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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.
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This Vaccine Monitor survey finds that almost three in ten adults now say that parents should be able to decide not to vaccinate their school-age children for measles and other childhood illness, up since 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic. It also explores uptake of the new bivalent booster, and why many vaccinated adults have not gotten it.
The COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented health and education challenges for children with disabilities, many of whom receive special education services. Many children receiving special education services have substantial health care needs, and services available through a child’s health insurance plan, such as Medicaid, can complement special education services. This brief explains how Medicaid and special education services intersect, explores the pandemic’s implications for children receiving special education services, and identifies key issues to watch moving forward.
Firearms were responsible for 20 percent of all child and teen deaths in the U.S. for both 2020 and 2021, compared to an average of less than 2 percent in similarly large and wealthy nations. This puts the U.S. far ahead of peer nations in child and teen firearm deaths.
While climate change poses health threats for everyone, people of color, low-income people, and other marginalized or high-need groups face disproportionate risks due to underlying inequities and structural racism and discrimination.
At the start of 2025, many issues are at play that will affect Medicaid coverage, financing, and access to care. While Medicaid was not discussed much on the campaign trail, Congress may consider big changes as part of tax and spending debates and the Trump administration may make changes to Medicaid through executive actions. Amid the potential changes, this brief highlights ten key things to know about Medicaid.
The 22nd annual survey of state Medicaid and CHIP programs officials conducted by KFF and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families in May 2024 presents a snapshot of actions states have taken to improve systems, processes, and communications during the unwinding, as well as key state Medicaid eligibility, enrollment, and renewals policies and procedures in place as of May 2024. The report focuses on policies for children, pregnant individuals, parents, and other non-elderly adults whose eligibility is based on Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) financial eligibility rules.
This issue brief explores the landscape of mental health services, including services offered, utilization, barriers, and funding, and how recent federal actions may affect school-based mental health care. The analysis draws upon survey data collected directly from public school administrators.
This analysis examines the health costs associated with pregnancy, childbirth, post-partum care, and infancy. It finds that health costs associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and post-partum care average a total of $20,416, including $2,743 in out-of-pocket expenses, for women enrolled in employer plans.
This brief presents research on the impacts of immigration enforcement on children, including school attendance and performance; provides data on the share and number of school-aged children by state who live in immigrant families based on KFF analysis of the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS); and discusses potential implications of declines in school enrollment and/or attendance among these children on school funding.
In light of worsening mental health among youth, strategies have been implemented to improve access to behavioral health services in recent years, including expanding school-based care for students. Leveraging Medicaid to improve and address gaps in school-based behavioral health services has been a key strategy in recent years as youth mental health concerns have grown. Provisions from the Safer Communities Act of 2022 utilize Medicaid to expand both school-based health care and other mechanisms of youth behavioral health care. This issue brief explores the implementation of these provisions from the Safer Communities Act thus far, with a focus on the guidance issued from CMS.
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