Health Costs

The MIDTERMS

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. 

Cumulative percent change in health sector and non-health sector employment, January 1990 - August 2026

What Are the Recent Trends in Health Sector Employment

Health care employment continues to grow even as hiring across other sectors has plateaued. The health sector added nearly 379,000 jobs over the past year, a 2% increase, compared with just 0.2% growth in other non-farm employment, with outpatient care among the fastest-growing health care settings.

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.

Stay informed.

Stay informed.

Filter

1,241-1,250 of 1,618 results

  • Women and Health Care: A National Profile

    Report

    A new national survey of women on their health finds that a substantial percentage of women cannot afford to go to the doctor or get prescriptions filled. Although a majority of women are in good health and satisfied with their health care, many have health problems and do not get adequate levels of preventive care. The report also examines women’s health status, health care costs, insurance, access to care, prevention, and their role in family…

  • Health Care Costs Survey – Summary and Chartpack

    Poll Finding

    The summary and chartpack highlight key findings from the joint USA Today/Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health survey exploring Americans’ views on health care costs. Survey Summary and Chartpack (.pdf)

  • Retired Steelworkers and Their Health Benefits: Results from a 2004 Survey

    Report

    This Kaiser survey report looks at how the bankruptcies of two steel companies, the LTV Corporation and Bethlehem Steel, affected health coverage for the companies' retirees and dependents. The bankruptcies left about 200,000 retirees and spouses without retiree health coverage in 2002 and 2003. The report provides insight into the impact of a tax credit enacted by Congress in 2002 to provide temporary assistance to workers and retirees in "distressed" industries, including the steel industry.…

  • 2006 Kaiser/Hewitt Retiree Health Benefits Survey

    Report

    The 2006 Kaiser/Hewitt survey of large businesses that provide retiree health benefits to their workers assesses their evolving responses to the new Medicare drug benefit in 2006. It also looks at the rising costs and changing benefits of retiree health coverage overall in 2006, as well as the outlook for 2007 and beyond. The Kaiser/Hewitt study, the fifth joint survey since 2002, analyzes responses from a non-probability sample of 302 businesses with 1,000 or more…

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 — June 2007

    Poll Finding

    This June tracking poll finds that health care remains the top domestic issue that the public wants presidential candidates to address, trailing only Iraq on the public’s overall priority list. Iraq ranks first among Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike. Health care ranks second among Democrats and Independents, while Republicans rank immigration second and health care third.  Immigration rose sharply as an issue in the new poll, which was taken as media attention focused on the…

  • Key Findings: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 — June 2007

    Poll Finding

    This document presents key findings from the June 2007 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008, which tracks changes in the saliency of health as a political and policy priority, what the public’s priorities are for a health reform plan and whether any candidates are breaking through with the public with their health reform plans   Key Findings (.pdf)

  • How Non-Group Health Coverage Varies With Income

    Report

    With some federal and state policy makers considering ways to encourage more people to purchase non-group, or individual, health care coverage, this new analysis by Kaiser Family Foundation researchers examines how often people at different income levels buy such coverage when they do not have access to employer coverage or do not obtain public coverage. The analysis finds that relatively few people at lower incomes purchase non-group coverage, with one in 20 purchasing it among…

  • USA Today/Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health Survey: The Public on Prescription Drugs and Pharmaceutical Companies

    Poll Finding

    This poll, the third in a series conducted jointly by USA Today and public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health, by USA Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health finds Americans greatly value prescription drugs’ potential benefits for their families, but most believe they cost too much money and many struggle to pay for needed medicines. The survey also provides a comprehensive…

  • Toplines: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 – June 2008

    Poll Finding

    This document contains the detailed toplines from the June Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 poll. The poll involved a nationally representative random sample of 1,206 adults (including 1,066 who say they were registered to vote), who were interviewed by telephone between June 3 and 8, 2008. The margin of sampling error for the total sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points; for registered voters, it is plus or minus 4 percentage points. For…