Health Insurance Costs, Health Care & Health Care Services - Research, Public Opinion, Facts & Analysis

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2007 Kaiser/HRET Employer Health Benefits Survey
This annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including changes in premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing policies and other relevant information.

Health Care Costs: A Primer
This primer on health care costs examines the rapid growth in the nation’s health care costs since 1970 and the factors that influence health care spending, including new medical technologies, population changes and changes in disease prevalence. It also examines the impact of health care costs on families, with insurance premiums rising 87 percent between 2000 and 2006, more than four times the growth in wages.

Recent Documents: (437 results)

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Public Views on Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising -- May 2008
Mollyann Brodie, Kaiser vice president and director of Public Opinion and Media Research, testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations about the public's views of prescription drugs, the pharmaceutical industry, and direct-to-consumer drug advertising.

Public and Physician Views of Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising -- May 2008
This spotlight examines the public's familiarity with prescription drug advertising, their general opinions of these ads, and their experiences talking to doctors about drugs they saw advertised. It also explores these topics from the doctors’ point of view. The spotlight compiles and analyzes public opinion data from Kaiser surveys and other sources.

Snapshots: Offer Rates for Smaller Establishments by Business Age -- May 2008
This new analysis focuses on how the age of a business influences whether a small establishment offers health insurance coverage to its employees. It is part of the Foundation's online series Snapshots: Health Care Costs.

Pulling It Together: Health IN the Economy -- May 2008
Will health fade as a public concern as the economy rises as the public's top priority? How are concerns about health and the economy linked? Does the rise of economic concerns present obstacles or opportunities for health reform? In his latest Pulling It Together essay, Foundation President Drew Altman takes on these questions, drawing from the Foundations's latest polls and analyses in a column called Health IN the Economy.

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 -- April 2008 -- April 2008
This poll finds that health care costs rank among Americans' top personal economic problems, and their struggles to deal with those costs have affected both their financial well-being and their family’s health care. Conducted by the Foundation’s public opinion researchers, the poll probes into the economic concerns facing Americans and the ways they have dealt with the cost of health care.

Survey Brief: Economic Problems Facing Families -- April 2008
This poll finds that health care costs rank among Americans’ top personal economic problems, and their struggles to deal with those costs have affected both their financial well-being and their family’s health care. Conducted by the Foundation’s public opinion researchers, the poll probes into the economic concerns facing Americans and the ways they have dealt with the cost of health care.

How Private Health Coverage Works: A Primer – 2008 Update -- April 2008
This primer explains the role and operations of private health coverage in the United States. It discusses the fundamental aims of private coverage and sorts out the complicated web of state and federal regulations that govern it.

Health Affairs Article: Comparing the Assets of Uninsured Households to Cost Sharing Under High Deductible Health Plans -- April 2008
Published as a Health Affairs Web Exclusive, this Kaiser Family Foundation study finds relatively few uninsured households have enough financial assets to cover the cost-sharing in consumer-driven health plans tied to Health Savings Accounts.

Pulling It Together: Critical Path To Health Reform -- March 2008
The second installment of the new Pulling It Together, from Drew Altman series lays out the steps that could lead to the first major national health reform debate since the early nineties. The series of charts and accompanying text illustrate the three primary stages and "make or break" decision points that could mark the path to a major health reform initiative or knock it off track. This new section of the Web site "pulls together" analysis, data, and ideas from across the Foundation's work to try to illuminate critical health policy issues.

Snapshots: Employer Health Insurance Costs and Worker Compensation -- March 2008
This analysis by Kaiser Family Foundation researchers examines employers' payroll and health care costs and examines wide variations in those costs by occupation and firm size. It is part of the Foundation's online series, Snapshots: Health Care Costs.

Mollyann Brodie, Kaiser vice president and director of Public Opinion and Media Research, testified before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations about the public's views of prescription drugs, the pharmaceutical industry, and direct-to-consumer drug advertising.

This spotlight examines the public's familiarity with prescription drug advertising, their general opinions of these ads, and their experiences talking to doctors about drugs they saw advertised. It also explores these topics from the doctors’ point of view. The spotlight compiles and analyzes public opinion data from Kaiser surveys and other sources.

This new analysis focuses on how the age of a business influences whether a small establishment offers health insurance coverage to its employees. It is part of the Foundation's online series Snapshots: Health Care Costs.

Will health fade as a public concern as the economy rises as the public's top priority? How are concerns about health and the economy linked? Does the rise of economic concerns present obstacles or opportunities for health reform? In his latest Pulling It Together essay, Foundation President Drew Altman takes on these questions, drawing from the Foundations's latest polls and analyses in a column called Health IN the Economy.

This poll finds that health care costs rank among Americans' top personal economic problems, and their struggles to deal with those costs have affected both their financial well-being and their family’s health care. Conducted by the Foundation’s public opinion researchers, the poll probes into the economic concerns facing Americans and the ways they have dealt with the cost of health care.

This poll finds that health care costs rank among Americans’ top personal economic problems, and their struggles to deal with those costs have affected both their financial well-being and their family’s health care. Conducted by the Foundation’s public opinion researchers, the poll probes into the economic concerns facing Americans and the ways they have dealt with the cost of health care.

This primer explains the role and operations of private health coverage in the United States. It discusses the fundamental aims of private coverage and sorts out the complicated web of state and federal regulations that govern it.

Published as a Health Affairs Web Exclusive, this Kaiser Family Foundation study finds relatively few uninsured households have enough financial assets to cover the cost-sharing in consumer-driven health plans tied to Health Savings Accounts.

The second installment of the new Pulling It Together, from Drew Altman series lays out the steps that could lead to the first major national health reform debate since the early nineties. The series of charts and accompanying text illustrate the three primary stages and "make or break" decision points that could mark the path to a major health reform initiative or knock it off track. This new section of the Web site "pulls together" analysis, data, and ideas from across the Foundation's work to try to illuminate critical health policy issues.

This analysis by Kaiser Family Foundation researchers examines employers' payroll and health care costs and examines wide variations in those costs by occupation and firm size. It is part of the Foundation's online series, Snapshots: Health Care Costs.

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Health Insurance/Costs

Americans receive their health care coverage from a variety of sources including private insurance provided through their employment or purchased on their own, and public insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. About 160 million nonelderly Americans have employer-sponsored health insurance, and another 13 million purchase insurance directly from an insurer or HMO. Spending for health care services continues to rise, in total ($1.4 trillion in 2001; $3.1 trillion projected for 2012) and as a share of the country’s gross national product (14.1% in 2001; 17.7% projected for 2012).

Premium costs for people with private insurance have risen dramatically in recent years, with double-digit rate increases each of the first three years of the new millennium. At the same time, consumers have seen their out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, copayments, and other cost sharing rise significantly over the same period. While coverage availability has declined only modestly for those with job-based coverage, a slack economy and high unemployment have focused attention on access and cost issues faced by consumers seeking individual coverage. Coverage and cost issues have led to debate about how to control increases in health care costs and how to provide coverage for the uninsured.

Through its Health Care Marketplace Project, the Foundation provides information and analysis about issues and trends in health insurance, health care costs, and health care services. Descriptions of how the private health insurance market operates and how it is regulated are provided in a series of fact sheets, chart packs, and reports. Data from the annual KFF/HRET employer health benefit survey documents annual changes in the costs, availability, and benefits of job-based coverage. Information on insurance issues of importance to consumers, such as appeal rights and other consumer protections, is provided through reports and surveys. The Foundation also provides information on trends in health care costs and how these costs affect individuals and employers.