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  • Number of States Affected by Key Medicaid Provisions in the 2025 Reconciliation Law

    Which States Will Be Affected by Key Medicaid Provisions in the 2025 Reconciliation Law?

    Policy Watch

    The 2025 reconciliation law makes sweeping changes to Medicaid that will affect every state through key eligibility and financing changes, including new work requirements, immigrant eligibility restrictions, and changes to provider taxes and state directed payments. This issue brief explains which states will be affected by each of these key provisions.

  • “…voters’ concerns about health care costs are having a moment, and will continue to do so through 2028, because voters see them as a dimension of their worries about the cost of living, which is their dominant concern right now.” — Drew Altman, KFF Founding President and CEO

    A Guide to the Role of Health in the Midterms

    From Drew Altman

    In a new column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman says health care costs are playing a significant role in the midterms as one dimension of voters’ concerns about cost of living, and explains why pollsters, analysts, and candidates should look at it that way, and not as a separate voting issue. He writes, “The ‘issue’ that matters most in this election is cost of living and the cost of health care is a central…

  • Democrats Hold a Nearly 2-to-1 Advantage Over Republicans on Handling the Cost of Health Care

    KFF Health Tracking Poll: Health Care Issues in the Lead-Up to the 2026 Midterm Election 

    Poll Finding

    With the 2026 midterms about a month away, health care costs remain tied with gas as voters’ top midterm concerns and the Democrats hold a clear edge over the Republicans Party on who voters trust to handle many top electoral issues, including the cost of health care and the cost of living. Two-thirds of U.S. adults now favor Medicare-for-all, a new high in KFF Polling, but support shifts when competing claims from critics and proponents…

  • State Fiscal Conditions Are Tightening: 11 States Experienced Reductions in General Fund Spending in FY 2026

    State Fiscal Conditions: Context on Medicaid Budgets for FY 2027

    Issue Brief

    This brief describes current fiscal conditions using the latest state revenue and spending data from the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) and analyzes how these conditions may impact states’ Medicaid budget decisions going forward.

  • 5 Questions and Answers About Medicaid and Provider Taxes

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief uses data from KFF’s  2025-2026 survey of Medicaid directors and from a proposed rule on provider taxes to describe states’ current provider taxes, explore how rules governing provider taxes are changing because of the 2025 reconciliation law and the regulations implementing that law, and summarizes which changes may affect each state.

  • Change in February effectuated enrollment, by state, 2025-2026

    How Has ACA Marketplace Enrollment Changed Across States in 2026?

    Issue Brief

    Following several years of rapid enrollment growth in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces that corresponded with temporary enhanced premium tax credits, enrollment fell for the first time in seven years in 2026, when those tax credits expired. Every state except for New Mexico saw a drop in ACA Marketplace enrollment from 2025 to 2026. State-based Marketplaces that run their own enrollment platforms, including those that partially offset the expiring federal enhanced tax credits, generally…

  • Most Democratic Voters Want To Hear Candidates Discuss Health Costs and Future of Health Programs; More Republicans Focused on Fraud

    KFF Health Tracking Poll: Public Views on Fraud in Government Health Programs

    Poll Finding

    As the 2026 midterms approach, health care costs remain voters' top health priority, but fraud in government health programs, including Medicaid and Medicare, is resonating with Republican voters, 55% of whom say it's extremely important for candidates to address. Most voters say there is at least “some” fraud in government health programs, but larger shares say there is fraud in the tax system, defense, and foreign aid, while the smallest share sees fraud in the…