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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  • Vaccine Monitor: What We’ve Learned

    News Release

    With nearly all states poised to allow anyone at least 16 years old to get a COVID-19 vaccine, this week’s announcement pausing the distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to investigate a rare side effect is raising questions about whether and how it will affect the public’s eagerness to get vaccinated. A new report summarizes key insights about vaccine confidence, messages and messengers from the KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor project, which has interviewed more…

  • KFF’s Kaiser Health News and “This American Life” Team Up for a Chilling Account of the Threats and Menace Upending the Lives of Local Health Officials

    News Release

    In the course of the pandemic, health officers have become the face of local government authority. And, in turn, many have become targets for the rage and resentment of some of the same loose-knit militia and white nationalist groups that stormed the U.S. Capitol in January, smashing windows, bloodying officers and savagely chanting “Hang Mike Pence.” Kaiser Health News joined forces with the iconic public radio team at This American Life to chronicle this disturbing trend through the…

  • Attitudes Towards COVID-19 Vaccination Among Black Women And Men

    Poll Finding

    This analysis examines Black adults’ attitudes, concerns, and intentions regarding a COVID-19 vaccine. While Black men and women are similar in many of their views, there is a gender gap in some COVID-19 vaccine attitudes and intentions.

  • States Set Different COVID-19 Vaccination Priorities for People with High-Risk Conditions

    News Release

    People with medical conditions that put them at higher risk of developing serious COVID-19 illness are next in line to get vaccinated in many states, though states are making very different choices about how to prioritize those within this large group, finds a KFF analysis of state policies. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there are 81 million adults nationwide with conditions that it identifies as posing an increased risk…

  • KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: July 2021

    Poll Finding

    This Vaccine Monitor report finds little change since June in the share of adults who either received a COVID-19 vaccine or say they will as soon as they can. A quarter of unvaccinated adults say they likely will get a shot by the end of the year. Unvaccinated adults are much less worried than vaccinated ones about the Delta variant.

  • The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on LGBT+ People’s Mental Health

    Issue Brief

    The COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted the lives of people across the globe, has negatively impacted LGBT+ people’s mental health in disproportionate ways. In this data note, we pull together data from nationally representative surveys, adding to a small but growing evidence base on the impact of the pandemic on LGBT+ people.

  • KFF’s Kaiser Health News and Gray Television Partner to Examine the Drive Times and Roadblocks for Stroke Victims in Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta

    News Release

    KHN and Gray Television’s InvestigateTV team joined forces to dig into the underlying reasons why strokes are a deadlier threat across most counties in Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, rural regions that are characterized by high rates of poverty, vulnerable elderly populations, a shortage of medical providers and an epidemic of local hospital closures. They found that large shares of the regions’ residents live more than 45 minutes from a hospital that is stroke-certified and…

  • The FDA’s Retraction of a Positive Test in the Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Raises Questions About Corrections and Trust

    Quick Insights

    The skepticism surrounding the FDA’s retraction of a positive test tying Taylor Farms lettuce to the cyclosporiasis outbreak comes at a time of broader public distrust in the agency. KFF’s April 2026 Health Tracking Poll found that just over a third (36%) of adults are confident in the FDA to act independently without interference from outside interests, including similarly low shares across partisans.