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 Vaccine Monitor survey finds an increase in the share of parents reporting their child has received a COVID-19 vaccine, with 61% of parents of 12-17-year olds and 33% of 5-11-year-olds now saying their child has gotten at least one shot. Three in ten parents of children under the age of 5, a group that has not yet been approved to get a vaccine, say they’ll get their child vaccinated right away.
Four in Ten Parents Say Someone in Their Household Left a Job or Worked Fewer Hours to Care for Their Children, Including Higher Shares of Black, Hispanic, and Lower-income Parents As a result of the pandemic, about four in ten (39%) parents of school-aged children (ages 5-17) say at least one of their children fell behind academically, rising to half among parents with household incomes below $40,000 (51%) and Hispanic parents (50%), a new KFF…
A new KFF issue brief lays out key factors for the successful rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations for younger children, ages 5 to 11. This week, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) advisory committee will meet to vote on a request to authorize the Pfizer vaccine for younger children. A final FDA decision, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention actions, will follow as soon as the first week in November. As the Biden administration plans…
In this Axios column, Drew Altman examines the data about what parents say they will do once their children ages 5-11 become eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, and why it will take some time and a concerted outreach effort to match adult vaccination rates.
This brief examines characteristics of uninsured children in 2020 and discusses how current policy proposals, including outreach efforts, continuous eligibility requirements, and closing the coverage gap, could affect children’s health coverage. Recent efforts to expand coverage for adults could benefit children’s coverage, especially for children in non-expansion states if the coverage gap is filled as proposed by the Build Back Better Act (BBBA).
Nearly half (48%) of parents of vaccine-eligible children ages 12-17 now say their child has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, a new KFF Vaccine Monitor report shows. Another 15% of those parents now say they want to “wait and see” how the vaccine works for others before their adolescent gets it, while 4% say they would get vaccinated “only if required” for school or other activities. About one in five (21%)…
A new KFF analysis examines key characteristics of children with special health care needs, the affordability and adequacy of their health coverage, and the implications for such children of potential new federal Medicaid money to assist families in caring for them. Medicaid is a significant source of coverage for medical, behavioral health, and long-term services and supports for children with special health care needs, including home and community-based services (HCBS) that they need to live…
To better understand the extent to which states have adopted policies consistent with CDC guidance, we examined state policies for all 50 states and DC focused on COVID-19 prevention strategies in K-12 public schools for the 2021-2022 school year.
This report finds that monthly SCHIP enrollment reached a record high of more than 4 million in June 2005, reversing the decline seen in the previous 12 month period. SCHIP enrollment rose in all but nine states, including large increase in California, Georgia, and Illinois. Report (.pdf)
This brief examines a new option under the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 that allows states to receive federal funds for providing Medicaid and CHIP coverage to lawfully residing immigrant children and pregnant women regardless of when they entered the country. Previously, states had been prohibited from using federal Medicaid or CHIP funds to cover legal immigrants who had been in the country fewer than five years. The brief, the fifth installment…
© 2026 KFF
