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Affordability and Spending

Beyond the Data: Are the Tradeoffs from Prior Authorization Worth It? 

In his latest column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman asks if prior authorization review could be eliminated entirely, discussing how it might be done and the tradeoffs. He writes “Nothing makes American health care consumers more frustrated using the health system than prior authorization review. I know because they told us that, ranking prior authorization review far ahead of any other problems they have getting care and navigating the health care system, including getting appointments and understanding their bills.”

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 that these 2025 Marketplace enrollees are experiencing following the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits. The survey 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

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.

 

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 Do Health Expenditures Vary Across the Population? Five percent of the population made up nearly half of all health spendings, pending an average of $72,918 annually in 2023.

NHE explorer

National Health Spending Explorer: Get up-to-date information on U.S. health spending by federal and local governments, private companies, and individuals.

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  • 2025 Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator

    Feature

    The Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator, updated with 2025 premium data, provides estimates of health insurance premiums and subsidies for people purchasing insurance on their own in health insurance exchanges (or “Marketplaces”) created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

  • Calculadora del Mercado de Seguros Médicos

    Feature

    Esta calculadora ilustra las primas (el costo mensual de su seguro) y subsidios para las personas que compran seguro médico por su propia cuenta en el mercado de seguros de salud (o de intercambio) creado por la Ley de Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio (Affordable Care Act, ACA, en inglés).

  • 2025 Calculadora del Mercado de Seguros Médicos

    Feature

    Esta calculadora ilustra las primas (el costo mensual de su seguro) y subsidios para las personas que compran seguro médico por su propia cuenta en el mercado de seguros de salud (o de intercambio) creado por la Ley de Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio (Affordable Care Act, ACA, en inglés).

  • Eight Trends Shaping 2026 Health Care Costs

    Other Post

    A new Peterson-KFF policy explainer lays out the health care trends shaping the 2026 policy debates, including rising premiums, spending on prescription drugs, health care price transparency and consolidation, artificial intelligence in health care, Medicaid funding cuts and other key program changes.

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

    Poll Finding

    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 that these 2025 Marketplace enrollees are experiencing following the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits. The survey 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.

  • KFF Follow-Up Survey of Marketplace Enrollees: Following End of Enhanced Credits, Half of Marketplace Enrollees Now Say Costs Are a Lot Higher, Most Expect to Cut Back on Basic Household Expenses to Afford Coverage

    News Release

    Following the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits for people with Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace plans, a new KFF follow-up survey of the same Marketplace enrollees KFF surveyed in 2025 finds half (51%) of returning enrollees say their health care costs are “a lot higher” this year compared to last year, including four in ten who specifically say their premiums are “a lot higher.”

  • How Medicare Negotiated Drug Prices Compare to Other Countries

    Issue Brief

    This analysis finds that Medicare's negotiated prices for 10 high-expenditure prescription drugs are lower than what private Medicare drug plans had been paying, but still much higher than the prices available in 11 other wealthy nations.. It is available on the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker.

  • The Development of Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising Regulation

    Other Post

    This article, which appears in the Food and Drug Law Journal, vol. 57, no. 3, 2002, pp. 423-444 was based on a report written by F.B. Palumbo and C.D. Mullins at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy Center on Drugs and Public Policy and funded by the Kaiser Family Foundation.