The Role of Immigrants in the U.S. Health Care Workforce
This issue brief provides data on immigrants’ role in the U.S. health care workforce, including within key industries such as direct long-term care and the hospital workforce.
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KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust: Use of Social Media and AI For Health Information and Advice
This poll finds that about 3 in 10 adults turn to social media for health information and advice at least monthly. Community connection and the need for immediate answers are the top reasons why people are turning to these tools. Slim majorities of those who use social media for health are confident they can tell…
Out-of-Pocket Costs for Long-Acting Reversible Contraception Among Individuals Enrolled in Employer Sponsored Insurance Plans
In this analysis, published in the journal Contraception, KFF’s Linda Li, Brittni Frederiksen, and Alina Salganicoff look at intrauterine device (IUD) and contraceptive implant insertion-related costs among privately insured individuals to better understand why patients are experiencing unexpected expenses for what should be fully covered contraceptive services under the ACA.
State Choices, Unequal Access: Policies Shaping Reproductive Health Care Across the United States
Authored by KFF’s Alina Salganicoff, Ivette Gomez, and Usha Ranji, this article for The Milbank Quarterly examines how state policies create varying levels of access to reproductive healthcare services.
Recent State Actions Related to Immigrants’ Access to Services and Immigration Enforcement
This brief summarizes recent and proposed actions by states related to access to state-funded health coverage and other services for immigrants and immigration enforcement activity during the 2025 and 2026 state legislative sessions.
Bench to Bedside at AI Speed
How can AI determine who gets matched to new therapies, who is identified for clinical trials, and how patient tracking is scaled across large populations? Chip is joined by Dr. A.J. Blood, a practicing cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of AIwithCare, a startup company that delivers AI-enabled…
Federal Medicaid Spending Through State Directed Payments Nears $100 Billion Annually Across 41 States, With New Limits Set to Reduce Funding to States
Forty states and DC currently receive $93 billion in annual federal Medicaid spending through state directed payments (SDPs) and may be at risk due to forthcoming limits on these payments, according to new KFF estimates. Annual federal spending on SDPs is highest in California (an estimated $10.6 billion)—followed by Texas ($6.3 billion), North Carolina ($5.2…
Forthcoming Policy Changes to Medicaid State Directed Payments
The 2025 reconciliation law reduced federal Medicaid spending by an estimated $911 billion from 2025 through 2034, some of which stems from new restrictions on Medicaid state directed payments (SDPs) for hospital and other health care services. This issue brief describes SDPs and forthcoming policy changes stemming from the 2025 reconciliation law and the proposed…
Spending on Medicaid State Directed Payments Before New Limits Take Effect
This issue brief analyzes Medicaid spending by state on SDPs that require prior CMS approval to better understand the use of SDPs before new limits in the reconciliation law take effect.
How Medicare Advantage Rebates Disadvantage Medicare’s Stand-Alone Drug Plan Market
The private plans that offer the Medicare Part D benefit – stand-alone drug plans and Medicare Advantage drug plans – are increasingly are competing on uneven terms, in part because the payment system for Medicare Advantage plans enables them to lower Part D premiums or reduce Part D cost sharing, making drug coverage from Medicare…