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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.

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  • State Recommendations for Routine Childhood Vaccines: Increasing Departure from Federal Guidelines

    Policy Watch

    Starting in May of last year, HHS Secretary Kennedy and the CDC/ACIP began to make changes to the federal vaccine schedule for children, culminating in an announcement on January 5 of this year with the most wide-ranging changes to date. This policy brief tracks the number of states that have announced they are no longer following federal government recommendations for childhood vaccines as of January 20, 2026.

  • Poll Examines the Impact of Coronavirus on Life in America

    Policy Watch

    With coronavirus cases rising and businesses shutting down, four in 10 (39%) U.S. residents say they already have lost a job or income due to the crisis, the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll finds. This includes most part-time workers (54%), as well as nearly half of parents with children under age 18 (47%) and those paid hourly or by the job (45%). A large majority (82%) also report that they are sheltering-in-place and not leaving…

  • Kindergarten Routine Vaccination Rates Continue to Decline

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief provides an update on the latest trends in kindergarten children's routine vaccination and exemption rates. Over three-quarters (39) of states had measles, mumps, rubella (MMR)vaccination rates below the “target” rate of 95% for the 2024-2025 school year.

  • CDC Vaccine Panel Ends Universal Hepatitis B Recommendation and Reviews Aluminum in Vaccines, Plus Public Awareness of Mifepristone Safety — The Monitor

    Feature

    This volume shares updates from the most recent CDC advisory panel meeting, changes to the CDC webpage on autism and vaccines, and polling on trust in news organizations. Additionally, it shares recent developments in AI and social media policy and new KFF poll findings about perceptions of mifepristone’s safety and prevalence.

  • Where Americans Saw Information About Tax and Budget Legislation on Social Media, and False Measles Narratives Target Immigrants — The Monitor

    Feature

    This volume shares findings from KFF’s latest poll on how the public encountered information about the recently passed tax and budget legislation; misleading narratives blaming undocumented immigrants for the current measles outbreak; misrepresentations of vaccine safety systems; claims that climate change isn’t real following deadly Texas flooding; and confusion around statins for preventing heart disease.

  • New KFF-Washington Post Survey Explores Parents’ Trust In, and Confusion About, Childhood Vaccines as the Trump Administration Revamps Federal Policies

    News Release

    A new KFF-Washington Post partnership survey of parents explores their experiences with and views about vaccines for their children, including a look into how they make decisions related to vaccines and where they are uncertain or confused about their safety. The poll comes as the Trump administration’s Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continues to question the childhood vaccine schedule and to raise doubts about vaccine safety and effectiveness. Based on interviews…

  • 10 Things to Know About the Unwinding of the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Provision

    Issue Brief

    Medicaid enrollment increased since the start of the pandemic, primarily due to the continuous enrollment provision.KFF estimates that between 8 million and 24 million people will lose Medicaid coverage during the unwinding of the continuous enrollment provision.The Medicaid continuous enrollment provision stopped “churn” among Medicaid enrollees.States approaches to unwinding the continuous enrollment provision vary.Maximizing streamlined renewal processes can promote continuity of coverage as states unwind the continuous enrollment provision.States have obtained temporary waivers to pursue…