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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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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.
This analysis examines disparities in access to air condition and their implications. It shows Asian-, Black-, and Hispanic-led households are more likely to report not having an air conditioning unit in their home compared to White households. Lower income households also are more likely than higher-income households to report this and other challenges.
The Kaiser Family Foundation will host a web conversation to discuss the drivers of recent and forecasted trends in prescription drug spending and examine how drug prices are set.
The most recent Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that health care is among the top issues, with the economy and jobs and immigration, Americans want President-elect Donald Trump and the next Congress to address in 2017. As Congressional lawmakers make plans for the future of the Affordable Care Act, the latest survey finds the public is divided on what they would like lawmakers to do when it comes to the 2010 health care law with…
This brief analyzes current experiences of Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 and older with respect to satisfaction and access measures and examines whether privately-insured adults ages 50 to 64 report access or cost problems at higher or lower rates than Medicare beneficiaries 65 and older.
This data note estimates how tax credits premiums will change for people at various ages and incomes under the temporary boost in subsidies included in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the COVID-19 relief plan signed into law in March 2021.
A week after the 2020 elections, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on a legal challenge, supported by the Trump administration, that seeks to overturn the Affordable Care Act, an outcome that would have major effects throughout the health care system as the law’s provisions have affected nearly all Americans in some way. A KFF analysis examines key provisions of the 2010 law that have changed the nation’s health care system, including what’s…
This issue brief raises three key questions for consideration if using Medicaid to wrap around private coverage is going to be considered as an alternative to the ACA's Medicaid expansion under the BCRA. We draw on existing information about state Medicaid premium assistance programs to date, the administrative complexity involved, and the financing implications of premium assistance programs.
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,…
A new KFF policy watch explains some of the hurdles the state of Florida still must clear before it can implement its novel plan to make some prescription drugs more affordable by importing them from Canada. Florida’s plan represents the first time the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted authority for a state to safely import prescription drugs from another country. However, the state must take some additional steps to move forward with the…
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