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Affordable care act

Poll: Health Care Costs, Expiring ACA Tax Credits, and the 2026 Midterms

Heading into this midterm election year, the cost of health care tops the public’s economic anxieties, and more than 4 in 10 voters say the issue will have a major impact on their vote, a new KFF Health Tracking poll finds. Two thirds of public say Congress "did the wrong thing" by not extending ACA enhanced tax credits, but Republicans largely say Congress “did the right thing.”

Affordability and Spending

Our Darwinian Approach to Health Care Costs

Our Darwinian Approach to Health Care Costs

In his latest column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman presents his Venn diagram of health care cost problems and shows how, in our fragmented health system, reducing one health cost problem often makes another worse. "...Reducing health care costs has become a Darwinian game; everyone wants to reduce health care costs and spending – their own, often at the expense of someone else."

health system tracker
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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  • Federal Rules Protect People from Bills for the COVID-19 Vaccine

    News Release

    As the first doses of the new COVID-19 vaccine are delivered to health care workers and other early recipients, many Americans are eager to know not only when the vaccine will be available to them but also whether they will be able to get it at no cost.

  • Limiting Private Insurance Reimbursement to Medicare Rates Would Reduce Health Spending by About $350 Billion in 2021

    Issue Brief

    This analysis estimates the total annual reduction in health care spending by employers and privately insured individuals that would result from having private insurers reimburse hospitals and other health care providers at Medicare rates. In total, we estimate spending for the privately insured population would be an estimated $352 billion lower in 2021 if employers and other insurers reimbursed health care providers at Medicare rates.

  • How Marketplace Costs and Premiums will Change if Rescue Plan Subsidies Expire

    Policy Watch

    In this Policy Watch we explore the potential impact of the expiration of the American Rescue Plan Act’s enhanced financial help and new eligibility for the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance Marketplace federal subsidies. While the COVID-19 relief legislation passed earlier this year provides greater subsidy assistance through 2022, Democrats in Congress are currently considering making the temporary federal help permanent or extending it as part of their planned budget reconciliation legislation.

  • Why Data on Health-Care Price Variation Doesn’t Itself Solve the Problem

    News Release

    In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, Drew Altman discusses a new Blue Cross Blue Shield Association report on “extreme price variation” in health care services and the limits of consumer information as a solution to the problem. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available online.

  • Medicare’s Role in Health-Care Payment Reform

    From Drew Altman

    In this column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, Drew Altman explores whether Secretary Burwell's announcement this week about Medicare's payment reform initiative is another sign that the public sector is becoming the engine driving payment and delivery reform.

  • How much does the U.S. spend to treat different diseases?

    Feature

    This slideshow looks at how much the United States spends to treat specific diseases and tracks spending growth over time, using data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis Health Care Satellite Account. The analysis shows that three disease categories -- ill-defined, musculoskeletal and circulatory conditions -- account for about a third of medical services spending growth in the United States from 2000 to 2010. Spending on ill-defined conditions -- including check-ups, preventive care and treatment of colds and other minor conditions -- grew the fastest during that time period.