Health Costs

Health Care Affordability

Affordable Care Act

An image of text is an excerpt form Jared Ortaliza's quick take which reads, "Data currently being released represent Open Enrollment ACA Marketplace plan selections, or how many people have signed up for or been automatically renewed into 2026 coverage. These data do not necessarily translate to enrollments. That is because people who have selected a plan or been automatically renewed may not ultimately choose to pay for their coverage, thus “effectuating” their enrollment."

ACA Signups Are Down, But Still an Incomplete Picture

Data currently being released represent Open Enrollment ACA Marketplace plan selections, or how many people have signed up for or been automatically renewed into 2026 coverage. These data do not necessarily translate to enrollments. That is because people who have selected a plan or been automatically renewed may not ultimately choose to pay for their coverage, thus “effectuating” their enrollment.

KEY RESOURCES
  • Health Policy 101: Costs and Affordability

    This Health Policy 101 chapter explores trends in health care costs in the U.S. and the factors that contribute to this spending. It also examines how health care spending varies and the impact on affordability and people's overall financial vulnerability.  


  • Americans’ Challenges with Health Care Costs

    This data note reviews our recent polling data that finds that Americans struggle to afford many aspects of health care, including disproportionate shares of uninsured adults, Black and Hispanic adults and those with lower incomes.

  • National Health Spending Explorer

    This interactive Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker tool allows users to examine five decades worth of data on health expenditures by federal and local governments, private insurers, and individuals.

  • Polling on Prescription Drugs and Their Prices

    This chart collection draws on recent KFF poll findings to provide an in-depth look at the public’s attitudes toward prescription drugs and their prices. Results include Americans’ opinions on drug affordability, pharmaceutical companies, and various potential measures that could lower prices.

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  • Section 5: Market Shares of Health Plans

    Report

    The distribution of enrollment among types of health plans has remained fairly constant over the past several years. The majority of covered workers are enrolled in PPO plans (55%), followed by HMO plans (25%) (Exhibit 5.1).

  • Section 11: Retiree Health Benefits

    Report

    Exhibit 11.1 Exhibit 11.4 Exhibit 11.2 Exhibit 11.5 Exhibit 11.3   11 Twenty-eight percent of Medicare beneficiaries receive prescription drug coverage from an employer, a far higher number than receive coverage through a Medicare HMO (15%), Medigap (7%) or Medicaid (10%). Laschober et. al., Health Affairs, February 2002.

  • Snapshots: Compensation for Workers with and without Access to Health Benefits at Work

    Other Post

    A newer version of this Snapshot is available here. Compensation for Workers with and without Access to Health Benefits at Work  October 2008 This paper compares the payroll and benefit compensation of workers that had access to employer-sponsored health benefits at work to that of workers who did not have an insurance offer.

  • Retiree Health VEBAs: A New Twist On An Old Paradigm

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief provides an overview of stand-alone Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association trusts, through which employers have been able to rid themselves of future obligations to pay retiree health benefits in exchange for making a significant payment to designed to approximate the projected cost of these benefits.

  • Changes in Health Insurance Coverage, 2007-2008: Early Impact of the Recession

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief examines trends in health insurance coverage from 2007 to 2008, a period marked by the start of a deep recession. It finds that the share of the nonelderly population covered by employer-provided insurance declined, the share covered by public programs increased and the number of uninsured people continued to rise.

  • Statement of Gary Claxton to NAIC Exchanges (B) Subgroup

    Event Date:
    Event

    Kaiser Family Foundation Vice President Gary Claxton, who directs the Foundation's Marketplace Policy Project, testified July 22, 2010, at a public hearing before the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Exchanges (B) Subgroup established by the health reform law.  Testimony (.

  • The $174 Billion Question: How to Reduce Diabetes and Obesity

    Event Date:
    Event

    Diabetes and obesity have evolved from a national public health concern to a problem of epidemic proportions — a very costly problem. The direct medical costs and the indirect costs of diabetes are estimated at $174 billion yearly.