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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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Health Policy 101 is a comprehensive guide covering fundamental aspects of U.S. health policy and programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, employer-sponsored insurance, the uninsured population, health care costs and affordability, women's health issues, and health care politics. The Public Health chapter examines how public health is governed and delivered in the United States. It includes explanations of key public health frameworks, services, capabilities and characteristics, how the public health system works in state, local and territorial governments, and public health funding, workforce, and communication challenges in an era of declining trust.
As federal vaccine policy changes, this poll finds that most adults do not expect to get a COVID-19 vaccine this fall , and many parents are confused and uncertain about whether the vaccine is recommended for healthy children this year. About one in five adults nationally say the changes to vaccine policy are making people safer, while more than a third say they are making people less safe.
This policy watch post examines the United States’ measles elimination status, including what it means to eliminate measles, whether the current measles outbreak could threaten the country’s measles elimination status, and what losing that status might mean for measles control.
This brief describes four key federal vaccine advisory committees and discusses policy issues and questions they currently face. The four committees are the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); and the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines (ACCV) at HHS.
In this Monitor, we explore how ongoing misinformation about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines may affect the acceptance of new vaccine recommendations. First, we examine the false and misleading claims underlying the Kansas Attorney General’s lawsuit against Pfizer. We also discuss the CDC’s most recent vaccine.
A new KFF analysis finds that firearms are involved in the majority of all homicides and suicides in the U.S., playing a role in 79% of homicides and 55% of suicide deaths in 2022, the most recent data available.
Firearm deaths increased sharply over the past decade, rising from 92 deaths per day to 132 deaths per day from 2012 to 2022. Firearms are the leading cause of total suicides and homicides, making up 55% of all suicide deaths and 79% of all homicides in 2022.
This edition focuses on intentionally false or misleading information online and its potential impact on public trust in health care. We share a recent report that exposed a covert U.S. military social media disinformation campaign in the Philippines that may have undermined public confidence in vaccines. We also examine how false claims about sunscreen and non-FDA-approved "miracle cures" may be discouraging people from taking important preventative measures and seeking legitimate medical treatment. Finally, we explore the rise of counterfeit diabetes and weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and the potential impact on trust in the pharmaceutical supply chain.
This first edition of the Health Misinformation Monitor explores misinformation about raw milk amid bird flu outbreaks on dairy farms, false vaccine narratives that continue to spread, and legal challenges against abortion pill reversal claims. Additionally, a growing number of states have required public schools to show fetal development videos that some have called biased and inaccurate. This Monitor report also provides a snapshot of new KFF misinformation polling on TikTok and discusses the early challenges faced by The World Health Organization’s new AI tool SARAH in providing accurate answers to health questions.
This policy brief highlights areas in which HHS, FDA, and CDC have authority to shape U.S. vaccine policy with a specific focus on vaccine approvals and recommendations for the public. Ultimately, while there are limits, federal officials have significant authority to influence and alter vaccine policy, which could affect vaccine availability, views about vaccines, and vaccine use in the U.S. However, this does not include imposing mandates on or changing local vaccination requirements, as those authorities rest with state and local governments.
In this Axios column, Drew Altman examines the data about what parents say they will do once their children ages 5-11 become eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, and why it will take some time and a concerted outreach effort to match adult vaccination rates.
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