Health Costs

Affordable care act

Poll: Health Care Costs, Expiring ACA Tax Credits, and the 2026 Midterms

Heading into this midterm election year, the cost of health care tops the public’s economic anxieties, and more than 4 in 10 voters say the issue will have a major impact on their vote, a new KFF Health Tracking poll finds. Two thirds of public say Congress "did the wrong thing" by not extending ACA enhanced tax credits, but Republicans largely say Congress “did the right thing.”

Affordability and Spending

Our Darwinian Approach to Health Care Costs

Our Darwinian Approach to Health Care Costs

In his latest column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman presents his Venn diagram of health care cost problems and shows how, in our fragmented health system, reducing one health cost problem often makes another worse. "...Reducing health care costs has become a Darwinian game; everyone wants to reduce health care costs and spending – their own, often at the expense of someone else."

KEY RESOURCES
  • Health Policy 101: Costs and Affordability

    This Health Policy 101 chapter explores trends in health care costs in the U.S. and the factors that contribute to this spending. It also examines how health care spending varies and the impact on affordability and people's overall financial vulnerability.  


  • Americans’ Challenges with Health Care Costs

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

  • National Health Spending Explorer

    This interactive Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker tool allows users to examine five decades worth of data on health expenditures by federal and local governments, private insurers, and individuals.

  • Polling on Prescription Drugs and Their Prices

    This chart collection draws on recent KFF poll findings to provide an in-depth look at the public’s attitudes toward prescription drugs and their prices. Results include Americans’ opinions on drug affordability, pharmaceutical companies, and various potential measures that could lower prices.

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  • Few Consumers Use Information on Health Provider Quality or Price

    News Release

    In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, Drew Altman discusses new poll findings showing very small numbers of consumers are using provider quality and price information. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available online.

  • Americans’ Health Priorities Diverge From Washington’s Focus on Obamacare

    From Drew Altman

    In this column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, Drew Altman finds the public’s healthcare priorities have more to do with drug costs and other real world issues people deal with using the health care system than the ongoing partisan wrangling over the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

  • Americans’ Health Priorities Diverge From Washington’s Focus on Obamacare

    News Release

    In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, Drew Altman finds the public’s health-care priorities have more to do with drug costs and other real-world issues people deal with using the health-care system than the ongoing partisan wrangling over the Affordable Care Act. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available online.

  • Tracking Section 1332 State Innovation Waivers

    Fact Sheet

    This interactive map shows the status of all Section 1332 waivers requested by states. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) allows states to apply for innovation waivers to alter key ACA requirements in the individual and small group insurance markets and can be used to shore up fragile insurance markets, address unique state insurance market issues, or experiment with alternative models of providing coverage to state residents.

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll – March 2018: Views on Prescription Drug Pricing and Medicare-for-all Proposals

    Feature

    More than a year into President Trump’s presidency, the March Kaiser Health Tracking Poll gauges the public’s top priorities for the president and Congress to do in the coming months. This month’s poll also measures perceptions on the cost of prescription drugs, attitudes towards policymakers’ actions to address drug prices, and views of pharmaceutical companies. In addition, with the 2018 midterm elections less than 8 months away, the KFF poll asks how important a national health plan is to voters.

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll – July 2017: What’s Next for Republican ACA Repeal and Replacement Plan Efforts?

    Feature

    As the U.S. Senate continues to debate their plan to repeal and replace the ACA, the latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll finds the public souring on the effort with a growing majority opposed to the plan and a large share that say the plan does not fulfill most of the promises President Trump has made about health care. Even among Republicans, the poll finds that about half would be “less likely” to support the Senate health plan if they heard it would increase premiums for most people who purchase their own insurance on the marketplace. In addition, a majority of the public would rather see Republicans in Congress work with Democrats to make improvements to the ACA but not repeal the law. The tracking poll also gauges the public's views on the proposed major reductions in federal funding for Medicaid as well as how these views are affected by counter-arguments.