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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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On KFF’s 21st annual Medicaid budget survey, all responding states reported at least one initiative to expand behavioral health care in Medicaid, including crisis service and other benefit expansions, initiatives to expand telehealth and address equity, and managed care changes.
This brief examines the final CMS regulations governing prior authorization in Medicare Advantage, Marketplace, Medicaid, and other plans, how they might address some current consumer concerns, and some issues that remain.
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.
The White House announcement focused on reducing the cost of some IVF drugs and clarifying options for employers to offer standalone fertility benefits for their employees and their dependents. This policy watch examines some key takeaways about the Trump IVF plan.
To provide historical context for how changes to Medicaid spending may impact national health spending trends, this brief explores how Medicaid spending contributes to national health spending and how different service areas contribute to Medicaid costs.
This brief examines the two presidential candidates’ records and other recent policy proposals that could inform starkly different directions for the program across key areas, including Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion, financing, eligibility, benefits, and cost-sharing, prescription drugs, long-term services and supports, and managed care.
A new KFF analysis of our 2023 Survey of Racism, Discrimination, and Health finds that Black (39%) and Hispanic (36%) adults who report fair or poor mental health are less likely than White (50%) adults to say they received mental health services in the past three years. Such disparities reflect several barriers to mental health care identified by these adults. In addition to cost concerns and being too busy or not being able to get…
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.
In his latest column for the JAMA Health Forum, KFF’s Larry Levitt talks about how popular shows like “The Pitt” can make changes to the health care system stemming from this year’s federal tax and budget bill tangible for viewers, and offers some suggested story lines.
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.
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