Drew Altman
@drewaltman.bsky.social
President and CEO of @kff.org; Executive Publisher of @kffhealthnews.org
Deepest sympathies for the many great journalists laid off at the Washington Post today. A comment on many things about the news industry and why I prefer our non profit model with our own stable funding and no need to chase revenue or clicks.
February 4, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Deepest sympathies for the many great journalists laid off at the Washington Post today. A comment on many things about the news industry and why I prefer our non profit model with our own stable funding and no need to chase revenue or clicks.
It’s not going to be a health care election but it will partly be a health cost election.
Our new poll: on.kff.org/3LGVtUh
Our new poll: on.kff.org/3LGVtUh
January 29, 2026 at 5:47 PM
It’s not going to be a health care election but it will partly be a health cost election.
Our new poll: on.kff.org/3LGVtUh
Our new poll: on.kff.org/3LGVtUh
Reposted by Drew Altman
When you think about us having a health care cost problem, which part of this Venn diagram comes to mind first?
@drewaltman.bsky.social
www.kff.org/from-drew-al...
@drewaltman.bsky.social
www.kff.org/from-drew-al...
January 28, 2026 at 3:19 PM
When you think about us having a health care cost problem, which part of this Venn diagram comes to mind first?
@drewaltman.bsky.social
www.kff.org/from-drew-al...
@drewaltman.bsky.social
www.kff.org/from-drew-al...
Everyone wants to reduce health care spending – their own, often at the expense of someone else’s health spending. No one really wants to take on underlying costs.
My latest column: on.kff.org/4a11umO
My latest column: on.kff.org/4a11umO
Our Darwinian Approach to Health Care Costs
In his latest column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman presents his Venn diagram of health care cost problems and shows how, in our fragmented health system, reducing one health cost problem often ma...
on.kff.org
January 28, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Everyone wants to reduce health care spending – their own, often at the expense of someone else’s health spending. No one really wants to take on underlying costs.
My latest column: on.kff.org/4a11umO
My latest column: on.kff.org/4a11umO
States are starting to cut Medicaid as revenues fall and federal cuts loom, making lots of different cuts to spread the pain and ease the politics. But work requirements and the $1T in federal Medicaid cuts have not hit yet. on.kff.org/45rYOND
Medicaid and Upcoming State Budget Debates | KFF
This brief describes current state fiscal conditions as states begin fiscal year 2027 budget debates and highlights key areas to watch for Medicaid policy changes as states respond to fiscal challenge...
on.kff.org
January 23, 2026 at 4:56 PM
States are starting to cut Medicaid as revenues fall and federal cuts loom, making lots of different cuts to spread the pain and ease the politics. But work requirements and the $1T in federal Medicaid cuts have not hit yet. on.kff.org/45rYOND
Trump is not interested in Greenland’s rare earth minerals, or national security. He wants their single payer health system.
January 22, 2026 at 5:14 AM
Trump is not interested in Greenland’s rare earth minerals, or national security. He wants their single payer health system.
We have been trying to analyze the Trump health “plan” but I worry that unless Congress puts something real together we are analyzing air. Big Q’s such as are pre-x protected are impossible to answer from their Fact Sheet. What we do know: it partly captured a news cycle.
January 16, 2026 at 5:01 PM
We have been trying to analyze the Trump health “plan” but I worry that unless Congress puts something real together we are analyzing air. Big Q’s such as are pre-x protected are impossible to answer from their Fact Sheet. What we do know: it partly captured a news cycle.
It looks like Trump’s “buy your own insurance“ plan would largely do away with pre-x protections and the Marketplaces, but not insurance companies he doesn’t like who would still provide most of the coverage.
Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Calls on Congress to Enact The Great Healthcare Plan
CALLING ON CONGRESS TO LOWER HEALTHCARE COSTS: Today, President Donald J. Trump called on Congress to enact the Great Healthcare Plan, a comprehensive
www.whitehouse.gov
January 15, 2026 at 5:44 PM
It looks like Trump’s “buy your own insurance“ plan would largely do away with pre-x protections and the Marketplaces, but not insurance companies he doesn’t like who would still provide most of the coverage.
Today Trump called on R’s to “ own health care”, an issue they have never won. But with what? Trump favors narrow, glitzy industry deals, not comprehensive plans dealing with coverage and costs. Can that formula work?
