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Democrats Hold a Nearly 2-to-1 Advantage Over Republicans on Handling the Cost of Health Care

Poll: Cost of Health Care and Gas Top Voters’ Midterm Concerns; Democrats Hold Significant Advantage on Health Care Costs and Cost of Living 

With the 2026 midterms about a month away, health care costs remain tied with gas as voters’ top midterm concerns and the Democrats hold a clear edge over the Republicans Party on who voters trust to handle many top electoral issues, including the cost of health care and the cost of living. Two-thirds of U.S. adults now favor Medicare-for-all, a new high in KFF Polling, but support shifts when competing claims from critics and proponents are heard.

New and noteworthy

Americans’ Challenges with Health Care Costs

This data note reviews our recent polling data that finds that many Americans struggle to afford many aspects of health care, including disproportionate shares of uninsured adults, Black and Hispanic adults and those with lower incomes.

Health System Tracker

Is This A Healthcare Economy?

Health care employment has grown faster than other sectors of the economy, with jobs in physician offices, hospitals, outpatient care centers, home health, and other settings increasing over the past year even as the rest of the job market plateaued. 

U.S. Health Spending Is Expected to Reach $9 Trillion by 2034

How Much is Health Spending Expected to Grow?

This chart collection explores how much health spending is expected to grow in the coming years, with a look at growth in prescription drug spending, out-of-pocket spending, and related trends.

How TrumpRx Brand-Name Drug Prices Compare

TrumpRx prices for brand-name drugs are about as likely to be higher as lower compared to average prices in other wealthy countries, according to an analysis that compares 32 brand-name drugs.

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  • Analysis: Inconsistencies Within Hospital Price Transparency Data Make Cost Comparisons Difficult

    News Release

    Since 2021, federal law has required hospitals to publicly post information about their standard prices and negotiated discount rates for common health services to encourage consumers to compare prices and to promote competition. To date, however, the transparency data currently shared by hospitals to comply with the law are messy, inconsistent and confusing, making it challenging, if not impossible, for patients or researchers to use them to compare prices across hospitals or payers, a new…

  • Outpatient Visits Are Growing More Complex: Implications for Health Costs

    Issue Brief

    This analysis for the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker uses claims data from private, large employer-based plan to examine trends in complexity coding across outpatient practice settings from 2004 to 2021. It finds a trend toward higher complexity codes that contributes to higher outpatient spending.

  • KFF’s Kaiser Health News and CBS News Team Up to Investigate a Dental Device That Allegedly Has Left a Trail of Mangled Mouths and Devastated Patients

    News Release

    In a months-long project, KFF’s Kaiser Health News correspondent Brett Kelman joined forces with CBS News National Consumer Investigative Correspondent Anna Werner to investigate an unregulated dental device that is at the heart of numerous accounts of pain and disfigurement. At least 10,000 dental patients have been fitted with the fixed Anterior Growth Guidance Appliance (“AGGA”), which costs about $7,000. The device resembles a retainer, is typically worn for several months, and uses springs to…

  • 2017 Employer Health Benefits Survey

    Report

    Excerpt: This annual Employer Health Benefits Survey (EHBS) provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, and other relevant information. The 2017 survey finds average family health premiums rose 3 percent, the sixth straight year of relatively modest growth, to reach 18,764 annually on average.

  • What Do We Know About People with High Out-of-Pocket Spending?

    Feature

    Based on an analysis of claims data, this slideshow examines overall trends, gender and age of high out-of-pocket spenders in large employer health plans, as well as differences in out-of-pocket health expenditures across diseases.

  • Web Briefing for Journalists: Marketplace Open Enrollment in the Trump Era

    Event Date:
    Event

    With the Trump administration’s announcements last week, the landscape around Affordable Care Act marketplaces and the open enrollment period beginning Nov. 1 continues to shift. Though the 2010 health law remains intact for now, consumers will see fundamental differences this year when it comes to signing up for 2018 marketplace plans. Premiums are increasing significantly in some states, though not all consumers will feel the impact. The enrollment period is shorter. Healthcare.gov will experience regular…