Company Profile
KFF
Company Overview
A leader in health policy analysis and health journalism, KFF is dedicated to filling the need for trusted information on national health issues.
KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) is a non-profit organization focusing on national health issues, as well as the U.S. role in global health policy. KFF develops and runs its own policy analysis, journalism and communications programs, sometimes in partnership with major news organizations.
KFF serves as a non-partisan source of facts, analysis and journalism for policymakers, the media, the health policy community and the public. Our product is information, always provided free of charge?—?from the most sophisticated policy research, to basic facts and numbers, to in-depth health policy news coverage provided by our news service, KHN, to information young people can use to improve their health or the general public can use to understand health insurance.
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation was established in 1948, but it was completely remade in 1991, under the leadership of CEO Drew Altman. We have not changed our name, but nowadays refer to ourselves simply as KFF — our legal name can cause occasional confusion because we are neither a foundation, a family foundation, nor are we associated with Kaiser Permanente. We keep the name to honor the legacy of our original benefactor, the great industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, whose motto “find a need and fill it,” we have adapted into our motto: “Filling the need for trusted information on national health issues.”
KFF is not associated with Kaiser Permanente.
Company History
History and Mission
“Since we began in 1991, our goal has been to build an institution that plays a special role as a trusted source of information in a health care world dominated by vested interests. That institution-building process continues today.”
– Drew Altman, Ph.D. President and CEO
One of Henry Kaiser’s favorite sayings was “find a need and fill it,” and that’s what KFF has tried to do. While the original KFF was established in 1948, it is in a sense a relatively young organization. Under the leadership of CEO Drew Altman, KFF was completely remade and a new organization was established from the ground up beginning in 1991, with the mission, staff expertise, programs, legal status and operating style it is known for today.
KFF’s Trustees — including former policymakers and leaders from business, academia, and the non-profit community — serve a maximum of two five-year terms. KFF is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries. KFF operates primarily with funds earned from managing its own endowment, augmented by support provided by external funders.