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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

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 Nonprofit Hospitals and Health Systems Had “Strong” Days of Cash on Hand in 2022, Though About One-in-10 Were “Vulnerable”

    News Release

    Most nonprofit hospitals and hospital systems had enough cash on hand in 2022 to cover operating expenses for an extended period of time, though about one-in-10 had relatively low levels to cover their expenses, which potentially could leave them vulnerable in a financial crisis, a new KFF analysis finds.The analysis comes as the hospital industry pushes for increases in Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement levels and Congress considers legislation that would reduce hospital revenues, such as…

  • Health Cost and Affordability Policy Issues and Trends to Watch in 2024

    Issue Brief

    While issues of health care costs and affordability may not be at the forefront of this year’s election issues, they remain a major concern among the public. About a quarter of Americans say they or a family member struggled to pay their medical bills just in the past year, and in recent KFF polling, voters said that health care affordability was very important to discuss in the election. This new issue brief describes the health…

  • April 29 Web Briefing: How Large Employers View Rising Health Care Costs and the Role of Government

    Event Date:
    Event

    The COVID-19 pandemic and recent elections are changing the national conversation around expanding health care coverage and reining in rising health care costs. President Biden campaigned on a platform of expanding access to public health coverage in ways that could change the role of employer-sponsored health insurance, which currently covers about half of all Americans. On Thursday, April 29, a public web briefing explored how large employers view the burden of rising health care costs…

  • Vast Majority of Large Employers Surveyed Say Broader Government Role Will Be Necessary to Control Health Costs and Provide Coverage, Survey Finds

    News Release

    Top executives at nearly 90% of large employers surveyed believe the cost of providing health benefits to employees will become unsustainable in the next five-to-10 years, and 85% expect the government will be required to intervene to provide coverage and contain costs, according to a new survey released today from Purchaser Business Group on Health (PBGH) and KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation), with support from the West Health Institute. The research exposes large employers’ mounting concerns…

  • Two-Thirds of the Public Say the U.S. Should Play a Major Role in Distributing COVID-19 Vaccines Globally, But Not Most Republicans

    News Release

    With increased attention to the global need for COVID-19 vaccines and the Biden administration’s announcement today about how it plans to distribute the first portion of the 80 million doses it will share by the end of this month, the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll finds that two-thirds of the public (66%) say that the U.S. should play at least a “major role” in distributing COVID-19 vaccines to other countries, including about a quarter (27%)…

  • KFF Tracking Poll: More Than a Third of Americans Say They’ve Struggled to Pay Living Expenses Since December; 6 in 10 Families Hit by COVID Have Lost A Job or Income

    News Release

    Majorities Favor Provisions to Expand Marketplace Tax Credits and Encourage States to Expand Medicaid As Congress considers an additional $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, more than a third (37%) of Americans say that someone in their household has had trouble paying basic living expenses over the past three months, the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll finds. This includes nearly 1 in 4 (23%) who say they have fallen behind on their credit card bills, and…

  • March 30 Web Event: Unsung Heroes: The Crucial Role – and Tenuous Circumstances – of Home Care Workers During the Pandemic

    Event Date:
    Event

    Even as the pandemic took a devastating toll on health care workers and older adults in the United States, many home care workers continued to report to work and provide vital care to vulnerable people despite the health risks to themselves and their own families. KFF’s Kaiser Health News and The John A. Hartford Foundation held an interactive web event on March 30 to examine the crucial roles home care workers have played for families during…

  • COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Excess Mortality and Potential Years of Life Lost in the U.S. and Peer Countries

    Issue Brief

    A new issue brief reviews excess death rates in the U.S. and peer countries by age groups to examine how the pandemic has affected excess mortality rate among younger people. The analysis looks specifically at the excess deaths that arose in 2020 to examine how the age at death during the pandemic has differed between the U.S. and peer nations, and estimates the excess potential years of life lost (a measure of “premature excess death”)…

  • Analysis: Hospital Price Transparency Data Lacks Standardization, Limiting Its Use to Insurers, Employers, and Consumers

    News Release

    In spite of a new price transparency rule that requires hospitals to publish the prices of common health services, comparing prices across hospitals remains challenging due to limited compliance with the law and a lack of standardization in the available data, a new KFF analysis finds. The federal rule, which went into effect on January 1, 2021, aims to lift the veil on how much health plans pay hospitals for health services. To be compliant,…

  • COVID-19 is the Number One Cause of Death in the U.S. in Early 2021

    Issue Brief

    A updated issue brief examines the most recent data on deaths from COVID-19 and other causes, and finds that COVID-19 is currently the number one cause of death in the United States. As of February 20, 2021, an average of more than 2,400 people per day died of COVID-19 in the U.S. during February 2021 - a number nearly 20% higher than the next leading cause. Heart disease, which is typically the number one cause…