The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
KFF’s policy research provides facts and analysis on a wide range of policy issues and public programs.
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.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the organization’s core operating programs.
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.
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.
KFF is pleased to announce that Kaiser Health News (KHN), its editorially independent health news service, won a top prize in the 13th annual Barlett & Steele Awards for Investigative Journalism.
With more than 1,000 lung injuries and two dozen deaths nationally associated with vaping and e-cigarettes, a new KFF poll finds a narrow majority (52%) of the public supports a ban on the sale of fruit- and other flavored e-cigarettes, while 44% oppose it. When asked whether all e-cigarettes should be banned, including those that aren’t flavored, the public is almost evenly divided, with 49% favoring such a step and 47% opposing it. Majorities of…
Americans, Regardless of Partisan Identity, Prioritize Slowing Coronavirus’ Spread over Restarting the Economy With coronavirus cases rising and businesses shutting down, four in 10 (39%) U.S. residents say they already have lost a job or income due to the crisis, the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll finds. This includes most part-time workers (54%), as well as nearly half of parents with children under age 18 (47%) and those paid hourly or by the job (45%).…
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 a new KFF analysis. Of the more than 105 million adults at higher risk if infected with coronavirus, most – 76.3 million, or 72 percent…
A new KFF/Washington Post survey probes in depth what Americans know and think about climate change, their personal involvement with the issue, and their willingness to accept trade-offs to reduce its impact. A parallel survey of teens ages 13-17 explores how they view the potential effects of climate change on their generation. The poll finds that a large majority of adults and teens believe that human activity is causing changes to the world’s climate. About…
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…
Thirty-one percent of the public wants to “wait and see” how the COVID-19 vaccine is working for other people before getting vaccinated themselves. While they share a similar level of vaccine hesitancy, this group is not monolithic in their attitudes and beliefs. This brief examines how people with different partisan identities and those belonging to different racial and ethnic groups differ in their levels of concern about the vaccine and may respond differently to messages…
This Vaccine Monitor finds a growing share of U.S. adults say they have already gotten at least one dose of the vaccine or want to get vaccinated as soon as possible. It explores vaccine intentions, information gaps, vaccine brand preferences, and tests a variety of potential incentives, messages, and pieces of information that might be used to increase vaccination uptake.
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…
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