Health Costs

The MIDTERMS

Democrats Hold a Nearly 2-to-1 Advantage Over Republicans on Handling the Cost of Health Care

Poll: Cost of Health Care and Gas Top Voters’ Midterm Concerns; Democrats Hold Significant Advantage on Health Care Costs and Cost of Living 

With the 2026 midterms about a month away, health care costs remain tied with gas as voters’ top midterm concerns and the Democrats hold a clear edge over the Republicans Party on who voters trust to handle many top electoral issues, including the cost of health care and the cost of living. Two-thirds of U.S. adults now favor Medicare-for-all, a new high in KFF Polling, but support shifts when competing claims from critics and proponents are heard.

New and noteworthy

Americans’ Challenges with Health Care Costs

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

Health System Tracker

Is This A Healthcare Economy?

Health care employment has grown faster than other sectors of the economy, with jobs in physician offices, hospitals, outpatient care centers, home health, and other settings increasing over the past year even as the rest of the job market plateaued. 

Cumulative percent change in health sector and non-health sector employment, January 1990 - August 2026

What Are the Recent Trends in Health Sector Employment

Health care employment continues to grow even as hiring across other sectors has plateaued. The health sector added nearly 379,000 jobs over the past year, a 2% increase, compared with just 0.2% growth in other non-farm employment, with outpatient care among the fastest-growing health care settings.

How TrumpRx Brand-Name Drug Prices Compare

TrumpRx prices for brand-name drugs are about as likely to be higher as lower compared to average prices in other wealthy countries, according to an analysis that compares 32 brand-name drugs.

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  • Payments for Cost Sharing Increasing Rapidly Over Time

    Issue Brief

    This Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds that for workers covered by their employer's health plans, out-of-pocket costs including deductibles and coinsurance have been increasing significantly faster than costs paid by insurers, reflecting a decade-long trend toward slightly less generous coverage.

  • What to Look for in 2017 ACA Marketplace Premium Changes

    Perspective

    This brief discusses the key factors that will influence the rate changes that insurers are requesting in 2017 Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces, including current premiums, forecasted enrollment changes, increases in price and use of services, changes in policy design or network, changes in law or regulation, and competition.

  • What Are the Current Costs and Outcomes Related to Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders?

    Feature

    Mental health and substance use disorders, including addiction to opioids, are the leading cause of disease burden in the United States, and the U.S. has the highest mortality rate for these disorders among similarly wealthy countries. This slideshow explores the prevalence, outcomes, access to care, and costs of mental health disorders and substance abuse in the United States.

  • Puerto Rico: Datos Básicos

    Fact Sheet

    Puerto Rico: Datos Básicos provee una descripción general del las características demográficas, y estadísticas de salud y la economía. También se da alguna informacion del gobierno, reglas federales de Medicaid, y asuntos corrientes que estan afectando el territorio, incluyendo a Zika.

  • 8 Questions & Answers about Puerto Rico

    Fact Sheet

    These slides provide a quick snapshot of Puerto Rico’s population, as well as current and upcoming issues that are impacting the island’s health care system.

  • What New Data Tell Us About Doctor Choice

    From Drew Altman

    Drew Altman explores the rhetoric versus reality on whether choice of doctors is eroding and why the issue resonates with Americans, in this column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank.

  • What New Data Tell Us About Doctor Choice

    News Release

    Is choice of doctors eroding? Drew Altman explores the rhetoric versus reality and why the issue resonates with Americans, in his latest column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank. All previous columns by Drew Altman are online.

  • The Affordable Care Act After Six Years

    From Drew Altman

    In this column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman examines the role of the Affordable Care Act in the health system on its sixth anniversary, and how the hot debate about the law may have created an exaggerated impression of the good and the bad it can do.

  • A New Way of Measuring Health Costs Sheds Light on Recent Health Spending Trends

    Issue Brief

    National health spending started to grow more rapidly recently after several years of unusually slow growth. This analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis helps to dissect why that may be happening. Using recently-released disease-based health spending data compiled by the federal government, the analysis finds that the drivers of health spending growth shifted in the years following the Great Recession. The number of people treated for various diseases picked up,…