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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 the nation continues to struggle to contain the spread of coronavirus, there is considerable debate about when and how to reopen schools. This analysis finds that one in four teachers (24%, or about 1.47 million people), have a condition that puts them at higher risk of serious illness from coronavirus.
As local, state and federal official debate when and how to reopen schools across the nation, a new KFF analysis estimates nearly 1.5 million teachers have health conditions that put them at higher risk of serious illness if they were to contract COVID-19. This represents nearly one in four (24%) of all teachers around the country, creating challenges for schools trying to provide in-person classroom education safely for students and teachers alike. While children are…
KFF hosted CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky for a discussion focused on the status of COVID-19, the CDC’s priorities for the future, including the agency’s recent reorganization and other potential reforms, and how CDC is considering the health implications of climate change. Dr. Drew Altman, president and CEO of KFF, made introductory remarks. Dr. Jen Kates, senior vice president and director of KFF’s work on global health and HIV policy, moderated a discussion with Dr. Rochelle Walensky and Dr.…
This blog looks at states that have moved to ease social distancing requirements, examining approaches taken as well as metrics for helping to assess readiness for reopening.
This month's tracking poll examines public attitudes toward and experiences with institutional racism and police violence, whether they have participated in recent protests, and perceptions related to health disparities, specifically with regard to coronavirus.
Drew Altman compares residents' views of hurricane-recovery efforts based on five surveys of residents affected by Hurricanes Maria, Harvey and Katrina.
State Medicaid and public health agencies both work to advance the health of their communities, often pursuing similar priorities and serving similar populations. This brief examines findings from KFF's 25th annual Medicaid budget survey, which asked state Medicaid directors about new or enhanced initiatives involving public health in FY 2025 or planned for FY 2026.
The outbreak is also a kind of test case for how well the U.S. is positioned to respond to global disease threats under the Trump administration. Since early last year, the administration has pulled back U.S. engagement on global health, which has included completing a withdrawal from membership in the World Health Organization (WHO)...
This fact sheet presents demographic, economic, and health indicators of the U.S. Virgin Islands and briefly discusses some of the territory's short and long-term challenges facing the territory after Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck the island in September 2017.
Ebola virus has a unique set of characteristics that determine how and why its spreads, and how deadly it can be. To better understand Ebola, a new Kaiser Family Foundation infographic compares it to twelve other infectious diseases that continue to represent public health challenges today and offers five key takeaways about the disease. Other Kaiser Family Foundation resources on the Ebola outbreak and the U.S. response are available online.
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