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: As States Start to Ease Coronavirus Restrictions, Few Americans Expect to Stay in Hotels or Fly This Summer, Though Most Plan to Visit a Doctor, Get a Hair Cut and Dine Out

    News Release

    Most of the Public, including Most Swing Voters, Disapprove of President Trump’s Coronavirus Response and Overall Job Performance; President Earns Higher Ratings on the Economy Even as many states start to lift restrictions on businesses and social gatherings, most Americans are expecting the coronavirus pandemic to upend their summers, with few saying they expect to stay in a hotel (32%), fly (23%), or attend a concert or sporting event (19%) during the next three months,…

  • 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…

  • Flint Fallout: Water Supply Safety Now Near Top of Public’s National Health Concerns, Trailing Cancer

    News Release

    In the wake of the lead crisis affecting drinking water in Flint, Mich., the public now ranks contaminated drinking water among the most serious national health issues, trailing cancer, according to the April Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. When asked about a series of health issues facing the country, more than a third (35%) identify contaminated drinking water as “extremely serious,” behind cancer (43%) and similar to heroin abuse (35%)  and ahead of major diseases such…

  • Most Americans Report a Personal Connection to Those Who Have Abused Prescription Painkillers; Whites More Likely To Be Affected Than Blacks or Hispanics

    News Release

    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, the latest Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll finds most Americans have a personal connection to the issue. In total,…

  • KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor- Rural America

    Poll Finding

    This report examines in depth the vaccine-related views and experiences of rural residents and shows more than half of rural adults say they have already gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine or will do so as soon as possible. Rural residents report fewer issues with both supply and access than those living in urban and suburban areas, and a large share of rural residents say they will “definitely not” get vaccinated.

  • KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor: What We’ve Learned

    Poll Finding

    This brief summarizes key findings and themes from the COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor project that is tracking the dynamic nature of the U.S. public’s attitudes and experiences with COVID-19 vaccination, and is based on more than 11,000 interviews conducted since December 2020.

  • 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…