My column: on.kff.org/4ssYisr
My column: on.kff.org/4ssYisr
Trump Has No Health Plan, He Has the Art of the Health Care Deal
In his first column for the new year, KFF CEO Dr. Drew Altman analyzes President Trump’s “make a deal” approach to health care. He explains that while the president doesn’t have a health reform plan, ...
on.kff.org
January 6, 2026 at 6:43 PM
Today Trump called on R’s to “ own health care”, an issue they have never won. But with what? Trump favors narrow, glitzy industry deals, not comprehensive plans dealing with coverage and costs. Can that formula work?
My column: on.kff.org/4ssYisr
My column: on.kff.org/4ssYisr
The Rural Fund grants are a grab bag from telehealth to mobile health to parks and trails for recreation.
Our analysis based on rural population:
Our analysis based on rural population:
First-Year Rural Health Fund Awards Range From Less Than $100 Per Rural Resident in Ten States to More Than $500 in Eight | KFF
This policy watch evaluates state awards through the rural health fund in 2026, the first year of the program. The analysis shows relatively modest variations in total awards this year across states b...
www.kff.org
January 6, 2026 at 6:40 PM
The Rural Fund grants are a grab bag from telehealth to mobile health to parks and trails for recreation.
Our analysis based on rural population:
Our analysis based on rural population:
1 in 4 in our Marketplace enrollee survey say they will drop insurance. But 1 in 3 will pick cheaper high deductible plans, many with deductibles and co-pays they cannot afford. on.kff.org/4464PPo
Poll: 1 in 3 ACA Marketplace Enrollees Say They Would "Very Likely" Shop for a Cheaper Plan If Their Premium Payments Doubled; 1 in 4 Say They “Very Likely” Would Go Without Insurance | KFF
If the amount they pay in premiums doubled, about one in three enrollees in Affordable Care Act Marketplace health plans say they would be “very likely” to look for a lower-premium Marketplace plan (w...
on.kff.org
December 4, 2025 at 10:18 PM
1 in 4 in our Marketplace enrollee survey say they will drop insurance. But 1 in 3 will pick cheaper high deductible plans, many with deductibles and co-pays they cannot afford. on.kff.org/4464PPo
No one likes prior authorization review. But could we get rid of it? My new column: www.kff.org/from-drew-al...
Why We Are Stuck with Prior Authorization Review
Prior authorization review frustrates patients and physicians, but we likely can’t just eliminate it. In his new column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman discusses why, and why the focus is now inste...
www.kff.org
November 20, 2025 at 3:10 PM
No one likes prior authorization review. But could we get rid of it? My new column: www.kff.org/from-drew-al...
Our survey of immigrants with the NYT, out now, shows while the immigration crackdown has caused fear and anxiety, immigrants still prefer the U.S. to where they came from and are optimistic about the future.
With that resilience, nativism can’t win long term.
With that resilience, nativism can’t win long term.
Under Trump, Immigrants Are More Fearful but Determined to Stay, Poll Finds
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Our survey of immigrants with the NYT, out now, shows while the immigration crackdown has caused fear and anxiety, immigrants still prefer the U.S. to where they came from and are optimistic about the future.
With that resilience, nativism can’t win long term.
With that resilience, nativism can’t win long term.
With all the talk about ACA costs being out of control, they are actually quite similar to and slightly less than employer (group) health costs.
The problem is health care costs, not the ACA.
The problem is health care costs, not the ACA.
How ACA Marketplace costs compare to employer-sponsored health insurance - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker
Prior to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), insurers selling coverage to individuals would deny people with serious pre-existing conditions and high-risk occupations, exclude coverage for certain services...
www.healthsystemtracker.org
November 17, 2025 at 7:21 PM
With all the talk about ACA costs being out of control, they are actually quite similar to and slightly less than employer (group) health costs.
The problem is health care costs, not the ACA.
The problem is health care costs, not the ACA.
If Republicans decide to make a deal on ACA tax credits to reduce the political danger for moderate R’s in the midterms, there are compromises with Democrats that can work. See Jonathan Cohn in Bulwark today. That’s if.
