunscreen safety.
With health officials reporting 800 measles cases in multiple states already this year, most of the public – and most parents – report hearing at least one false claim about measles or the vaccine for it, and many of them aren’t sure what to believe, the latest KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust finds. The poll gauges whether the public has heard, and whether they believe, three false statements related to measles circulating…
On August 5, 2026 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first-ever mRNA flu vaccine for adults 50 and older, following a trial of roughly 40,000 people. KFF polling in April 2025 found that most adults ages 50 and older were uncertain whether mRNA vaccines are safe.
This policy brief highlights areas in which HHS, FDA, and CDC have authority to shape U.S. vaccine policy with a specific focus on vaccine approvals and recommendations for the public. Ultimately, while there are limits, federal officials have significant authority to influence and alter vaccine policy, which could affect vaccine availability, views about vaccines, and vaccine use in the U.S. However, this does not include imposing mandates on or changing local vaccination requirements, as those…
© 2026 KFF