Introduction
Since the beginning of 2025, various federal agencies have taken actions or announced changes to their operations that have raised concerns about the future of numerous federal surveys, including ones that collect and publish data on health and health-related topics.
For example:
- The U.S. Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC) suspended collection of data on maternal and infant health through the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS).[1]
- The CDC also removed certain files and documentation from its website, specifically on its Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System (YRBSS) surveys, which provide self-reported data by adults and adolescents on a variety of health risk behaviors (though it should be noted that these data were later restored as part of a lawsuit settlement).[2],[3]
- The Department of Health and Human Services laid off staff responsible for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), a key data source for measuring the prevalence of issues related to mental health and substance use.[4]
These and other such developments have prompted uncertainty about whether the federal government would continue to publish new data on a schedule similar to what it has followed in prior years.
This blog aims to serve as a consolidated guide to many of the major federal health-related surveys that were expected to publish single-year data estimates over the course of this year (2025) and cataloguing the current status of those releases—whether they were published, either on-time or with a delay; not yet published; or if the status of the data remains uncertain.
Not included are surveys like the Household Trends and Outlook Pulse Survey (HTOPS). The HTOPS is designed as a continuously fielded, longitudinal survey with planned data releases every other month; this type of release frequency is not within the scope of our current review. In addition, the HTOPS is continuing to transition operations from its original iteration as the Household Pulse Survey (HPS) and, therefore, is too new to have established a regular release pattern to compare to, despite what the Census Bureau hoped to achieve when planning the survey. Release dates for supplemental materials or secondary releases such as combined year estimates (e.g., the ACS 5-year files) or special panel surveys (e.g., the MEPS special longitudinal panel of adults about their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic) are also not included in this blog.
Survey Releases Across the Calendar Year
Spring
Survey Name
| Description | Agency | Annual Release Timeframe | Current Status of Anticipated New Data | Future Concerns and Other Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
National Immunization Survey (NIS) | A survey tracking immunization rates for routine vaccinations such as polio and Hepatitis A and B, and seasonal vaccinations such as influenza and COVID-19, and more. The survey has several age-based components:
| CDC | March- May | Not yet released (overdue) | According to NORC, who serves as the CDC’s data collection contractor for the NIS, data for the two main components of the survey (the NIS-Child and NIS-Teen) are annually released in the spring.[5]
While the CDC did recently publish results from the 2024 NIS-Teen in an August 14th edition of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), it is unclear if or when it may release data files for public use. |
Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) | A joint surveillance survey between the CDC and nearly all states (except California, Idaho, and Ohio) that aims to monitor maternal and infant health indicators and outcomes and find ways to address risk factors and improve health status. | Division of Reproductive Health, CDC | March | Not yet released (overdue) | The Division of Reproductive Health experienced layoffs that amounted to the loss of two-thirds of its staff, including staff who worked on the PRAMS.[6] |
Summer
Survey Name
| Description | Agency | Annual Release Timeframe | Current Status of Anticipated New Data | Future Concerns and Other Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) | A survey that monitors the health of the broader U.S. population by interviewing one representative member of each civilian, noninstitutionalized household to gather data on a broad range of health topics, including: insurance coverage; access to and use of care; illness, injuries, and chronic conditions/pains; and functionality and disability. | National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), CDC | June | While the 2024 full-year estimates were released as usual in June, the NHIS website notes that quarterly estimates will be discontinued and replaced with a biannual release.[7]
Recent federal layoffs in October 2025 included significant reductions in staff at the NCHS, though it is unclear whether these may affect the NHIS or only other initiatives, such as the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).[8] | |
Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) | This survey is longitudinal, meaning the same households are surveyed repeatedly over a period of time. Respondents provide detailed information on non-health topics such as income, employment, household composition, and health-related topics such as health insurance and food security. | U.S. Census Bureau | July | -- | |
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) | The MEPS is comprised of two main components:
| Agency for Healthcare Research Quality (AHRQ) | July | AHRQ has experienced significant staffing cuts. The agency was merged with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) into a new unit called the Office of Strategy.
