Affordability


A promotional image for the the KFF Health Policy 101 Health Care Costs and Affordability chapter

Health Policy 101 is a comprehensive guide covering fundamental aspects of U.S. health policy and programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, employer-sponsored insurance, the uninsured population, health care costs and affordability, women's health issues, and health care politics. The Health Care Costs and Affordability 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.

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  • Overview: 2017 Kaiser Women’s Health Survey

    Issue Brief

    The Kaiser Family Foundation has conducted the Kaiser Women’s Health Survey approximately every four years since 2001 to provide a look into the range of women’s health care experiences, especially those that are not typically addressed by most surveys. The findings presented in this report examine women’s coverage, access, and affordability of care, their connections to the health care delivery system and use of preventive care, use of reproductive health services, and responsibilities caring for family health needs. The survey was conducted in the summer and fall of 2017 and included a nationally representative sample of 2,751 women ages 18 to 64.

  • Medical Debt Among People With Health Insurance

    Report

    This report examines the causes and contributors to medical debt, medical bankruptcy, and other difficulties with medical bills among people with insurance. Through in-depth interviews of nearly two-dozen people and quantitative analysis of national survey data, the authors of this report find that in-network and out-of-net-work cost sharing primarily contribute to medical debt among the insured.

  • Coverage for Abortion Services and the ACA

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief, Coverage of Abortion Services and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), summarizes the major coverage provisions of the ACA that are relevant for women of reproductive age, reviews current federal and state policies on Medicaid and insurance coverage of abortion services as they relate to the ACA, and presents national and state estimates on the availability of abortion coverage for women who are newly eligible for Medicaid or private coverage through the Marketplaces as a result of the ACA.

  • Abortion Coverage in Marketplace Plans, 2015

    Issue Brief

    This brief analyzes state policies and insurer coverage decisions affecting the availability of abortion coverage in 2015 insurance plans offered through the Marketplaces. It finds that abortion coverage is unavailable in a total of 31 states, 24 of which have enacted laws that ban or restrict abortion coverage in plans sold through their Marketplaces and 7 of which have no abortion coverage restrictions but also have no Marketplace plans offering it.

  • Medicare And Medicaid At 50

    Poll Finding

    Medicare and Medicaid were signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 30, 1965 in a bipartisan effort to provide health insurance coverage for low-income, disabled, and elderly Americans. In their 50 year history, each of these programs has come to play a key role in providing health coverage to millions of Americans today and make up a significant component of federal and state budgets. As major programs both in size and scope, their role and the ways in which they operate are often debated by policymakers and the public alike. As the programs reach their 50th year, the Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a nationally representative survey of Americans to explore the public’s views of these programs, their experiences as beneficiaries, and their opinions on proposals for future changes.

  • With Medicare and Medicaid Getting High Marks from the Public and Beneficiaries, Majorities Favor Status Quo over Major Structural Changes Such As Premium Supports or Block Grants

    News Release

    Among Medicare Changes, Strongest and Broadest Support Is for Negotiating Drug Prices People With Medicare, Medicaid and Employer Plans Give Their Coverage Similar Ratings, But Some Report Affordability and Physician Access Problems Fifty years after President Lyndon Johnson signed the law creating the Medicare and Medicaid programs, a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll finds a…

  • Media Briefing to Release New Survey Tracking California’s Previously Uninsured Residents Under the Affordable Care Act

    Event Date:
    Event

    Media-only web briefing that released a new survey tracking the experiences of California's previously uninsured residents under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). New survey provides a detailed assessment of how well the ACA is working for previously uninsured residents in a state that embraced the ACA's coverage expansion opportunities by establishing the Covered California insurance marketplace and expanding its Medi-Cal program.

  • California’s Previously Uninsured After The ACA’s Second Open Enrollment Period

    Report

    The Kaiser Family Foundation California Longitudinal Panel Survey is a series of surveys that, over time, tracks the experiences and views of a representative, randomly selected sample of Californians who were uninsured prior to the major coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The initial baseline survey was conducted with a representative sample of 2,001 nonelderly uninsured Californian adults in summer 2013, prior to the ACA’s initial open enrollment period. The second survey in the series followed up with the same group of previously uninsured Californians who participated in the baseline (a longitudinal panel survey). The third in the series, and the focus of this report, followed up with them again after the second open enrollment period in spring 2015 to find out whether more have gained coverage, lost coverage, or remained uninsured, what barriers to coverage remain, how those who now have insurance view their coverage, and to assess the impacts that gaining health insurance may have had on financial security and access to care.

  • Health Care Costs: What You Need To Know

    Event Date:
    Event

    On Wednesday, April 1, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Alliance for Health Reform presented a briefing to explore the trends in health care costs in both the public and private sectors.

  • Federal and State Standards for “Essential Community Providers” under the ACA and Implications for Women’s Health

    Issue Brief

    Safety net providers such as community health centers and family planning clinics have served a significant role in the provision of primary care and reproductive health care services to low-income and uninsured people, particularly women. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has a provision aimed at assuring that newly-insured individuals, as well as those without coverage, can continue seeing their trusted safety net providers, also called Essential Community Providers (ECPs). This brief reviews the definition of ECPs, examines the federal and state rules that govern the extent to which plans must include these providers in their networks, identifies the variation from state to state, and discusses the particular importance of these rules and providers for women’s access to care.