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Promotional Image for the KFF video Health Care Affordability at the Macro Level

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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  • California Health Care Chartbook: Key Data and Trends

    Report

    This chartbook provides California and U.S. data and trend analysis on a broad range of health system and financing indicators, including demographics and health status data, insurance coverage and the uninsured, employer health insurance premiums and offer rates, Medicaid and Medicare enrollment and spending, and health care industry trends. Chartbook (.pdf)

  • Trends in Medicare Supplemental Insurance and Prescription Drug Benefits, 1996-2001Data Update

    Report

    Trends in Medicare Supplemental Insurance and Prescription Drug Benefits, 1996-2001 Data Update This data update provides estimates of supplemental insurance and prescription drug coverage rates and trends between 1996 and 2001, which will help to provide important context for assessing future changes in supplemental insurance and drug coverage rates after provisions of the Medicare drug benefit take effect. Report (.pdf)

  • The State of Retiree Health Benefits: Historical Trends and Future Uncertainties

    Event

    Tricia Neuman, Vice President and Director of the Medicare Policy Project for the Kaiser Family Foundation, testified on Monday, May 17, at a U.S. Senate Committee on Aging hearing on issues relating to retiree health coverage, "Access to Adequate Health Insurance: How Does the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Recent Rule Affect Retiree Health Benefits?" Testimony (.pdf) Webcast of Hearing

  • California Employer Health Benefits Survey Archives

    Report

    In 1999, The Kaiser Family Foundation, the Health Research and Educational Trust, and UC Berkeley undertook a supplement to the National Employer Health Benefits Survey based on California firms. Since that time, the survey has been conducted annually by Kaiser and HRET. Like the National survey, the California Employer Health Benefits Survey tracks trends in employer health insurance coverage, the cost of that coverage, and other topical health insurance issues. Findings are based on a…

  • Section 7: Implications of Health Market Trends for Consumers and the Safety Net

    Other Post

    Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 next > Exhibit 7.1: Number of the Nonelderly Uninsured, 1994-2004 The number of the nonelderly (under age 65) uninsured in the United States increased in 2004 to 45.5 million, an increase of 800,000 over 2003. Health insurance affects people’s access to health care, their health status, their job decisions, and their financial security. Health insurance…

  • Section 6: Trends in Health Plan and Provider Relationships

    Other Post

    Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 next > Exhibit 6.1: Physician Participation in Managed Care, 1988, 1999, 2001 Physician participation in managed care increased sharply in the decade between the late 1980s and the late 1990s, but has decreased since then. The proportion of physicians with at least one managed care contract increased from 61% in 1988 to 91% in 1999, but then dropped to 88% in 2001. The…

  • Section 5: Structure of the Health Care Marketplace

    Other Post

    Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 next > Exhibit 5.1: Health Care Employment and Share of Total Non-Farm Employment, 1990-2005p Health care employment as a proportion of all non-farm employment has increased fairly steadily since the early 1990s. In 2005p, 9.2% of all workers, or 12.3 million people, held health care jobs, up from 7.5% (8.2 million) in 1990. Health Care Employment (object placeholder) Notes: Not seasonally adjusted.…

  • Coverage and Cost Impacts of the President’s Health Insurance Tax Credit and Tax Deduction Proposals

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief looks at the coverage impacts and costs of two components of the administration’s FY 2005 budget proposals to increase the affordability of health insurance: a new tax credit for people purchasing non-group health insurance and a new tax deduction for premiums for high-deductible, non-group health insurance policies. The estimates were prepared by Jonathan Gruber, Ph.D., Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, using a micro-simulation model developed in conjunction with…

  • Section 2: Health Insurance Enrollment

    Other Post

    Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 next > Exhibit 2.1: Trends in Health Coverage for the Nonelderly Population, 2002 and 2003 The percent of the nonelderly population without insurance rose from 17.3% in 2002 to 17.7% in 2003 (or 44.7 million uninsured), an increase of 1.4 million over 2002. The proportion of Americans with employer-based insurance declined from 63.3% in 2002 to 61.9%…

  • Section 1: Health Spending and Costs, Including Prescription Drugs

    Other Post

    Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 next > Exhibit 1.1: National Health Expenditures and Their Share of Gross Domestic Product, 1960-2004 Expenditures in the United States on health care were nearly $1.9 trillion in 2004, more than two and a half times the $717 billion spent in 1990, and more than seven times the $255 billion spent in 1980.…