Health Costs

The MIDTERMS

KFF Health Tracking Poll: MAHA and the Midterms

Chemical food additive and pesticide concerns associated with the Make America Health Again (MAHA) movement are shared broadly across the public. But when it comes to voters, health care costs are a higher priority and bigger motivator, even among MAHA supporters, a new KFF Health Tracking Poll finds. When asked to identify their most important health priority for government to address, far more MAHA-supporting voters identify lowering the cost of health care (42%) than other issues more closely associated with the movement.

Affordable care act

ACA Marketplace Survey Feature Image - Website

Cost Concerns and Coverage Changes: A Follow-Up Survey of ACA Marketplace Enrollees

This KFF survey is a follow-up survey of adults who had ACA Marketplace insurance in 2025. The survey examines the cost concerns and coverage changes of Marketplace enrollees following the end of the enhanced premium tax credits and finds that half of returning enrollees say their health care costs are “a lot higher” and most expect to cut back on basic household expenses to afford coverage.

Health System Tracker

What Are the Recent Trends in Employer-Based Health Coverage? Employer-sponsored health insurance is the largest source of health coverage for people under 65, but its reach is uneven.

How Does U.S. Life Expectancy Compare to Other Countries? The life expectancy gap between the U.S. and peer countries decreased from 4.1 years in 2023 to 3.7 years in 2024 as U.S. mortality dropped.

How Does Cost Affect Access to Health Care? In 2024, about 1 in 6 adults reported delaying or not getting healthcare due to cost, including medical or mental health care.

How Does Health Spending in the U.S. Compare to Other Countries? While the U.S. still spends the most in total dollars, eight OECD nations had a higher percentage increase in per-person health spending in 2024.

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  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — August 2011

    Feature

    The August tracking poll examines the views of Americans without health insurance, with a particular focus on how they think the health reform law will affect them. Findings from the poll include: Although estimates are that 32 million uninsured Americans will gain coverage under the ACA, only about half of non-elderly Americans currently without coverage say they are familiar with the chief components in the law designed to achieve this goal. Perhaps because awareness of…

  • Pulling it Together: 19.7

    Perspective

    Several years ago Joanne Silberner from NPR offered some advice I liked. Joanne said that the secret to effective communication was to "have a killer anecdote and a killer number." Here is a killer number: 19.7. That's the average number of years between major attempts at health reform since Harry Truman made health reform a top priority and his plan was branded a socialist plot and soundly defeated in 1950. The chart below chronicles the…

  • Pulling It Together: Keeping the Health Reform Coalition Together

    Perspective

    We could be headed for a new schism in the debate about health reform. Not the familiar gulf between advocates of the market and government, or the predictable one between deficit hawks and spenders, but a new one that crosses traditional partisan and ideological lines between advocates of long-term reform of the health care delivery system, and immediate help for the uninsured and insured struggling with health care costs.  This new rift is most likely to develop if tight money and a crowded agenda…

  • Summary of Findings: Privatization of Public Hospitals

    Poll Finding

    This Summary presents background, findings, and data from the Economic and Social Research Institute's (ESRI) full report, Privatization of Public Hospitals. Section I provides background about public hospital conversions, including the role of public hospitals, reasons for conversion, the mechanisms of conversion and new ownership entities, and analysis of national and regional public hospital data. Section II provides a discussion of the five case studies of public hospital conversions and the key findings from the…

  • Retiree Health Benefits Now and In the Future – Chartpack

    Report

    This chartpack (charts used at the briefing releasing this survey), from the survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Hewitt Associates between June and September 2003, provides detailed information on retiree health programs offered by large private-sector employers. The data in this survey reflect the responses of 408 large firms (private-sector employers with 1,000 or more workers) and provides information on eligibility, benefits, premiums, and total cost in 2003, and offers insights as to…

  • Health Coverage for the Unemployed

    Issue Brief

    This policy brief outlines the challenges facing the unemployed as they seek to remain insured after losing jobs and employer-sponsored health coverage. In May 2011, 13.9 million people in the U.S. were unemployed. Of these, 6.2 million had been unemployed for six months or more and faced limited options to remain insured. The brief examines potential sources of insurance, including through a spouse's plan, COBRA, the non-group insurance market and public programs. It also discusses…

  • Pulling It Together: Moving Away From Employer Based Coverage: Don’t Forget Public Opinion

    Perspective

    One of the underlying big issues in the unfolding health reform debate is whether most Americans should continue to get insurance through work where they get it today, or purchase it themselves in the individual private health insurance marketplace. Senator McCain promotes moving to individual insurance and having individuals rather than employers make coverage decisions, as has President Bush.  But this is not only a conservative idea.  Many on the liberal side -- such as…

  • 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey

    Report

    This annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, worker contributions, cost-sharing provisions, offer rates, and more. This year's report also looks at how employers are approaching coverage of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, including their concerns about utilization and cost.

  • Health News Index – July/August 2001

    Poll Finding

    Health News Index July/August, 2001 The July/August 2001 edition of the Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health, Health News Index includes questions about major health stories covered in the news, including stem cell research and patients rights legislation. The Health News Index is designed to help the news media and people in the health field gain a better understanding of which health stories Americans are following and what they understand about those health issues.…