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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.”

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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.

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  • Managed Care Consumer Protections Offered by Medium and Large Employers – Fact Sheet

    Fact Sheet

    Managed Care Consumer Protections Offered by Medium and Large Employers November 1998 Background During the past year, Congress and the states considered a number of proposals that would have provided additional protections to consumers in health insurance plans, particularly managed care plans. Among the key issues raised in these debates was how much the protections would increase health insurance premiums, which depends in part on the extent to which these proposed protections are already in…

  • MarketFacts: A Financial Overview of the Managed Care Industry – Fact Sheet

    Fact Sheet

    A Financial Overview of the Managed Care Industry March 1999 Part 1 The rapid growth of managed care has brought with it a growing connection between the stock market andhealth care organizations. Health care services have evolved from being delivered by physicians and tax-exempt institutions to a market-driven industry attracting investment capital from numerous sources. The market capitalization, or total stock value, of the relatively young HMO industry grew from a little over $3 billion…

  • Survey of Physicians and Nurses

    Poll Finding

    A national random survey of 1053 doctors and 768 nurses on their experiences with and attitudes towards health plans. The survey provides quantitative information from doctors and nurses about their non-elderly patients, as well as verbatim descriptions of patient experiences with health plan decisions, including doctors' judgments on the consequences health plan denials have on their patients' health. Chart Pack: - Chart Pack Report: - Summary of Findings Topline/Survey: - Toplines Report: - Verbatim Book

  • Medicare State Profiles: State and Regional Data on Medicare and the Population it Serves

    Report

    Although Medicare is a national program, there are substantial variations across states and regions in terms of beneficiary characteristics, health needs, and utilization of Medicare-covered services. Likewise, there are also considerable differences in Medicare spending and the emergence of Medicare managed care. In a single resource document, , presents state-by-state demographic data on the Medicare population, along with information on health service utilization, spending, and Medicare HMO penetration. It also provides regional data on the…

  • The Difference Different Approaches Make: Comparing Proposals to Expand Health Insurance

    Report

    The Difference Different Approaches Make: Comparing Proposals to Expand Health Insurance This paper estimates and compares the impacts of alternative mechanisms for expanding health insurance coverage. A variety of approaches-expansions of existing public programs, direct subsidies, and tax credits-and target populations-including children, poor adults, parents of Medicaid- or CHIP-covered children, and early retirees-are considered. The impacts of the proposals on coverage, costs and other program outcomes are compared. This paper is part of the Kaiser…

  • The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System: Thirteen Years of Managed Care in Medicaid

    Other Post

    This report provides an overview of the Arizona Medicaid experience and contains valuable insights into the evolution and experience of a mandatory statewide Medicaid managed care program covering both acute care and long-term care services. Note: This publication is no longer in circulation. However, a copy may still exist in the Foundation's internal library that could be reproduced. Please email order@kff.org if you would like to pursue this option.

  • Protection in Managed Care Plans: A Side-by-Side Comparison of Proposal Federal Legislation – Report

    Report

    Side-By-Side Comparison Of Proposed Federal Legislation For Consumer Protection In Managed Care Plans Nicole Tapay, Karen Pollitz, Jalena Curtis Institute for Health Care Research and Policy Georgetown University Medical Center July 18, 1997 Issue Summary Over the past decade, an increasing number of Americans have been receiving their health care coverage through HMOs, PPOs and other types of managed care entities. The growing influence of managed care, in turn, has led consumers and state and…

  • Health Issues in the 2000 Presidential Election

    Other Post

    A Comparison of Proposals This report presents basic, nonpartisan information to help readers compare the leading presidential candidates' proposals on health care issues, including health coverage for the uninsured, managed care and patients' rights, Medicare reform, prescription drug coverage for seniors, and long-term care. Part of a joint effort of the League of Women Voters and the Kaiser Family Foundation to educate and engage the public on key health policy issues, this side-by-side comparison is…

  • 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…