The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
KFF’s policy research provides facts and analysis on a wide range of policy issues and public programs.
KFF designs, conducts and analyzes original public opinion and survey research on Americans’ attitudes, knowledge, and experiences with the health care system to help amplify the public’s voice in major national debates.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the organization’s core operating programs.
This brief explains three provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – risk adjustment, reinsurance, and risk corridors – that were intended to promote insurer competition on the basis of quality and value and promote insurance market stability, particularly in the early years of reform as the ACA marketplaces, also known as exchanges, were established.
Premium increases in the health insurance marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will likely be higher in 2017 than in recent years; however, the actual average benchmark premium in the ACA marketplaces in 2016 is below what the Congressional Budget Office projected for 2016 before the health law was passed. How actual marketplace premiums compare to what CBO expected in doing those budget projections is an important factor in determining whether the ACA continues to be on track to reducing the deficit.
A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of Affordable Care Act proposed marketplace rates finds benchmark silver plan premiums are projected to increase 10 percent in 2017 on average across 14 major metropolitan areas.
During the third Affordable Care Act open enrollment period, assistance programs helped an estimated 5.3 million people -- a number that was 10 percent lower than the prior year and that included a higher share of people renewing coverage, finds a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey of assister programs and brokers.
In its third year, the survey tracks the experiences of assistance programs signing people up for Affordable Care Act coverage during open enrollment and, for consumers who qualify, during special enrollment periods. This year, for the second time, the survey includes health insurance brokers who helped people apply for non-group coverage in an ACA marketplace.
Drew Altman discusses Republican and Democratic health reform objectives, and why GOP proposals and the Affordable Care Act are better understood as policies with very different goals, trade-offs and consequences.
Following the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) third open enrollment period, a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey of people who buy their own health insurance finds most marketplace enrollees give their coverage good marks, though concerns about premiums, deductibles, and other costs have risen since 2014.
The survey, conducted shortly after the close of the Affordable Care Act’s third open enrollment period, is the third in a series exploring the experiences of individuals who purchase their own health insurance in the nongroup market, including coverage purchased both inside and outside the ACA’s marketplaces. It examines enrollees’ satisfaction with their health plans’ premiums, deductibles, and provider networks, their views on affordability, shopping experiences, and problems encountered with their plans.
Counties with 1 exchange insurer Download Source Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of data from Healthcare.gov; state-based exchange enrollment websites and rate filings; and news reports of market entrants and exits.
The YouToons help consumers understand health insurance by explaining health insurance premiums, out-of-pocket costs, and provider networks. These three videos are excerpts from the 2014 YouToons video, Health Insurance Explained – The YouToons Have It Covered.
© 2025 KFF