The Kaiser Family Foundation

No. The foundation was separated from the Kaiser Permanente health system in the early 1990s as part of its reorganization under Drew Altman. It does not fund, govern, or receive funding from Kaiser Permanente. The shared name is a historical artifact of the Henry J. Kaiser fortune; the foundation's editorial and operational independence from the health system is its most fundamental structural feature.

KFF does not operate a grantmaking program. It is structured as an operating foundation, meaning it deploys its endowment income by conducting research, polling, and journalism in-house. This distinguishes it from peer health philanthropies like the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which are primarily grantmaking organizations. Its product is data and analysis, not checks.

Drew Altman has served as President and CEO since 1991 and sets the organization's research and editorial priorities. The analytic work is conducted by specialized teams including the Program on Medicare Policy, the Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured, the Global Health Policy team, and the public opinion and survey research group. Each is led by a named director, with all work published under the KFF byline rather than individually attributed.

KFF is supported entirely by its own endowment, which was initially funded by a bequest from Kaiser Industries before the foundation's separation from the Kaiser Permanente health system. The exact endowment size is not publicly disclosed in filings, but it is estimated to be in the range of $600 million based on its annual operating expenditures and IRS Form 990 reporting (public record). The foundation accepts no government or commercial health-sector funding.

KFF influences policy indirectly through data, not advocacy. The Congressional Budget Office relies on KFF's uninsured estimates, Congressional staff use its Medicare and Medicaid briefs to draft legislation, and its monthly tracking polls set the baseline for media coverage of healthcare. Its Kaiser Health News wire service syndicates health policy journalism to NPR, The New York Times, and hundreds of regional outlets, giving it an unusually large distribution footprint for a nonprofit research organization.

No. KFF is strictly nonpartisan and does not lobby, endorse legislation, or advocate for specific policy outcomes. Its articles and analyses frequently cite tradeoffs, costs, and enrollment impacts of various proposals, but the organization does not rate bills, score legislation with a partisan slant, or run advocacy campaigns. This stance is central to its credibility with both Republican and Democratic Congressional staff.

Kaiser Health News (KHN) is the editorial arm of KFF and operates as an editorially independent nonprofit news service. It produces daily health policy reporting that is syndicated free of charge to hundreds of media partners, including NPR, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. KHN reporters are KFF employees, and the newsroom is structurally walled off from the foundation's policy analysis teams, though both report to Drew Altman. In February 2024, KFF acquired the nonprofit Health Newsroom to expand KHN's broadcast and digital output.