Public Health

A summary of key provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act that addresses the domestic coronavirus outbreak, including paid sick leave, insurance coverage of coronavirus testing, nutrition assistance, and unemployment benefits.

Governors, presidential candidates, and others have asked for military assistance for domestic coronavirus response, and President Trump has stated he is working with states and the Department of Defense to have the military provide additional resources and assets. This brief answers key questions about potential U.S. military engagement in the domestic response to the coronavirus.

New federal legislation will require most private health plans to cover testing for the coronavirus with no cost sharing. Some states have adopted similar requirements for insurers they regulate, and many private insurance companies will voluntarily expand coverage for testing. However, some private coverage will not be subject to these requirements. To date, fewer changes have been adopted or considered with respect to treatment for complications from the disease. This brief reviews current coverage standards for private health plans and how these may change in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 18, 2020, KFF held a reporters-only web briefing with its key policy and public opinion experts to discuss the nation’s rapidly changing public and policy responses to contain the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic across the country and the world. After the presentation on the public’s views of the…

In the midst of a sweeping national health and economic crisis sparked by the novel coronavirus pandemic, a new KFF coronavirus poll finds two thirds of the public (67%) say they are taking precautions as a result, and large shares worry about its impact on their family’s health and finances.…

This brief describes a range of steps states and the federal government could take to use Medicaid to expand coverage and access to care in the context of responding to COVID-19 as a public health crisis.

Fielded from March 11-15, this KFF Coronavirus poll provides a snapshot of the public’s experience, knowledge and views about the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, during the rapidly unfolding crisis. A majority of Americans say they are taking precautions to protect themselves by the novel coronavirus pandemic but the public worries about the health and economic consequences as the situation evolves in the coming months.

Based on current understanding of risk, forty-one percent of adults ages 18 and older in the U.S. have a higher risk of developing more serious illness if they become infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, because they are older or have serious underlying health conditions, or both, according to…

The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020, which was passed with near unanimous support in both the House and Senate, was signed into law by the President on March 6, 2020. The bill provides $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies to respond to the coronavirus outbreak. This summary provides details on funding specified in the bill.

While donors have begun providing support to China and other low- and middle-income countries, there is currently no other centralized repository for this information. This tracker provides an accounting of publicly available information on donor funding to date.