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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.
Health Policy 101 is a comprehensive guide covering fundamental aspects of U.S. health policy and programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, employer-sponsored insurance, the uninsured population, health care costs and affordability, women's health issues, and health care politics. The Health Care Costs and Affordability chapter explores trends in health care costs in the U.S. and the factors that contribute to this spending. It also examines how health care spending varies across the population, the impact of costs on care affordability and individuals' overall financial vulnerability.
The Budget Control Act of 2011 tasked members of a "Super Committee" to find at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade. Members did not reach an agreement by the November 23 deadline and as a result automatic spending cuts to defense and entitlement programs are set to kick in beginning in January 2013. Panelists at this briefing discussed the impact the sequester will have on the health care sector and how…
Health care costs continue to top the public’s list of economic anxieties, even as fuel prices and economic uncertainty rose following the start of the Iran war, a new KFF Health Tracking poll finds. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of U.S. adults are worried about being able to afford health care costs, including three in ten who say they are “very worried.” The same share (64%) are worried about gasoline or other transportation costs, up from about…
What do voters want to see most on health from candidates? A plan? That they feel their pain? In a new column, Dr. Drew Altman, Founding President and CEO, discusses findings from a new KFF poll and writes: “Voters say what matters most to them is to see candidates show some 'fight' by taking on drug and insurance companies they have come to see as villains."
This KFF poll finds that health care costs continue to top the public’s list of affordability worries, even as concerns about gas prices have risen in recent weeks, with two-thirds of the public expressing worry over affording health care costs.
This data note reviews our recent polling data that finds that many Americans struggle to afford many aspects of health care, including disproportionate shares of uninsured adults, Black and Hispanic adults and those with lower incomes.
The Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation present a briefing to discuss the basics of Medicare, its role in the health care system, and how the program has evolved over time. Speakers address questions on how the program is administered, how much it costs and how it is financed. A short video produced by the Kaiser Family Foundation, "The History of Medicare: A Timeline," will be shown at the event. For more…
This short Kaiser Family Foundation documentary profiles the experiences of three Medicare families trying to pay for their health care costs with other household spending. The families are among 16 featured in a companion report examining the role Medicare now plays in the lives of beneficiaries and the challenges many face in paying for their health care and other living expenses on a fixed budget.
This brief assesses the potential benefits and drawbacks to states from implementing a Basic Health Program under the Affordable Care Act. The law gives states the option of creating a Basic Health Program, using federal tax money to subsidize insurance coverage for low-income residents who would otherwise be eligible to purchase coverage through a state exchange. Such a program would give states the ability to provide more affordable coverage for these low-income residents and improve…
Almost 50 million Americans lacked health insurance in 2010 -- about a million more than in 2009. Who are the uninsured? Why do so many Americans lack coverage? What are the trends in coverage among different segments of the population? What do these trends mean for the health care system and the costs of care? This briefing, co-sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured,…
This briefing, co-sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform, the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The SCAN Foundation, featured panelists discussing which deficit-reduction proposals affecting Medicaid might receive serious consideration by the congressional "super committee," as well as what kind of impact such changes would have on Medicaid enrollees, providers and state Medicaid programs. For more information, please visit the Alliance's event page. Full Video Speakers for this session: The…
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