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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.
Poll Finds 9% Say a Family Member or Close Friend Died of an Overdose; 27% Say Either They or Someone Close to Them Has Been Addicted On the ACA This Month, 45 Percent View the Law Unfavorably and 38 Percent View It Favorably With prescription painkiller abuse garnering more attention from the media and policymakers,…
A new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds government agencies so far report spending approximately $1.9 billion in funding to respond to the Ebola outbreak internationally. The majority of this spending was by USAID (49%), followed by the Department of Defense (33%), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (18%). The U.S. government enacted $5.
As the problem of prescription painkiller abuse has captured greater attention from policymakers and the media, the November Kaiser Health Tracking Poll explores the public’s connection to and knowledge of the issue, as well as their views of how to address it. A surprising 56 percent of the public say they have some personal connection to the issue – either because they say they know someone who has taken a prescription painkiller that wasn’t prescribed to them, know someone who has been addicted, or know someone who has died from a prescription painkiller overdose. While views of the health care law have been narrowly divided for much of the year, this month more say they have an unfavorable view of the law than a favorable one. The poll also includes views of the uninsured during the third open enrollment period under the health care law.
As the White House and Congress continue to debate new funding and other actions to address the nation’s opioid epidemic, the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that most Americans believe the federal government is not doing enough to combat the recent increases in the number of people who are addicted to prescription painkillers (66%)…
The health policy stories included in this month’s Kaiser Health Policy News Index were followed closely by about 4 in 10 Americans. Of the stories asked about this month, the one that garnered the most attention was coverage of the white police officer charged with the murder of an unarmed black man in South Carolina. Over half report closely following other stories, including the Germanwings plane crash in the French Alps, a new religious freedom law in Indiana that allows business owners to refuse service to gay customers, negotiations over Iran’s Nuclear Program, and a terrorist attack by Islamic militants at a university in Kenya. The only non-health story to receive less attention than the health stories this month was coverage of the Congressional Republican budget proposals, followed closely by just over a third of the public.
The public paid more attention to news coverage of the measles outbreak in the U.S. and the resulting debate on whether vaccinations should be required for all kids than any other news story included in this month's Kaiser Health Policy News Index. Nearly half correctly identified that the number of confirmed measles cases in the U.S. since the outbreak began late last year is closer to 100, and most say they are not too or not at all worried about the measles outbreak.
As the 113th Congress is sworn in, and President Barack Obama begins his second term of office, a comprehensive new Kaiser Family Foundation/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health survey queried the public about their priorities for, and views on, a wide range of health and health policy issues.
Starting in May of last year, HHS Secretary Kennedy and the CDC/ACIP began to make changes to the federal vaccine schedule for children, culminating in an announcement on January 5 of this year with the most wide-ranging changes to date. This policy brief tracks the number of states that have announced they are no longer following federal government recommendations for childhood vaccines as of January 20, 2026.
With recent federal actions to curtail vaccine access, many states have announced actions intended to maintain broader access. This issue brief provides a snapshot of this rapidly changing landscape, tracking which states have instituted changes in response to or in anticipation of administration policy changes.
03/05/10 Engaging consumers more directly in their care may improve health outcomes and help control the costs of care. This briefing, cosponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and the AARP Public Policy Institute, focused on the potential for changing consumer behavior to promote the use of effective interventions and discourage unnecessary care.
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