KFF Health Tracking Poll: Health Care Issues in the Lead-Up to the 2026 Midterm Election
Health care costs are tied with gas as voters’ top economic concern, and voters trust Democrats more than Republicans on key issues, including health care costs and the cost of living. Meanwhile, support for Medicare-for-All has reached a new high in KFF polling — though views shift significantly when competing claims from critics and proponents are heard.
What Do the Midterm Election Results Mean for Health Care?
Join KFF for a special post-election discussion and live podcast taping on these topics and more at noon ET on November 5. KFF experts and journalists will provide analysis and insights about what the election results could mean for health policy and take audience questions. Part of the discussion will focus on public opinion survey data on how voters weighed health care as they went to the polls nationally and in the four states with abortion-related ballot initiatives.
Midterm Election Updates
These fact sheets offer background on election-related health care issues. See more from KFF’s Health in the Midterms series.
ACA Marketplaces
More people than ever got coverage through the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces in 2025, but the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits has driven up what people pay and contributed to declining enrollment in 2026.
Medicaid
Major federal changes to Medicaid eligibility and financing from the 2025 reconciliation law are coming, including new work requirements that will affect millions of Medicaid enrollees.
aca open enrollment
ACA Policies to See Another 13% Rise On Average for Premium Costs Next Year, and Other Things to Watch for the 2027 ACA Open Enrollment Period
The ACA Marketplace Open Enrollment season began November 1, bringing higher out-of-pocket premium payments, new eligibility requirements for certain groups, and state efforts to offset premium increases following the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits. What could these and other changes mean for enrollees?
health costs
Workers Now Pay $7,471 on Average Annually for Family Health Coverage, Up 9% or $621 from 2025
The 2026 Employer Health Benefits Survey finds that workers are paying on average $7,471 annually toward the premiums for employer-sponsored family health benefits in 2026, which is up 9%, or $621, from 2025. Including the employers’ share, total annual premiums for family coverage now average $28,303, up 5% from 2025.
new and noteworthy
Latest News
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A Few Miles From the US Capitol, Dozens Slept in Their Cars, Waiting for Free Care
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Expecting a Baby? Five Tips To Help You Prepare for Pregnancy Costs
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Georgia Helped Inspire the Medicaid Work Rules. Its Own Rules Could Soon End.
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A GOP Congressman Backed Medicaid Work Requirements. His Voters Might Be Exempt.
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