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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.
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This brief examines efforts in 11 states to fill in funding gaps created by the 2025 federal budget reconciliation law, which prohibits federal Medicaid funding for reproductive-health care services provided by Planned Parenthood and other organizations that also provide abortion care.
Opioid overdose deaths fell sharply from 2023 to 2024 (79,358 to 54,045), driven largely by decreases in fentanyl-involved deaths. Even after these declines, deaths remained above 2019, the year before opioid deaths increased sharply during the pandemic.
Suicide deaths fell slightly from their peak of 49,476 deaths in 2022 to 48,824 deaths in 2024, but trends by suicide method diverged: suicides by other means declined while firearm suicides reached their highest level and accounted for 57% of all suicides (up from 50% in 2014).
Alcohol deaths increased gradually before the pandemic, jumped in 2020 and 2021, and have fallen somewhat since then. Even after these declines, deaths remained above 2019, the year before the pandemic.
Community health centers served more than 32 million patients in medically underserved urban and rural areas in 2024. This brief reports on health center patients, services, and financing in 2024, using national data from the Uniform Data System (UDS).
New KFF polling explores the challenges beyond costs that people with insurance face in navigating the health care system. People cite prior authorization review as their top problem by a wide margin, with a third (32%) saying prior authorization requirements are a “major burden.” That’s more than say the same about understanding their bill or what they owe (23% say it is a major burden), getting appointments when they need them (20%), or finding providers…
KFF's health tracking poll finds that beyond costs, insured adults say prior authorization is their biggest challenges when accessing care. About seven in ten (69%) insured adults say prior authorizations are burdensome, and a third (34%) choose prior authorizations as their single biggest health care burden.
In this brief on Medicaid issues to watch for 2026, KFF explores how state fiscal pressures are likely to converge with the implementation of the 2025 reconciliation law to affect Medicaid coverage, financing, and access to care over the next year, especially leading up to the midterm elections.
This brief describes current state fiscal conditions as states begin fiscal year 2027 budget debates and highlights key areas to watch for Medicaid policy changes as states respond to fiscal challenges and the 2025 reconciliation law.
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