This Week
The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
A One-Pager on What’s Wrong with U.S. Health Care
Asked for a one-pager on what’s wrong with the U.S. health system, Dr. Drew Altman, Founding President and CEO, explains the top issues in this piece, published today as his latest column. Altman explains, “We have neither a competitive health care system nor a regulated one—we have a fragmented, micromanaged health system that fails to control costs and makes both patients and health professionals more miserable than they should be…”
Are Health Insurance Companies the Reason for Our Health System’s Ills?
In this JAMA Health Forum column, KFF’s Larry Levitt examines the criticism that health insurance companies are facing from political leaders, and explores the industry’s role in both causing and addressing some of the health systems’ biggest problems, including rising costs and prior authorization review.
Why KFF Is Launching a Podcast on the Business of Health
To kick off our new show, KFF’s Business of Health with Chip Kahn, Drew Altman explains how the organization is continually evolving to research, analyze and lead on health policy. Chip and Drew discuss how our new podcast will break down the business side of health care, artificial intelligence, and what it all means for health care delivery and patients.
Timely insights and analysis from KFF staff
“Extending the short-term GLP-1 Bridge program is good news for eligible Medicare beneficiaries because it provides the certainty of obesity drug coverage at a $50 copay for a longer duration, but federal spending will also rise by some unknown amount since CMS hasn’t disclosed the projected cost.” Read more.
Juliette Cubanski
Deputy Director
Program on Medicare Policy
“The latest KFF Health Tracking Poll shows that the Secretary continues to be popular among President Trump’s MAGA base and somewhat popular among supporters of his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, but his appeal beyond those two groups is limited.” Read more.
Liz Hamel
Senior Vice President
Director of Public Opinion and Survey Research
What the Health? RFK Jr. vs. Congress
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. completed his tour of House and Senate committees this week, ostensibly to promote President Donald Trump’s budget proposal for his department but also to answer for some of his more controversial positions, particularly on vaccines. Meanwhile, Trump signed an order to facilitate the use of hallucinogens to treat mental health conditions. Victoria Knight of Bloomberg Government, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sheryl Gay Stolberg of The New York Times join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more.
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How Employers Support Lower-Waged Workers’ Access to Health Insurance Options
This analysis examines the costs, availability, and take-up of health benefits for workers with lower wages, using survey data and focus groups with more than 100 U.S. employers with over a quarter of a million employees.
Question of the Week
Last week, 64% of readers answered correctly that 65% of the adult population ages 19 to 64 on Medicaid already work.
Health insurance compensation makes up what percentage of average total compensation for all employees?
See how many readers answered correctly in the next edition of This Week.