Public Health


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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  • Poll: Most Americans are Concerned That There Will Be a Major Coronavirus Outbreak in the U.S. and It Will Hurt the Economy 

    News Release

    Most Americans say they are concerned that there will be a major outbreak of the coronavirus in the U.S. (55%) and that it will negatively affect the U.S. economy (57%), the latest KFF tracking poll finds. A substantial share (43%) also say they are concerned that they or a family member will contract the virus. Fielded prior to Monday’s steep U.S. stock market declines, the poll finds most Americans (83%) have read or heard at…

  • Monkeypox Vaccine Roll-out in the U.S. – Are Jurisdictions Requesting All Their Doses?

    Policy Watch

    This analysis examines monkeypox vaccine allocations and jurisdictional requests. It explores jurisdictional request rate (the number of vaccine does requested as a share of the jurisdiction’s allocation from HHS) for JYNNEOS, the preferred vaccine. Overall, while most jurisdictions have requested at least their full supply, some are well below that mark, raising questions about how quickly their at-risk populations can get protected.

  • Brief Examines What’s Known About Children and Coronavirus Transmission as Schools Prepare for Fall

    News Release

    With schools nationwide preparing for fall and the federal government encouraging in-person classes, key concerns for school officials, teachers and parents include the risks that coronavirus poses to children and their role in transmission of the disease. A new KFF brief examines the latest available data and evidence about the issues around COVID-19 and children and what they suggest about the risks posed for reopening classrooms. The review concludes that while children are much less likely…

  • Key Questions About the Impact of Coronavirus on Long-Term Care Facilities Over Time

    Issue Brief

    This analysis provides insight into trends related to cases and deaths in long-term care facilities due to COVID-19. This piece provides state-level data on cumulative cases and deaths in long-term care facilities over time, trends of new LTC cases and deaths per week, and comparisons to national trends in cases and deaths.

  • Distributing a COVID-19 Vaccine Across the U.S. – A Look at Key Issues

    News Release

    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 new issue brief lays out some of the key challenges with such a massive vaccination effort, which could require hundreds of millions of vaccine doses…

  • Where are the COVID-19 Hotspots? Tracking State Outbreaks

    Issue Brief

    This brief analyzes multiple COVID-19 metrics to determine which states the pandemic is moving in the wrong, or right, direction as an increasing number of cases could be the result of more testing or the result of increasing transmission, or a combination of both.

  • The Secret to a Safe Reopening

    Policy Watch

    As countries around the world begin to reopen, those that waited for the right time to ease lockdown restrictions seem to be in better shape than those who reopened despite higher levels of coronavrius transmission and lower public health capacity. In an article for Foreign Affairs, KFF's Jen Kates and Josh Michaud discuss different countries' approaches to reopening after months of lockdown to mitigate the spread of coronavirus."Countries that proceeded cautiously, maintaining lockdowns until their…

  • Web Briefing: Racism and Discrimination in Health Care – Experiences Today and Actions to Address Going Forward

    Event Date:
    Event

    Approaching the end of 2020, two of the most pressing concerns facing the country are the long-standing issue of racial discrimination and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The issues have merged with the pandemic taking a disproportionate health and economic toll on people of color. As vaccines become available, prioritizing racial equity will become increasingly important for mitigating these disparities and preventing further widening of the going forward, especially as early polling indicates that people of…

  • Americans May Be Smarter About Vaccines Than You Think

    From Drew Altman

    In a new column that analyzes recent KFF polling, Founding President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman concludes that only a sliver of the public hold definitive anti-science, anti-vaccine views, and are greatly outnumbered by the people who believe established science, with even more Americans stuck in a “muddled middle.” He writes, “when you see reports of social media engagement spiking about a health myth, don’t overreact. It’s more likely than not that it's a relatively…