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If the enhanced premium tax credits expire this year, the impact on ACA enrollees’ premium payments will vary by income, age, and geography. Among the five congressional districts with the highest premium increases, premiums will increase by over 500%.
issue brief provides an overview of actions by the Trump administration and Congress that are likely to affect lawfully present immigrants’ access to health coverage and care, including new restrictions on eligibility for coverage and services as well as changes in immigration enforcement and other policies.
This issue brief provides an overview of the potential impact not extending enhanced ACA premium tax credits could have on people with HIV and the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. Enhanced credits have improved insurance coverage affordability for millions of people, including those with HIV. People with HIV may be particularly vulnerable, given that they are more likely to have Marketplace plans and many also rely on the federally-funded Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program to help cover plan costs. Loss of coverage and increased costs could lead to disruptions in care for people with HIV which could have serious implications for individual and public health.
Each year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updates Medicare payments for physician services and other Part B services through rulemaking. This issue brief answers key questions about how physicians are paid under the Medicare program, and reviews policy options under discussion for payment reform.
Since the enhanced premium tax credits became available in 2021, ACA Marketplace enrollment has increased significantly in some red states, and 57% of enrollees now live in Republican congressional districts.
This Health Policy 101 chapter explores the performance of the U.S. health system on a number of cost, outcomes, and quality measures by comparing it with those in similarly large and wealthy OECD nations. It highlights that despite significant spending, Americans have shorter life expectancies and encounter more barriers to health care, influenced by both the health system's structure and broader socioeconomic factors.
This Health Policy 101 chapter explores the complex landscape of private health insurance regulation in the United States, detailing the interplay between state and federal regulations that shape access, affordability, and the adequacy of private health coverage. It focuses on key laws such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Employer Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and discusses how regulations impact the private insurance market, illustrating the challenges consumers face in navigating this system.
This Health Policy 101 chapter explores trends in health care costs in the U.S. and the factors that contribute to this spending. It also examines how health care spending varies across the population, the impact of costs on care affordability and individuals' overall financial vulnerability.
This Health Policy 101 chapter explores Medicaid, the primary U.S. program providing comprehensive coverage of health care and long-term services and supports to about 80 million low-income people. Originating in 1965 and expanding with the Affordable Care Act, the chapter reviews Medicaid's evolution, including 2025 changes, and its joint federal and state financing and administration. It discusses how state-level flexibility in managing Medicaid leads to variation in coverage, spending, health care delivery, and access across different states.
This Health Policy 101 chapter explores Medicare, a federal health insurance program covering more than 68 million people, established in 1965 for people age 65 or older and later expanded to cover people under age 65 with long-term disabilities. In addition to detailing Medicare eligibility, coverage, and spending, the chapter examines the increased role of private plans in providing benefits and the financing challenges posed by increasing health care costs and an aging population.
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