Home Health Costs Topics

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.

Latest News

More KFF Health News

Stay informed.

Get KFF's latest on Health Costs

Stay informed.

Get KFF's latest on Health Costs

View the Latest: Health Costs

Filter

List Grid

1,391-1,400 of 1,619 results

  • Visualizing Health Policy: Recent Trends in Prescription Drug Costs

    News Release

    This Visualizing Health Policy infographic spotlights national spending on prescription drugs and the public’s views on pharmaceutical prices. Prescription drug spending rose sharply in 2014, driven by growth in expenditures on specialty drugs, including medications to treat cancer and hepatitis C. Medicare’s spending on prescription pharmaceuticals also has risen, largely due to the addition of the Medicare prescription drug benefit in 2006: between 2004 and 2014, the program’s share of US drug expenditures increased from…

  • Public Ranks Drug Costs and Sufficient Provider Networks Ahead of Affordable Care Act Changes as Health Care Priorities for Next President and Congress to Address

    News Release

    As the 2016 campaign nears its end, the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll examines the public’s view on health care priorities for the next president and Congress. Overall, Americans rank addressing high prescription drug costs and ensuring adequate provider networks in insurance plans among their top health care priorities. Health care itself is not playing a major role in the election, as the poll finds the candidates’ characteristics, the economy and jobs, and foreign policy…

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: November 2016

    Feature

    The November Kaiser Health Tracking Poll, conducted one week after the 2016 presidential election, finds health care played a limited role in voters’ 2016 election decisions. While President-elect Trump and Republican lawmakers have made it clear that one of their top priorities is the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the survey finds Americans are divided on what they want to see lawmakers do to the health care law. This survey also finds that many…

  • The Good and Bad of Those Ubiquitous Drug Ads

    From Drew Altman

    In this column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, Drew Altman examines the public’s mixed views about prescription drug ads and their impact on prescribing patterns, based on a new survey.

  • Health of the Healthcare System: An Overview

    Feature

    This slideshow accompanies the video, “Health of the Healthcare System,” a diagnostic look at the state of the U.S. healthcare system. It compares the United States to other countries in four key areas: health, quality of health care, cost of care, and accessibility.

  • Prescription Drugs’ Sizable Share of Health Spending

    From Drew Altman

    In this column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman explains why prescription drug spending may be a larger share of health spending than most people think, depending on how you look at it.