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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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This policy watch discusses the implications for the U.S. health care workforce of the recent DOS immigrant visa pause for individuals from 75 countries deemed more likely to be a public charge.
With the FDA authorization of both Moderna and Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for children between the ages of 6 months and 5, the last major phase of the U.S. vaccination roll-out is underway. This brief provides an overview of the characteristics of children under the age of 5 and discusses some issues to consider in rolling out vaccination to this age group.
Based on a survey of primary care clinicians in early 2015, this Visualizing Health Policy infographic examines the experiences and attitudes of primary care practitioners (PCPs) after the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) major coverage provisions took effect in January 2014. Although most report no change in their ability to provide quality care, their opinions about the health care law are sharply divided along political party lines. Generally, primary care physicians have a more negative view…
This brief examines the supply of OB-GYNs in the U.S. and the share of OB-GYNs participating in the provider networks of Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) offered in the individual market in the federal and state Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces in 2021.
This issue brief analyzes the role that immigrants play in the hospital workforce, overall and by occupation and state. Immigrants account for about one in six hospital workers, including among clinical and nonclinical workers.
The new health reform law poses questions about how the increase in the insured population will affect the demand on the health care workforce. Will it increase the shortage among primary care physicians? What about specialists? How much of the workforce shortage can be alleviated by payment incentives in the new law for both primary care and general surgery, and other new incentives to practice in underserved areas? Are there enough effective efforts in place…
As policymakers and regulators pay more attention to consolidation in health care provider markets, this brief examines and summarizes the evidence about consolidation, including recent trends, the impact on prices and quality, and proposals to address consolidation and increase competition.
More than half of U.S. health spending went toward hospital and physician services in 2018. Learn more about the breakdown of the nation's health spending in the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker.
Prescription Drugs: Advertising, Out-of-Pocket Costs, and Patient Safety from the Perspective of Doctors and Pharmacists This document highlights additional findings from separate surveys of pharmacists and physicians related to their views and experiences on a wide range of health care issues. Issue Brief (.pdf)
What does AI mean for patients in bed and doctors at the bedside? Host Chip Kahn and guest Dr. Robert Wachter, Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, discuss whether AI will produce a different kind of doctor in the future — a “clinician curator rather than a clinician-diagnostician.” The answer could define the future of medicine and the doctor-patient relationship.
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