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Health Care Costs Keep Rising … Why and Who Pays?

The U.S. spends more on health care than other large, wealthy countries. Concerns about rising costs aren’t new, yet somehow we keep paying the bill. In this video, KFF’s Larry Levitt explains how we got here, who bears the consequences and why reining in spending systematically may be central to the next big health care debate. KFF’s Larry Levitt, Executive Vice President for Health Policy, explains how we got here, who bears the consequences and why reining in spending systematically may be central to the next big health care debate.

The MIDTERMS

KFF Health Tracking Poll: MAHA and the Midterms

Chemical food additive and pesticide concerns associated with the Make America Health Again (MAHA) movement are shared broadly across the public. But when it comes to voters, health care costs are a higher priority and bigger motivator, even among MAHA supporters, a new KFF Health Tracking Poll finds. When asked to identify their most important health priority for government to address, far more MAHA-supporting voters identify lowering the cost of health care (42%) than other issues more closely associated with the movement.

Health System Tracker

Among adults 18 - 64 with private insurance, mental health and substance use treatment accounted for 10% of all overnight stays at hospitals or other medical facilities in 2023.

Cost and Utilization of Inpatient Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment This analysis describes the most common diagnoses for inpatient treatment and total associated costs.

What Are the Recent Trends in Employer-Based Health Coverage? Employer-sponsored health insurance is the largest source of health coverage for people under 65, but its reach is uneven.

How Does U.S. Life Expectancy Compare to Other Countries? The life expectancy gap between the U.S. and peer countries decreased from 4.1 years in 2023 to 3.7 years in 2024 as U.S. mortality dropped.

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.

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  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll – May 2017: The AHCA’s Proposed Changes to Health Care

    Report

    With House Republicans passing the American Health Care Act (AHCA), their plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and the Senate currently debating the plan and discussing their own approach, the latest tracking poll finds more view the ACA favorably than view the AHCA favorably. The poll examines attitudes towards specific provisions included in the replacement plan and how the public thinks the replacement plan will affect their own health care.

  • Poll: Public Views the ACA More Favorably Than Congress’ Plan to Replace It, Though Republicans Favor the Replacement

    News Release

    Public Grows More Pessimistic About How Repeal Will Affect Them Personally Most (55%) of the public holds an unfavorable view of the Congressional plan that would repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and the same share (55%) want the Senate either to make major changes to the House-passed bill or not pass it all, finds the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. Three in 10 (31%) of the public hold favorable views of the American…

  • How Much Could Medicare Beneficiaries Pay For a Hospital Stay Related to COVID-19?

    Issue Brief

    As the coronavirus continues to spread, the number of people on Medicare admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 related illness is expected to rise. We analyze how much Medicare beneficiaries could pay out-of-pocket for an inpatient hospital admission under traditional Medicare (assuming no supplemental coverage) or Medicare Advantage plans.

  • The U.S. Has Fewer Physicians and Hospital Beds Per Capita Than Italy and Other Countries Overwhelmed by COVID-19

    News Release

    A new analysis and chart collection finds that the U.S. has fewer hospital beds and practicing physicians per capita than many similarly large and wealthy countries with health care systems already strained by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to Italy and Spain, two countries in which hospitals have already been overwhelmed by an influx of COVID-19 patients, the U.S. has fewer practicing physicians per capita - 2.6 per 1,000 people, compared to 4.0 in Italy…

  • How Health Costs Might Change with COVID-19

    Issue Brief

    As the coronavirus spreads rapidly across the United States, private health insurers and government health programs could potentially be burdened with higher health care costs. However, the extent to which costs grow, and how the burden is distributed across payers, programs, individuals, and geography are still very much unknown. A new issue brief, available in full on the Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker, explores some of the factors driving health costs upward and downward, as well…

  • Assessing the Performance of the U.S. Health System

    Issue Brief

    Health spending growth has consistently outpaced U.S. economic growth and is higher than medical spending in other wealthy countries. Despite spending more, the United States doesn't have better health outcome in terms of life expectancy, mortality rates and other measures. This brief provides an overview of trends in health costs and the performance of the U.S. health system, including comparisons to countries from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The brief charts growth…

  • Our Fragmented Approach to Health-Care Costs

    From Drew Altman

    In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, Drew Altman discusses this week's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report on health spending and assesses the current effort to control health-care costs.