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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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State Health Facts is a KFF project that provides free, up-to-date, and easy-to-use health data for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the United States. It offers data on specific types of health insurance coverage, including employer-sponsored, Medicaid, Medicare, as well as people who are uninsured by demographic characteristics, including age, race/ethnicity, work status, gender, and income. There are also data on health insurance status for a state's population overall and broken down by age, gender, and income.
This fact sheet, recently updated with 2002 data, describes how long the uninsured remain without coverage, who tends to go without insurance for long spells of time, and what difference time without coverage makes in terms of access to and utilization of care. Fact Sheet (.pdf) Link to Policy Brief: Is Lack of Coverage a Short- or Long-Term Condition?
This paper produces alternative estimates of the numbers of uninsured and explores the distribution of the duration of uninsured spells for people who lacked coverage at some time during a 12-month period. Policy Brief Link to fact sheet, Lack of Coverage: A Long-Term Problem for Most Uninsured
Getting Behind the Numbers on Access to Care Project Randomly-Selected Verbatim Responses Harvard School of Public Health, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago October 1996 Methodology Note: Survey respondents who reported that they were uninsured and/or had problems getting needed medical care or paying medical bills in the past year were asked the following question during their interview: I would like you to tell me in your…
The Kaiser Commission co-sponsored a policy briefing on America's uninsured population and potential models for coverage expansion. Expanding public programs and providing tax credits are both being discussed as ways to cover some of the 42 million uninsured Americans. A link to the webcast and related resources is provided. Webcast of Policy Briefing
This paper discusses the impacts of the Heritage Foundation proposal for expanding health insurance coverage. Under the proposed tax reform, the employer tax exclusion and all other deductions for health-related expenses would be repealed. A new refundable tax credit would be created for unreimbursed medical expenses. This paper is part of the Kaiser Incremental Health Reform Project. Issue Paper
The Uninsured and Their Access to Health Care Drawing on data from the updated Uninsured in America: A Chart Book (May 2000), this fact sheet outlines the problem of the uninsured in America, providing data on the growing number of uninsured Americans and a profile of the uninsured population. It also explores causes of uninsurance and synthesizes studies on the effects of going without health coverage. Fact Sheet
The Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health National Survey on Health Care and the 2000 Elections is a survey of Americans' views on health related issues in the upcoming 2000 elections. Among leading findings, voters cited education and health as top issues on their minds for the upcoming 2000 elections. The survey was conducted by telephone between December 3-13, 1999. The survey included a national random sample of 1,515 adults, including 1,257 registered voters.…
This report reviews how states have responded to the $500 million federal fund that was created by the federal welfare reform legislation in 1996 to help states maintain Medicaid coverage for individuals affected by welfare reform. State Medicaid officials were asked whether they have drawn down federal funds from the $500 million fund; to describe the factors that influenced their decision; and what activities they are supporting with the additional federal monies. The paper describes…
A new report details how the practice of express lane eligibility, or utilizing information from other public benefit programs, can quicken the enrollment of low-income children into the Medicaid and CHIP programs. REPORT Download
This report presents findings from a study of large private-sector employers conducted by researchers at Hewitt Associates and the Kaiser Family Foundation between July and September of 2002. The study is based on survey responses of 435 large private-sector firms (1,000+ employees) that currently offer retiree health benefits, and includes 36% of all Fortune 100 companies and 28% of all Fortune 500 companies. Information was collected on a variety of topics including costs, premiums, retiree…
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