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

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2011 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

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The Massachusetts Health Care Landscape -- May 2012
This fact sheet summarizes the Massachusetts health care landscape, including data on demographics, population health, the uninsured and the state Medicaid program.

Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Six Years Later -- May 2012
This brief examines Massachusetts' experience with coverage and access to care since enacting comprehensive state health reform in 2006. It also compares the state's reform with the national reforms in the Affordable Care Act.

Health Care Costs: A Primer -- May 2012
This primer on health care spending in the United States reviews the growth in health care spending since 1970 and the impact of health care costs on families and employers.

Prescription Drug Procurement and the Federal Budget -- May 2012
This report considers areas where Medicare faces limited opportunity for market-based competition and price negotiation to drive down drug spending: drug purchasing for low-income people who face minimal cost-sharing requirements, and purchasing certain unique drugs, such as biologicals, that have no therapeutic alternatives or competitors.

Medicare Part D Spending Trends: Understanding Key Drivers and the Role of Competition -- May 2012
This brief examines the role of competition and other factors contributing to Medicare's lower-than-expected spending on prescription drugs under the Part D drug benefit.

Insurer Rebates under the Medical Loss Ratio: 2012 Estimates -- April 2012
Beginning in 2011, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires insurance plans to pay out a minimum percentage of premium dollars towards health care expenses and quality improvement activities, limiting the amount spent on administrative and marketing costs and profit. Under the law, large group plans are required to spend at least 85 percent of premium dollars on health care and quality improvement, while small group plans must spend at least 80 percent. These ratios are known as the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR). This analysis looks at the latest estimates provided by insurers to state insurance commissioners.

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll -- April 2012 -- April 2012
The April Health Tracking Poll gauged Americans' opinions of the Affordable Care Act in the wake of the Supreme Court oral arguments in the legal challenges to the health reform law in March.

Patient Cost-Sharing Under the Affordable Care Act -- April 2012
This data note provides estimates of the potential cost-sharing levels for plans that will be available in the non-group market (including in new health insurance exchanges) when the ACA is fully implemented in 2014. It builds on previous work from Kaiser and reflects recent guidance from the federal government on benefits and cost-sharing for plans offered in those markets.

Pulling It Together: The Falloff in Utilization: "There's Something Happening, Here, What It Is Ain't Exactly Clear" -- April 2012
In his latest column, Kaiser Family Foundation President Drew Altman looks at the falloff in utilization of health services.

Federal Funding Under the Affordable Care Act -- April 2012
This fact sheet provides highlights from an analysis tracking the flow of federal Affordable Care Act funds to states as reporter in the Department of Health and Human Services grant database as well as periodic reports from HHS and the Internal Revenue Service.

This fact sheet summarizes the Massachusetts health care landscape, including data on demographics, population health, the uninsured and the state Medicaid program.

This brief examines Massachusetts' experience with coverage and access to care since enacting comprehensive state health reform in 2006. It also compares the state's reform with the national reforms in the Affordable Care Act.

This primer on health care spending in the United States reviews the growth in health care spending since 1970 and the impact of health care costs on families and employers.

This report considers areas where Medicare faces limited opportunity for market-based competition and price negotiation to drive down drug spending: drug purchasing for low-income people who face minimal cost-sharing requirements, and purchasing certain unique drugs, such as biologicals, that have no therapeutic alternatives or competitors.

This brief examines the role of competition and other factors contributing to Medicare's lower-than-expected spending on prescription drugs under the Part D drug benefit.

Beginning in 2011, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires insurance plans to pay out a minimum percentage of premium dollars towards health care expenses and quality improvement activities, limiting the amount spent on administrative and marketing costs and profit. Under the law, large group plans are required to spend at least 85 percent of premium dollars on health care and quality improvement, while small group plans must spend at least 80 percent. These ratios are known as the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR). This analysis looks at the latest estimates provided by insurers to state insurance commissioners.

The April Health Tracking Poll gauged Americans' opinions of the Affordable Care Act in the wake of the Supreme Court oral arguments in the legal challenges to the health reform law in March.

This data note provides estimates of the potential cost-sharing levels for plans that will be available in the non-group market (including in new health insurance exchanges) when the ACA is fully implemented in 2014. It builds on previous work from Kaiser and reflects recent guidance from the federal government on benefits and cost-sharing for plans offered in those markets.

In his latest column, Kaiser Family Foundation President Drew Altman looks at the falloff in utilization of health services.

This fact sheet provides highlights from an analysis tracking the flow of federal Affordable Care Act funds to states as reporter in the Department of Health and Human Services grant database as well as periodic reports from HHS and the Internal Revenue Service.

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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.