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.
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 policy brief examines health coverage for low-income parents after the 1996 welfare law broke the historical connection between Medicaid coverage and welfare. Many states have altered their rules and some have expanded coverage for low-income working parents. Policy Brief
Thirty-five percent of all California Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in a M+C plan, far in excess of the 14 percent rate nationwide. This report seeks to identify what lessons for the nation can be drawn from the California M+C experience, as Congress debates the implications of major withdrawals from the M+C program and potential policy changes aimed at reversing this trend. The report is based largely on analysis of M+C data on plan participation, withdrawals,…
This report analyzes data from a survey of 42 low-income families with children with moderate or severe disabilities to better understand the impact of welfare reform on health coverage for these families. Report
State Reforms of Small Group Health Insurance Between 1989 and 1995, 45 states enacted laws to make health insurance more accessible and attractive to small businesses. The small group market was targeted for reform because about half of all uninsured workers are either self-employed or working in firms with fewer than 25 employees (EBRI, 1996). The problem is that only about half of all small firms offer health insurance (Figure 1). In 1995, 53% of…
These resources were prepared for a briefing held for journalists in New York City on November 4, 1997 in New York City as part of a joint program by The Alan Guttmacher Institute, The Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Press Foundation. This program focused on mergers, acquisitions, consolidations, joint ventures, and other affiliations between Catholic and non-Catholic hospitals and health systems and the effect these affiliations have on access to reproductive health services.
This report analyzes recently enacted laws in Texas and Missouri that expand consumers' ability to sue their HMOs or other managed care plans for inappropriately denied care or similar problems. Report Report
This report presents the results of eight focus groups conducted in several languages throughout California to explore the knowledge and opinions of parents of potentially eligible children about the Medi-Cal program, California's Medicaid program. The study found that participants were confused about eligibility requirements, found the enrollment process onerous and demeaning, and had suggestions about how they could be better educated about the program. Policy Brief: Medi-Cal Eligibility And Enrollment (.pdf) Report: Barriers to…
An 8-page policy brief on the external review of health plan decisions to inform the policy debate in California and nationally. The policy brief covers external review systems in other states and the Medicare program, the current status of external review in California, and issues regarding the design and implementation of external review. Policy Brief: External Review of Health Plan Decisions Policy Brief: External Review of Health Plan Decisions
Health Care Reform: The Long Term Care Factor Note: This publication is no longer in circulation. However, a copy may still exist in the Foundation's internal library that could be reproduced. Please email order@kff.org if you would like to pursue this option.
Native Americans and Medicaid:Coverage and Financing Issues Medicaid and Welfare Until 1996, families with children who received cash assistance under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program were automatically entitled to Medicaid coverage. The welfare law enacted that year, Public Law 104-193, repealed the AFDC program and created a Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant to the states. The 1996 welfare law also severed the automatic eligibility linkage between welfare and…
© 2026 KFF