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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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More states are providing fully state-funded health coverage to some individuals regardless of immigration status. An updated KFF analysis shows that as of March 2024, 12 states and Washington D.C. provide fully state-funded coverage for income-eligible children regardless of immigration status.
This Health Policy 101 chapter explores the performance of the U.S. health system on a number of cost, outcomes, and quality measures by comparing it with those in similarly large and wealthy OECD nations. It highlights that despite significant spending, Americans have shorter life expectancies and encounter more barriers to health care, influenced by both the health system's structure and broader socioeconomic factors.
This Health Policy 101 chapter explores the complex landscape of private health insurance regulation in the United States, detailing the interplay between state and federal regulations that shape access, affordability, and the adequacy of private health coverage. It focuses on key laws such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Employer Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and discusses how regulations impact the private insurance market, illustrating the challenges consumers face in navigating this system.
With federal regulators seeking public input on the potential benefits, costs, and implementation considerations of requiring private health insurance plans to cover over-the-counter preventive products without a prescription, a new KFF post explores the issues relevant to covering over-the-counter contraceptives.
This analysis provides an overview of American Indian and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander people and their health coverage as well as the implications for their access to health care.
The 23rd annual survey of state Medicaid directors finds that states expect national Medicaid enrollment will decline by 8.6% in state fiscal year (FY) 2024 as state Medicaid agencies continue to unwind pandemic-related continuous enrollment protections. After reaching record high enrollment, these estimates reflect a dramatic year-over-year decline in program enrollment from that high.
This issue brief analyzes Medicaid enrollment and spending trends for FY 2023 and FY 2024, based on data provided by state Medicaid directors as part of the 23rd annual survey of Medicaid directors in states and the District of Columbia.
In this data note, based on KFF’s 2023 Employer Health Benefit Survey, we assess the current status of domestic partner health insurance benefit offerings for same-sex spouses.
Six months into the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous enrollment provision, KFF tracking shows states are reporting outcomes for over 28 million renewals, accounting for three in ten people who were enrolled as of March 2023 when continuous enrollment ended. This policy watch examines the latest data and key questions as the unwinding continues to unfold.
Amid rising inflation, annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance climbed 7% on average this year to reach $23,968, a sharp departure from virtually no growth in premiums last year, the 2023 benchmark KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey finds.
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