A September 2025 letter from the new AHRQ Director acknowledges that the agency “has several unique surveys and databases that track health utilization, cost, longitudinal hospital care, encounters, insurance coverage” without mentioning the MEPS by name, but notes that in the future AHRQ is planning “to integrate and link these data with other real world data sources.”[9] | |
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) | A biennial survey that provides data on the health behaviors (e.g., substance use, dietary choices and physical activity) and well-being (e.g., mental health, family support) of adolescents in middle and high school.
| CDC | July-August |
*As a biennial survey, the latest data available for YRBSS are from 2023, not 2024. | Some YRBSS data and documentation were removed from the CDC website in early 2025, but they were later reinstated as part of a legal case (as noted on the YRBSS homepage).
|
Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) | A survey of adult health-related risk behaviors and events, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services. The BRFSS is conducted by states with the CDC. The BRFSS has three components:
| CDC | July-August | Released after a delay (September) | Some BRFSS data and documentation were removed from the CDC website in early 2025, but they were later reinstated as part of a legal case (as noted on the BRFSS homepage).
|
Fall
Survey Name | Description | Agency | Annual Release Timeframe | Current Status of Anticipated New Data | Future Concerns and Other Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Current Population Survey (CPS) – Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) | A survey that primarily gathers information on employment, labor force participation, hours of work, and earnings. The CPS also fields several supplemental sections, such the Annual Social and Economic Supplement, which collects information on income and poverty status as well as health-related topics such as insurance coverage, and both access to and cost of care. | U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics | September | While one supplement of the CPS—the Food Security Supplement (FSS), which monitors food insecurity and insufficiency among other related topics—has been cancelled, no direct changes to either the main CPS or the ASEC supplement have been announced.
| |
American Community Survey (ACS) | A survey gathering information on a range of topics including health insurance coverage, disability information, jobs and occupations, educational attainment, and home ownership and rental status along with housing costs. The ACS is able to offer state-level and sub-state estimates where the CPS does not. | U.S. Census Bureau | September | -- | |
National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) | A survey of children age 0-17 that measures factors of their physical health (e.g., access to and quality of health care) and emotional health (e.g., family structure and health of the household, mental health, safety, social support). This survey also works to measure and understand the difficulties of children with special health care needs. | U.S. Census Bureau | October | Not yet released (overdue) | According to the initial founders of the survey—the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)—data are released annually on Child Health Day, which always occurs in October; in 2025, this day fell on October 6th. The page where data is traditionally posted was last updated in December 2024.[10]
A review of the U.S. Census Bureau website that houses NSCH datasets also shows data is available only through 2023. |
Winter
Survey Name | Description | Agency | Annual Release Timeframe | Current Status of Anticipated New Data | Future Concerns and Other Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) | A biennial survey that gathers information on pregnancy and births, marriage and cohabitation, infertility, use of contraception, family life, and general and reproductive health. | National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), CDC | October-December | Not yet released | Recent federal layoffs in October 2025 included significant reductions in staff at the NCHS, though it is unclear whether these may affect the NSFG or only other initiatives, such as the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).[11] |
Continuous
Survey Name | Description | Agency | Annual Release Timeframe | Current Status of Anticipated New Data | Future Concerns and Other Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) | A survey of the nutritional status of adults and children over a two-year cycle, with data collected about food and drink intake along with type and number of supplements participants may take. The survey uses a combination of interviews and, uniquely from other surveys, blood tests to determine nutrition. | National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), CDC | Continuous —data are released 9 months after the interviews from the two-year cycle are complete. | Data collection delays | As part of the October 2025 employee reductions at the CDC, the division that directs the NHANES lost many survey planning staff; it is yet unclear what effect this may have on future NHANES data collection and releases.[12]
Prior to these personnel losses, the NHANES, like many other surveys, faced the well-documented issue of declining response rates. A news release from the division’s Acting Director notes that a planned relaunch of the NHANES in early 2025 has encountered numerous difficulties, and therefore the current planned two-year data collection cycle (2025-2026) will stretch into an additional year (2025-2027) in order to gather more responses; a new collection cycle will begin in 2028[13] |
| National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) | An annual survey of U.S. individuals age 12 and older, the NSDUH asks respondents about their use of tobacco, alcohol, and drugs; any substance use disorder diagnosis; mental health issues and treatment; and substance use treatment programs, including their history, experiences, and perceptions.
For use of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, respondents are asked about lifetime use, past-year use, past-month use, and age at first use. | Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) | Annual— one-year national-level estimates are released in the year following survey data collection; two-year files with state-level data are available through a Restricted Data Analysis System (RDAS). | Released on time.*
*National-level data for 2023 were released via PUFs in February 2025 and 2024 data were released via a report in July 2025. State-level data are planned for release in 2026. | SAMHSA has faced two reductions in staff so far in 2025. Roughly 100 workers were let go in March 2025, including those who ran the NSDUH; nearly the same number of SAMHSA employees were included in the HHS layoffs in October 2025. It is unclear whether these terminations might affect future data collection or release schedules. |
Utility and Availability of Survey Data, 2025 and Beyond
The U.S. government has developed and sustained a roster of survey and other data sources to support its policymaking processes. For instance, the CDC’s BRFSS survey has been used for decades to monitor key public health issues, such as the prevalence of smoking and obesity—allowing policymakers and other interested stakeholders to guide associated work.
