Public Health

When a COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, all or most people living in the country will need to get vaccinated in order to maximize its benefits and provide adequate immunity nationwide. That could present a daunting challenge for state and local health officials, as a new KFF analysis shows vaccination rates…

This analysis of flu vaccination rates across states and across groups within each state highlights some of the challenges facing public health officials in ensuring most people receive a COVID-19 vaccine when one becomes available.

Government officials hope to identify one or more safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines over the next few months as part of a multi-agency effort known as Operation Warp Speed. If and when they succeed, their focus will shift to making sure people across the country can access the vaccine. A…

As COVID-19 cases rise across much of the country, most Americans think that the president is intervening with the public health agencies working to address the pandemic, the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll finds. Similar majorities say both that President Trump is intervening with the Food and Drug Administration’s efforts to review…

This brief examines key policy challenges and issues related to distributing a COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S., including funding, supply and logistics, federal, state, and local authorities, insurance coverage, addressing racial and ethnic disparities, and communication and trust.

As the coronavirus pandemic enters its eighth month, we are still facing uncertainty about what the long-term impact of the crisis will be for the health sector, and for patients. However, the extent to which costs grow, and how the burden is distributed across payers, programs, individuals, outcomes, and geography…

The poll examines the public’s views on the Supreme Court case to overturn the Affordable Care Act and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Less than a month from the results of the 2020 presidential election, this poll examines the top issues for voters (the economy, the coronavirus pandemic, health care, criminal justice and policing, among others) as well as which candidate, Biden or Trump, they think has the better approach to handle key health care policy areas.

As the Senate considers Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court, the October KFF Health Tracking Poll finds a large majority (79%) of the public do not want the Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions, up 17 percentage points since…

A new KFF issue brief compares the main drivers of health spending in the United States and other large, wealthy countries, and finds that the cost of inpatient and outpatient care – much more so than prescription drugs or administrative costs – drives high per capita health spending in the U.S.…