The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
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.
This October 2007 survey conducted jointly by NPR, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health examines the public’s views and opinions of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and the pending legislation surrounding its reauthorization.
A new policy brief provides a description of the Section 1115 law, its history, and an overview of how it plays a role in the restructuring of Medicaid and SCHIP.
A new report reveals that CHIP provided coverage for 2.7 million low-income children in December 2000, a 48% increase from December 1999. The report also shows that enrollment in CHIP has consistently increased by roughly 900,000 children per year in its first three years of operation.
New Data Source on Hospital Use by California's Medi-Cal Enrollees A project sponsored by The Kaiser Family Foundation has resulted in a new source of data that will enhance research on the Medi-Cal program, including the impact of Medi-Cal managed care.
The first fact sheet in a series on topics related to children, media and health focuses on video games -- pulling together the key facts on the amount of time young people spend using video games, how use varies by age, gender and ethnicity, and the best research on the impact of video games on…
The report examines state Medicaid program policies regarding coverage of pregnancy-related services. It details state-level Medicaid eligibility and enrollment policies for pregnant women, as well as scope of coverage for prenatal and screening services, delivery and post-partum care, educational classes and support services.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that Medicaid cover children with incomes up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) ($31,322 for a family of four in 2013) as of January 2014. Today, there are “stairstep” eligibility rules for children. States must cover children under the age of six in families with income of at least 133 percent of the FPL in Medicaid while older children and teens with incomes above 100 percent of the FPL may be covered in separate state Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) or Medicaid at state option. While many states already cover children in Medicaid with income up to 133 percent FPL, due to the change in law, 21 states needed to transition some children from CHIP to Medicaid. This brief examines how the transition of children from CHIP to Medicaid will affect children and families as well as states. The brief also looks to New York and Colorado for lessons learned from the early transition of coverage.
Exposure to lead can seriously harm a child’s health, including damage to the brain and nervous system, slowed growth and development, learning and behavior problems, and hearing and speech problems. The effects of lead on the nervous system can cause lower IQ, decreased ability to pay attention, and under performance in school.
While climate change effects ripple across the world and all populations, it is poised to disproportionately affect people of color, low-income communities, immigrants, and other high-need groups.
Of the 19 million U.S. children under 5, half are children of color, making this group more diverse than the U.S. population overall. There is also significant variation across the country.
© 2026 KFF