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.
Medicare is a critical source of health insurance coverage for virtually all older women in the U.S. and for many younger women who have permanent disabilities. Because women have longer life expectancies than men, more than half (57%) of the people covered by the program are women.
Consumer Direction of Personal Assistance Services in Medicaid: A Review of Four State Programs Medicaid consumer direction of personal assistance services (CD-PAS) is a growing trend. Although overall enrollment in these programs is small, 42 states offered consumer direction in Medicaid in 2006.
At a June 3 hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Diane Rowland, Executive Vice President of the Kaiser Family Foundation and Executive Director on the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, testified on the key challenges to providing a larger role for private long-term care insurance in financing long-term care for the…
This issue brief presents the latest findings on key state policy choices about Medicaid HCBS in 2022 based on the 20th KFF survey of state officials administering Medicaid HCBS programs in all 50 states and DC. The data were collected from April through September 2022. The survey was sent to each state official responsible for overseeing the administration of HCBS benefits (e.g., home health, personal care, and services for specific populations such as people with physical disabilities), but some states submitted responses for the state overall.
This data note provides new information about waiting lists in Medicaid home care before many of the provisions in the 2025 reconciliation law go into effect. The data come from KFF's 23rd survey of officials administering Medicaid home care programs in all 50 states and DC.
More than 10,000 residents and staff in long-term care facilities across the U.S. have died from COVID-19 infections, according to a KFF analysis of state data. That number is an undercount since not all states are currently reporting such data.
This analysis examines the impact of COVID-19 on assisted living facilities, including changes in cases and deaths between June and August 2020, using state-reported data on COVID-19. The analysis finds a significant increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths among residents and staff in assisted living facilities over this two-month period. Due to the incomplete nature of state reporting, these numbers are an undercount.
In response to long-standing workforce challenges in home- and community-based services, states have reported increasing Medicaid payment rates, providing more education and training or leveraging other strategies to recruit and retain workers.
Today, KFF Health News and The New York Times published the first phase of an investigation into America’s long-term care crisis, which has left many in the boomer generation facing the prospect of exhausting their financial resources as the price tag for care explodes.
As the start of 2024, many issues are at play that will affect Medicaid coverage, financing, and access. This issue brief provides context for these Medicaid issues and highlights key issues to watch in the year ahead.
© 2026 KFF