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 issue brief explains why it can be misleading to compare the first year of Rural Health Transformation Program allocations with estimated Medicaid cuts, which will be implemented on a gradual basis and not fully take effect until 2027, after the rural health fund is exhausted.
This brief explains the limitations of early data in understanding the impact of the expiration of enhanced premiums tax credit on ACA enrollment. It also provides a timeline of when more complete data will become available.
Data currently being released represent Open Enrollment Marketplace plan selections, or how many people have signed up for or been automatically renewed into 2026 coverage. These data do not necessarily translate to effectuated enrollments. That is because people who have selected a plan or been automatically renewed may not ultimately choose to pay for their plan, thus “effectuating” their coverage.
Heading into this midterm election year, the cost of health care tops the public’s economic anxieties and more than 4 in 10 voters say the issue will have a major impact on their vote, this KFF Health Tracking poll finds.
Looking ahead to the midterm elections, health care costs are the public’s top economic concern, and many voters say the issue will have a major impact on their vote. On health care issues, including the cost of health care, voters currently trust Democrats more than Republicans, though neither party has an advantage on addressing the overall cost of living. Following the expiration of the ACA enhanced tax credits, two-thirds of the public say Congress did the “wrong thing” by not extending them.
Take this ten-question quiz to see how much you know about how the ACA affects health insurance coverage and costs as well as who is eligible for financial assistance
President Trump announced a health care framework that leaves open key questions, including those about out-of-pocket costs, premiums, federal spending, and health coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.
This Health System Tracker analysis examines the tradeoffs ACA Marketplace enrollees must consider as they decide whether to keep their current plan or switch to a new one, following the expiration of the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits at the end of 2025.
After failed Senate votes late last year and no subsequent bipartisan agreement, the enhanced premium tax credits expired as of January 1. Some states, particularly those operating State-Based Marketplaces (SBMs), have been preparing for this possibility for months and are moving to blunt the impact on consumers by implementing their own state-funded subsidies and implementing other programs aimed at stabilizing the cost of unsubsidized premiums.
In his latest JAMA Forum column, KFF’s Larry Levitt explores how unaffordable health care is in the U.S. in the context of the debate over extending enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits and an upcoming election where affordability will likely be front and center.
© 2026 KFF