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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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  • Texans’ Experiences with Health Care Affordability and Access

    Report

    Using data from the Kaiser Family Foundation/Episcopal Health Foundation 2018 Texas Health Policy Survey, this brief explores Texas residents’ experiences with health care affordability and access to care. It examines Texans’ difficulty affording health care compared to other basic needs, problems paying medical bills, and skipping or postponing care because of costs. It also explores the experiences of vulnerable groups like the uninsured and those with lower incomes.

  • 5 Charts About Americans and Medical Bills

    Feature

    This slideshow draws on findings from the June 2018 Kaiser Family Foundation poll to provide an overview of the public’s experiences with medical bills, particularly for 18-64 year olds. Results include public’s problems with paying medical bills, impacts on their family, as well as actions taken to pay off bills.

  • The Biggest Health Issue We Aren’t Debating

    From Drew Altman

    In an Axios column, Drew Altman raises a health care issue that isn’t being debated, a large share of the public don’t have the assets to cover the cost sharing in their health plan if they get sick.

  • A Primer on Tax Subsidies for Health Care Tutorial

    Interactive

    This tutorial was produced for kaiserEDU.org, a Kaiser Family Foundation website that ceased production in September 2013. The kaiserEDU.org tutorials are no longer being updated but have been made available on kff.org due to demand by professors who are using the tutorials in class assignments. You may search for other tutorials to view on kff.org.

  • Benchmark Employer Survey Finds Average Family Premiums Now Top $20,000

    News Release

    Annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose 5% to average $20,576 this year, according to the 2019 benchmark KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey released today. Workers’ wages rose 3.4% and inflation rose 2% over the same period. On average, workers this year are contributing $6,015 toward the cost of family coverage, with employers paying the rest.

  • A Look at People Who Have Persistently High Spending on Health Care

    Issue Brief

    This analysis looks at the amounts and types of health spending for people with employer-based health insurance who have continuing high health care spending. It finds that, among people with three consecutive years of coverage from a large employer, just 1.3 percent of enrollees accounted for almost 20 percent of overall spending in 2017.