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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.

Affordable care act

ACA Marketplace Survey Feature Image - Website

Cost Concerns and Coverage Changes: A Follow-Up Survey of ACA Marketplace Enrollees

This KFF survey is a follow-up survey of adults who had ACA Marketplace insurance in 2025. The survey examines the cost concerns and coverage changes of Marketplace enrollees following the end of the enhanced premium tax credits and finds that half of returning enrollees say their health care costs are “a lot higher” and most expect to cut back on basic household expenses to afford coverage.

Health System Tracker

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 Cost Affect Access to Health Care? In 2024, about 1 in 6 adults reported delaying or not getting healthcare due to cost, including medical or mental health care.

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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  • Medical Groups — Issue Brief

    Issue Brief

    A 2-page issue brief about medical groups in California, including a discussion on risk-bearing, solvency and current regulatory approaches. In preparation for a Roundtable Event: Tuesday, July 20, 1999 - 1:00-4:00 PM, State Capitol, Room 447 - Sacramento, California. Issue Brief

  • Toplines – Health Tracking Poll — March 2007

    Poll Finding

    This document contains the detailed toplines 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 their health reform plans.  Toplines (.pdf)

  • The Burden of Out-of-Pocket Health Spending Among Older Versus Younger Adults: Analysis from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1998-2003

    Issue Brief

    UPDATED: An updated version of this analysis is now available online. Recent policy debate has focused on the issue of rising health care costs and whether it might be possible to control costs by requiring consumers to pay a larger share of their health care costs out of pocket. While most of the policy discussion has focused on people of working age, rising health care costs and the burden of out-of-pocket spending also affects seniors,…

  • Tax Subsidies for Health Insurance: Evaluating the Costs and Benefits

    Other Post

    This technical report provides 1) a description of the detailed simulation model and the assumptions used to analyze the effects of different tax subsidies for the purchase of health insurance coverage, and 2) the results of this analysis. The analysis includes the number of people who gain coverage, overall costs to the government, how much is spent on the currently insured vs. uninsured, and the effects on low-income groups. The results of this report were…

  • Dementia and Medicare Managed Care: A Growing Challenge for Health Plans

    Report

    The American Bar Association Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly explored the views of Medicare HMOs on enrolling and delivering services to Medicare beneficiaries with dementia. The Commission conducted detailed interviews with professionals at eight diverse Medicare+Choice organizations. Their report provides background information on health care decision-making law and the Medicare program's laws and regulations, and focuses on survey findings in six key areas: marketing, enrollment, health assessments, health care delivery, advance directives, and…

  • The Characteristics and Roles of Medicaid-Dominated Managed Care Plans

    Report

    This policy brief (Publication #2180) provides a national profile of Medicaid-dominated managed care plans - those in which Medicaid enrollees make up at least 75 percent of total enrollment. While recent policy and market forces have encouraged the growth of these plans, basic information about them has been lacking, partly because many are not licensed as HMOs by states. As of June 1997, 118 of these Medicaid-dominated plans served 3.4 million Medicaid enrollees across the…

  • Georgetown’s Report on External Review of Health Plan Decisions: An Update

    Other Post

    Georgetown's Report on External Review of Health Plan Decisions: An Update External Review of Health Plan Decisions: An Update, prepared for the Kaiser Family Foundation by Geraldine Dallek and Karen Pollitz of The Institute for Health Care Research and Policy, Georgetown University. In November 1998, the Kaiser Family Foundation released a report prepared by Georgetown University on external review programs in 13 states and the Medicare program. In the last year and a half, the…

  • Medicare Beneficiaries and HMOs: A Case Study of the Tampa-St. Petersburg Market

    Report

    This case study of the evolution of Medicare managed care in Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida, is one of four in a series being prepared by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., for the Kaiser Family Foundation to examine the growth and impact of Medicare managed care. The Medicare risk (HMO) program has developed at different rates and with different degrees of success across the country. The four unique market areas selected for the project include two with high…