November 12, 2025 at 4:55 AM
If Republicans decide to make a deal on ACA tax credits to reduce the political danger for moderate R’s in the midterms, there are compromises with Democrats that can work. See Jonathan Cohn in Bulwark today. That’s if.
With one vote on the ACA tax credits in December, no agreement on a plan, and no commitment from the House or Trump, there is no apparent path to extending the credits. It means the issue will prosecuted in the midterms, and it means pain for tens of millions of Americans.
November 10, 2025 at 2:59 AM
With one vote on the ACA tax credits in December, no agreement on a plan, and no commitment from the House or Trump, there is no apparent path to extending the credits. It means the issue will prosecuted in the midterms, and it means pain for tens of millions of Americans.
Not this again. Insurance provides access to health care, so it’s actually health care that “doesn’t save lives”, statistically in the aggregate, because most people aren’t sick. But if you get sick, it absolutely does. Anybody ready to go without it. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
The government is shut down over health care. But does insurance save lives?
The surprisingly tricky question stumped researchers for decades. But they think they finally have an answer.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Not this again. Insurance provides access to health care, so it’s actually health care that “doesn’t save lives”, statistically in the aggregate, because most people aren’t sick. But if you get sick, it absolutely does. Anybody ready to go without it. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Trump has now called for replacing the ACA (again) so people can buy skimpier policies from insurance companies (again)?? In a shutdown debate where tax credits are the issue not the popular law. As a negotiating strategy that’s tripling down.
November 9, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Trump has now called for replacing the ACA (again) so people can buy skimpier policies from insurance companies (again)?? In a shutdown debate where tax credits are the issue not the popular law. As a negotiating strategy that’s tripling down.
Many implications of the big Dem win tonight. One for health care: it could provide an incentive for Republicans to make a deal on ACA tax credits to deny Democrats the issue in the midterms and further momentum.
November 5, 2025 at 5:19 AM
Many implications of the big Dem win tonight. One for health care: it could provide an incentive for Republicans to make a deal on ACA tax credits to deny Democrats the issue in the midterms and further momentum.
October 15, 2025 at 3:46 PM
GLP-1s in the real world of Mississippi Medicaid: the people and the costs.
Check out this story from our Phil Galewitz:
Check out this story from our Phil Galewitz:
In Mississippi, Medicaid Coverage of Weight Loss Drugs Fails to Catch On - KFF Health News
In Mississippi, a state with one of the highest obesity rates in the nation, Medicaid covers weight loss drugs, but few enrollees have signed up for the benefit.
kffhealthnews.org
October 15, 2025 at 2:24 PM
GLP-1s in the real world of Mississippi Medicaid: the people and the costs.
Check out this story from our Phil Galewitz:
Check out this story from our Phil Galewitz:
Four in ten who buy their own coverage say they would go without coverage if ACA premiums doubled. They will increase 114% if enhanced tax credits are not extended: on.kff.org/4nACyIk
October 3, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Four in ten who buy their own coverage say they would go without coverage if ACA premiums doubled. They will increase 114% if enhanced tax credits are not extended: on.kff.org/4nACyIk
Politically its Republicans in swing districts who could lose who have to worry most about ACA premium hikes blowing back on them. But its Republicans everywhere whose constituents will be most affected by the hikes: on.kff.org/3VQ3kjF
October 3, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Politically its Republicans in swing districts who could lose who have to worry most about ACA premium hikes blowing back on them. But its Republicans everywhere whose constituents will be most affected by the hikes: on.kff.org/3VQ3kjF
Another reason health costs will spike. Get ready for a run on GLP-1’s by admirals and generals. thehill.com/policy/defen...
October 1, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Another reason health costs will spike. Get ready for a run on GLP-1’s by admirals and generals. thehill.com/policy/defen...
They are going to need a new poster.
Our new number, based on new information: ACA premiums will rise an average of 114%. on.kff.org/3WfWxjj
Our new number, based on new information: ACA premiums will rise an average of 114%. on.kff.org/3WfWxjj
September 30, 2025 at 3:23 PM
They are going to need a new poster.
Our new number, based on new information: ACA premiums will rise an average of 114%. on.kff.org/3WfWxjj
Our new number, based on new information: ACA premiums will rise an average of 114%. on.kff.org/3WfWxjj