Public Opinion

Health Information and Trust

Dashboard: Polling on Health Information and Trust

Drawing on KFF’s poll findings, this interactive dashboard tracks the public’s trusted sources for health information, attitudes toward vaccines, and use of news, social media, and AI for health-related information.

THE MIDTERMS

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

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 ACA Marketplaces.

Recent Polls

KFF Health Tracking Poll: Mifepristone and the Midterms

Amid an ongoing FDA re-review of mifepristone, awareness of the safety and prevalence of the abortion pill remains limited. This KFF poll also finds that the voters who say abortion policy is an important issue for 2026 midterm candidates to discuss are disproportionately Democrats.

Ebola Response and Pandemic Preparedness

Much of the public has yet to form an opinion on the U.S. government’s response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this poll finds. Four in ten adults say the U.S. is less prepared for a pandemic now than it was in 2020.

KFF/New York Times Survey of Immigrants

KFF-New York Times Survey: Immigrants Report Rising Fear, Negative Economic and Health Impacts, and Changing Political Views During the First Year of President Trump’s Second Term

The 2025 Survey of Immigrants, a partnership between KFF and The New York Times, takes an in-depth look at the experiences of immigrants during the first year of President Trump’s second term, including their worries related to increased immigration enforcement, their health and economic wellbeing, and the political views and preferences of immigrant voters. The survey paints a portrait of families under strain — where fear of detention and economic instability are negatively impacting immigrants’ health and reshaping immigrant families’ daily lives and views of U.S. political parties.

Read the News Release | Explore The New York Times’ Reporting

the essentials

Health Tracking Poll

Our signature survey project provides up-to-date data on the public’s health care views, knowledge, and experiences.

Tracking the Public’s Views on the ACA

Tracking the Public’s Views on the ACA

This interactive tool tracks public opinion on the Affordable Care Act, from the inception of the law to the present, including trends based on party identification, income, age, gender, and race/ethnicity.

Health Information and Trust Tracking Poll

The Health Information and Trust Tracking Poll is part of KFF’s Health Information and Trust Initiative, which tracks health misinformation and analyzes its impact on the public.

Polls in Health Policy

This chapter of our digital “textbook” explores why surveys are essential for understanding health policy issues. 

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1,021 - 1,030 of 1,854 Results

  • What Issues Are Most Important To Voters in This Election? The Answer Depends On The Question

    Perspective

    Election polling has entered hyperdrive, with several polls released daily. As Nov. 6 draws near, it is important to keep in mind that question wording and format do matter, sometimes quite a lot. In our October Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, we measured voters’ top issue priorities two ways: First, we asked one group to name the most important issue to their vote for president in an open-end question, allowing respondents to say in their own…

  • Seniors and the 2012 Presidential Election

    Feature

    This data note draws primarily on two national surveys, the September Kaiser Health Tracking Poll and the Kaiser 2012 National Survey of Seniors, to examine how health issues are playing as a 2012 election issue for seniors, how this politically important group feels about a variety of policy proposals related to Medicare, including the premium support model, and seniors' views of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA). Data Note (.pdf)

  • Whom Does the Public Trust More on Health Care and Medicare?

    Poll Finding

    This data note reviews takes a historical look at the public's views of whom they trust more, Democrats or Republicans, when it comes to health care policy and Medicare policy and analyzes these views in the context of the current presidential election, in which both issues are playing a prominent role. Data Note (.pdf)

  • Seniors' Knowledge and Experience With Medicare's Open Enrollment Period and Choosing a Plan: Key Findings from the Kaiser Family Foundation 2012 National Survey of Seniors

    Issue Brief

    These key findings from the Foundation's 2012 National Survey of Seniors relate to seniors’ knowledge and experience with Medicare’s open enrollment period and choosing a plan. The survey finds one in four seniors say they are unaware of this annual opportunity to review and change their Medicare coverage, with even larger shares who say they are unaware of Medicare’s open enrollment period among blacks and Hispanics and those seniors in fair or poor health, with…

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: October 2012

    Feature

    The October Health Tracking Poll finds, one week before the presidential election, the economy remains the primary concern on voters' minds, but health policy issues remain in the mix. The new survey finds that roughly a third of likely voters name the Affordable Care Act (37%), Medicare (36%), and Medicaid (30%) as "extremely important" to their vote, compared to half (52%) who say the same about the economy and jobs. But separate health care issues…

  • Polling on Medicare Premium Support Systems Over Time

    Poll Finding

    This data note reviews years of polling dating to 1995 to gauge public opinion on proposals to change Medicare to a premium support system, an idea embraced by GOP presidential nominee Governor Mitt Romney and rejected by President Obama. Under the proposed change, the federal government would provide people on Medicare a fixed amount of money that could be applied toward the cost of health insurance purchased either from private insurers or the traditional Medicare…

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: September 2012

    Feature

    The September poll finds with the November election fast-approaching, Medicare trails only the economy and the federal budget deficit as key priorities for voters, and interest in the federal health program is even higher among seniors. More than a third (36%) of Americans say Medicare is “extremely” important to their vote in the election, compared to 49 percent who describe the economy in such terms and 41 percent who say so about the federal budget…

  • The Swing States and Medicare

    Poll Finding

    The latest partnership poll from The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation explores attitudes towards Medicare among registered voters in three swing states -- Florida, Virginia, and Ohio. While the economy remains the top issue, in each state about four in ten voters say Medicare is an extremely important issue to their vote. As of mid-September, majorities of voters in these states say they would prefer to keep Medicare as it is rather than…

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: August 2012

    Feature

    This poll, conducted as the GOP prepares for its national convention, finds that the Affordable Care Act is not the top health care priority among Republicans. While jobs are still the number one issue for Republicans, when asked about the health care issues that will impact their vote this fall, Republicans' top concern was the cost of health care and insurance, named by two-thirds (67%) as either "extremely" or "very important" to their vote in…