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Health Care Costs Keep Rising … Why and Who Pays?

The U.S. spends more on health care than other large, wealthy countries. Concerns about rising costs aren’t new, yet somehow we keep paying the bill. In this video, KFF’s Larry Levitt explains how we got here, who bears the consequences and why reining in spending systematically may be central to the next big health care debate. KFF’s Larry Levitt, Executive Vice President for Health Policy, explains how we got here, who bears the consequences and why reining in spending systematically may be central to the next big health care debate.

The MIDTERMS

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.

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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  • Snapshots: Employer Health Insurance Costs and Worker Compensation

    Issue Brief

    Health insurance premiums have increased rapidly over the recent past, growing a cumulative 138% between 1999 and 2010 and outpacing cumulative wage growth of 42% over the same period.1  These figures, which have been widely cited to demonstrate the growing burden of health insurance costs on employers and employees, illustrate overall trends in health benefit costs, but they do not show how this growing burden is affecting employers and employees in different settings.  To address…

  • Filling In The Long-Term Care Gaps

    Event Date:
    Event

    At a June 3 hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Diane Rowland, Executive Vice President of the Kaiser Family Foundation and Executive Director on the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, testified on the key challenges to providing a larger role for private long-term care insurance in financing long-term care for the elderly and people with disabilities. Her testimony coincided with the release of a policy brief on long-term care financing by…

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — December 2011

    Poll Finding

    The October downturn in the share of Americans with a favorable view of the health reform law, a dip driven by an erosion of support among Democrats, has been fully reversed in December, with support among Democrats rebounding and overall national opinion on the law returning to the roughly even split seen in Kaiser polls for most of 2011.  The concept of health exchanges, a key piece of the law, has wide, bipartisan support.  The…

  • Join the Debate: Health Issues in the 2000 Election

    Other Post

    Developed as part of a nonpartisan public education initiative of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and the League of Women Voters Education Fund, this guide provides basic facts about five key health policy topics candidates are discussing in the 2000 election. These topics include health coverage for the uninsured, managed care and patients' rights, Medicare reform, prescription drug coverage for seniors, and long-term care. The guide frames each area and describes major proposals that…

  • 2003 Health Insurance Survey

    Poll Finding

    The 2003 Kaiser Family Foundation Health Insurance Survey examines the public's level of satisfaction with their insurance coverage, their expectations of health insurance, the role of costs and other factors in health insurance decision-making, and attitudes toward employer-sponsored coverage. It also explores people's opinions about several alternative health insurance plans that are currently under consideration and explores how they might respond to these new options. Summary and Chartpack Toplines

  • Women and Health Care: A National Profile

    Report

    A new national survey of women on their health finds that a substantial percentage of women cannot afford to go to the doctor or get prescriptions filled. Although a majority of women are in good health and satisfied with their health care, many have health problems and do not get adequate levels of preventive care. The report also examines women’s health status, health care costs, insurance, access to care, prevention, and their role in family…

  • MarketFacts: A Financial Overview of the Managed Care Industry

    Other Post

    A Financial Overview of the Managed Care Industry March 1999 Part 2 Recent HMO Activity After 6 years of steady growth, HMO profits declined in 1994, 1995, and 1996; in 1997, nearly 60 percent of HMOs lost money (Weiss Ratings). Although HMO net income plunged from 1994 through 1997, HMO enroll-ments were up 72% and total revenues rose 77% over that period (Best's Aggregates & Averages HMO, 1998). At the same time, health services companies…

  • Excess Medical Expenditures Due to Health Inequities

    Feature

    Excess Medical Expenditures Due to Health Inequities Download Source LaVeist, T., Gaskin, D., and P. Richard, “The Economic Burden of Health Inequalities in the United States,” Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, September 2009,   

  • Health Care Costs Keep Rising … Why and Who Pays?

    Video

    The U.S. spends more on health care than other large, wealthy countries. Concerns about rising costs aren't new, yet somehow we keep paying the bill. In this video, KFF’s Larry Levitt explains how we got here, who bears the consequences and why reining in spending systematically may be central to the next big health care debate. KFF’s Larry Levitt, Executive Vice President for Health Policy, explains how we got here, who bears the consequences and…