The government has also long committed to publishing those data as a public good so that policymakers at the state or local levels may also use these estimates. For instance, multiple pages on SAMHSA’s NSDUH site state that “many state health agencies use NSDUH data to design education, treatment, and prevention programs. Other federal, state, and local agencies…use the information to track trends and patterns in mental health and substance use, estimate the need for treatment services, and allocate funding to support public programs and related efforts to address these issues.”[14]
The utility of federal survey data is reinforced by the regularity and reliability by which the government makes survey data results available to the public. Not all federal surveys have such precise production and release schedules as the U.S. Census Bureau’s CPS and ACS, for which 1-year data are published on Tuesday and Thursday of the second full week in September every year. However, as seen in the table resource above, many surveys still maintain a relatively predictable schedule—releasing during a specific month or quarter of the year (e.g., spring, summer, fall, winter). This allows policymakers, researchers, and the public to rely on the release of new or updated data as part of their decision-making and work processes.
While most of the federal health survey data SHADAC is tracking for this project have been released on schedule (or nearly so), it will be important to continue to monitor data release schedules in future years. The heavy lift and complex processes for collecting and preparing data for public release can take many months, with the implication that data collected in one calendar year typically are not released until the following year or later. That means that the effects of federal changes that have occurred thus far in 2025, such as elimination of staff that supported surveys, may not be fully felt for a year or more. As such, SHADAC plans to continue to track any emerging developments and continue to update this resource as further information becomes available.
Overarching Project: State Alternatives for Health Data Continuity
This blog is part of the State Alternatives for Health Data Continuity project supported by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). With this project, SHADAC is developing resources to help anyone involved in the health policy process consider their options for identifying and filling gaps in important measures of health. Please contact us if you would like to learn more or if you have questions.
Notes and References
[1] Lindquist, L.C. (2025, June 12). Federal Health Data Pauses and Staff Cuts Will Harm American Mothers and Babies. Millbank Memorial Fund. https://www.milbank.org/2025/06/federal-health-data-pauses-and-staff-cuts-will-harm-american-mothers-and-babies/
[2] Cox, C., Rae, M., Kates, J., Wager, E., Ortaliza, J., Dawson, L. (2025, Feb 2). A Look at Federal Health Data Taken Offline. KFF. https://www.kff.org/hiv-aids/a-look-at-federal-health-data-taken-offline/
[3] Stobbe, M. (2025, Sept 3). Trump administration agrees to restore federal health data and websites in lawsuit settlement. PBS News. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-administration-agrees-to-restore-federal-health-data-and-websites-in-lawsuit-settlement
[4] Johnson, C.K. (2025, April 2). Health department layoffs mean that data on drug use and mental health could sit unused. Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/hhs-layoffs-addiction-survey-data-d863235ec762858ee309f4189c8e8c80
[5] NORC. National Immunization Surveys (NIS). University of Chicago. https://www.norc.org/research/projects/national-immunization-surveys.html
[6] Pradham, R. (2025, July 1). HHS Eliminates CDC Staff Who Made Sure Birth Control Is Safe for Women at Risk. KFF Health News. https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/birth-control-safety-hhs-cdc-layoffs-at-risk-women/#:~:text=Email%20Sign%2DUp,poor%20maternal%20and%20child%20health
[7] National Center for Health Statistics. National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) Early Release Program. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis/early-release/index.html
[8] Goldman, M. (2025, Oct 15). HHS recalls laid-off health statistics staff. Axios. https://www.axios.com/2025/10/15/trump-hhs-laid-off-employees-government-shutdown-cdc
[9] Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2025, Sept 24). Letter From the Director: Advancing AHRQ’s Mission. AHRQ News Now, Special Edition. https://www.ahrq.gov/news/newsletters/e-newsletter/977.html
[10] Maternal and Child Health Bureau. National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH). Health Resources & Services Administration. https://mchb.hrsa.gov/data-research/national-survey-childrens-health#:~:text=Historically%20enhanced%202016%2D2020%20National%20Survey%20of%20Children's,NSCH%20data%20set%20released%20in%20October%202023.
[11] Goldman, M. (2025, Oct 15). HHS recalls laid-off health statistics staff. Axios. https://www.axios.com/2025/10/15/trump-hhs-laid-off-employees-government-shutdown-cdc
[12] Cooney, E. (2025, Oct 14). CDC team running top survey on health and nutrition is laid off. Stat News. https://www.statnews.com/2025/10/14/cdc-behind-top-nutrition-survey-nhanes-laid-off/
[13] National Center for Health Statistics. (2025, Sept 15). National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, New Content and Proposal Guidelines. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://wwwn.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/proposalguidelines.aspx
[14] National Survey on Drug Use and Health. About the Survey. https://nsduhweb.rti.org/respweb/about_nsduh.html