Health Costs

    These toplines provide the complete survey questions and findings from the National Survey of Households Affected by Cancer conducted jointly by USA Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health by telephone between Aug. 1 and Sept. 14, 2006. The survey provides an in-depth…

This survey summary provides an in-depth analysis of the National Survey of Enrollees in Consumer-Directed Health Plans conducted between June 21 and July 10, 2006. The survey looks at the views and experiences of people enrolled in consumer-directed health plans as compared to people with traditional health insurance.Survey Summary (.pdf)

Health Affairs Article: From 'Soak The Rich' To 'Soak The Poor': Recent Trends In Hospital PricingThe May-June 2007 issue of Health Affairs features a Foundation-supported study on recent trends in hospital pricing, including comparisons of rates charged to self-pay patients versus those with insurance coverage. The article also examies three…

This report analyzes key issues surrounding the implementation of a Medicare-endorsed prescription drug discount card program. Medicare prescription drug discount cards have been proposed as a short-term strategy for lowering prescription drug costs for Medicare beneficiaries. The report considers the implications for both discount card sponsors and beneficiaries of alternative…

This document presents key findings from the first Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008, which is tracking 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…

The increased use of U.S. hospital emergency departments has received considerable attention from both the health care community and policymakers in recent years. This analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation examines the demographic and health characteristics of people who frequently visit the emergency room to help understand why their utilization…

This poll finds that health care costs rank among Americans’ top personal economic problems, and their struggles to deal with those costs have affected both their financial well-being and their family’s health care. Conducted by the Foundation’s public opinion researchers, the poll probes into the economic concerns facing Americans and…

This policy brief from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examines the fundamentals of private long-term care insurance. It describes the results of a study exploring how consumers buy policies, how much policies cost and how they work, and what regulations exist to protect consumers. It also discusses…

The health reform legislation currently being crafted on Capitol Hill is undeniably complex.  To oversimplify slightly it can be boiled down into four parts: coverage (subsidies for private coverage and Medicaid expansions); delivery and payment reforms; insurance market reforms and regulations; and prevention, with each broad category containing a range…

The brief examines current funding for comparative effectiveness research, the provisions included in the current health reform legislation, and issues related to which treatments that might be studied, whether and how to weigh costs of care, and how such findings will be used and shared with health-care practitioners and the…