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“...the search for a single top issue through polling questions — whether it’s health costs, or gas prices, or the cost of food — is artificial. People worry about and experience these costs together. There is no top issue, unless that issue is the catchall, ‘cost of living.’” — Drew Altman, KFF Founding President and CEO

Are Health Care Costs THE Top Issue for Voters?

In a new column, Dr. Drew Altman, Founding President and CEO, analyzes the polling on health costs as a voting issue and concludes that there is no one top voting issue. He writes: “I have come to the conclusion that the search for a single top issue through polling questions—whether it’s health costs, or gas prices, or the cost of food—is artificial. People worry about and experience these costs together. There is no top issue, unless that issue is the catchall, “cost of living.”

New and noteworthy

How Unaffordable is Health Care and What Can We Do About It?

Event Date:

On Tuesday, July 21, three experts joined Health Wonk Shop series moderator Larry Levitt in an hour-long discussion of health care affordability. During the discussion, panelists considered affordability from a variety of perspectives, including how to define affordability and the question of affordability for whom, how to measure it, and what can be done to address affordability and the underlying cost of health care.

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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  • Prescription Drug Trends:  A Chartbook Update

    Report

    This November 2001 Chartbook updates data from last year's chartbook, including information about prescription drug coverage, expenditures and prices, utilization, drug promotion, and the pharmaceutical industry.

  • The Future of Retiree Health Benefits: Challenges and Options

    Event Date:
    Event

    Tricia Neuman, Vice President and Director of the Medicare Policy Project testified before the House Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations on retiree health coverage for older Americans. The statement describes the health needs of aging adults and the importance of health insurance coverage at a time in their lives when they face increasing health problems. It then reviews insurance challenges facing both early retirees, as well as retirees who are 65 and older, against the backdrop…

  • Assessing the Status of California’s Physician Workforce: Shortage or Surplus? — Issue Brief

    Issue Brief

    Assessing the Status of California's Physician Workforce: Shortage or Surplus? -- Issue Brief A 4-page issue brief that looks at recent estimates of California's present and future physician supply, various issues that affect the state s physician workforce, and approaches for ensuring an adequate number and mix of primary care and specialty physicians, as well as a balanced geographic and demographic distribution. The brief lists the panel for a California Health Policy Roundtable held in…

  • Pieces of the Puzzle

    Report

    A new report describes the Report to Congress by the Department of Health and Human Services on consumer protection and quality assurance requirements for Medicaid managed care and discusses the differences between the original Federal rule and the revised one. Report Executive Summary  

  • Health News Index – September/October 2001

    Poll Finding

    Health News Index September/October, 2001 The September/October 2001 edition of the Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health Health News Index includes questions about major health stories covered in the news, including reports about rising health insurance premiums and Americans most important sources for health news and information. The Health News Index is designed to help the news media and people in the health field gain a better understanding of which health stories Americans are…

  • New Survey on Consumer Experiences with Health Plans

    Report

    Survey on Consumer Experiences with Health Plans A Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard School of Public Health survey found that more than six in ten privately insured American adults under age 65 give their health plans a grade of A or B, but nearly half report having some type of problem with their health plan in the last year with a range of consequences for the consumer. The survey found strong support for the right-to-sue a health…

  • Public Opinion Update: The Public, Managed Care, and Consumer Protections

    Fact Sheet

    The Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard School of Public Health monitored consumer experiences with managed care and attitudes toward alternative consumer protection approaches. This Public Opinion Update summarizes key findings from surveys conducted between 1997 and 2001, a period in which the intensity of public debate and media attention paid to managed care issues varied substantially. Public Opinion Update (PDF)