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“...the search for a single top issue through polling questions — whether it’s health costs, or gas prices, or the cost of food — is artificial. People worry about and experience these costs together. There is no top issue, unless that issue is the catchall, ‘cost of living.’” — Drew Altman, KFF Founding President and CEO

Are Health Care Costs THE Top Issue for Voters?

In a new column, Dr. Drew Altman, Founding President and CEO, analyzes the polling on health costs as a voting issue and concludes that there is no one top voting issue. He writes: “I have come to the conclusion that the search for a single top issue through polling questions—whether it’s health costs, or gas prices, or the cost of food—is artificial. People worry about and experience these costs together. There is no top issue, unless that issue is the catchall, “cost of living.”

New and noteworthy

How Unaffordable is Health Care and What Can We Do About It?

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On Tuesday, July 21, three experts joined Health Wonk Shop series moderator Larry Levitt in an hour-long discussion of health care affordability. During the discussion, panelists considered affordability from a variety of perspectives, including how to define affordability and the question of affordability for whom, how to measure it, and what can be done to address affordability and the underlying cost of health care.

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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  • Most Consumers Generally Positive About Their Health Plan, But 51% Report Having Some Problem in the Past

    Other Post

    The majority of Americans are satisfied with their health insurance plan, but most insured adults in the United States have had some problem with their health plan in the last year according to a new survey released by the Kaiser Family Foundation EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: Until 4 p.m. ET Wednesday June 7, 2000 2400 Sand Hill Rd, Menlo Park CA 94025   For further information contact: Jennifer Morales (202) 347-5270 Amy Weitz (650) 234-9211  …

  • Public Opinion Update-3006-Public-Opinion-Update

    Other Post

    Public Opinion Update Public Opinion Update Public Opinion Update THE UNINSURED The debate over how to expand health insurance coverage to the over 44 million Americans without it continues to be one of the most challenging issues facing policymakers today. This Public Opinion Update summarizes key findings from several surveys conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health and a new survey conducted by the Foundation in conjunction with the…

  • Regulation of Private Long-Term Care Insurance: Implementation Experience and Key Issues

    Report

    Regulation of Private Long-Term Care Insurance: Implementation Experience and Key Issues While private long-term care insurance (LTCI) has been available since the mid-1970s, its popularity has grown rapidly in recent years, and Congress is considering proposals that would further encourage LTCI purchase through expanded tax subsidies. Yet there has been little research on how well LTCI works and how much security it really provides. This report focuses on consumer protections for individuals buying LTCI in…

  • How Well Does the Employment-Based Health Insurance System Work for Low-Income Families?

    Other Post

    Part 3 What Explains the Coverage Decline? Rapidly rising health care costs-or, more precisely, employers' responses to costs-have contributed to the widespread erosion of employer coverage. As employers have shifted costs to workers, participation has dropped. Low-wage workers have been disproportionately affected by rising costs, losing access to coverage as well as finding participation more difficult. Their problems have been exacerbated by structural changes in labor markets, which have weakened the tie between jobs and…

  • Managed Competition In California and Small-Group Insurance Market

    Report

    Reprinted from HEALTH AFFAIRS, Volume 16, Number 2 (March/April 1997) This paper describes the early experience of the Health Insurance Plan of California (HIPC), a small-employer purchasing cooperative established in 1993. Report: Managed Competition In California's Small-Group Insurance Market

  • Pulling it Together: Last Week’s Health Reform “Shocker”

    Perspective

    Last week we learned that health reform could cost the federal government at least a trillion dollars over ten years, and that it will be really difficult to forge bipartisan agreement on legislation and keep major interest groups on board. This obviously brought more angst to the deliberations, several Republicans seized the moment to criticize the Democrats' plans, and the press was all over it, with many commentators declaring health reform in dire straits. But…

  • Health Care Costs Survey – Toplines

    Poll Finding

    This document includes the toplines from the joint USA Today/Kaiser/Harvard School of Public Health survey exploring Americans’ views on health care costs. Survey Toplines (.pdf)

  • Pulling It Together: The Repeal Trap?

    Perspective

    Almost a year into an often acrimonious health reform debate, we stand poised for near certain passage of historic health reform legislation. Yet, somewhat perplexingly, there's now talk about whether a law that has not even been enacted might actually be repealed and reporters have been calling asking what the chances of repeal may be. I have a very hard time imagining any scenario for repeal unfolding. Calls for repeal have much to do with…

  • Prospects for Retiree Health Benefits as Medicare Drug Coverage Begins – Chartpack

    Report

    Prospects for Retiree Health Benefits as Medicare Drug Coverage Begins:Findings from the Kaiser/Hewitt 2005 Survey on Retiree Health Benefits - Chartpack This chartpack presents key data from the 2005 Kaiser/Hewitt survey of large businesses that provide retiree health benefits to their workers. Chartpack (.pdf)