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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

U.S. Health Spending Is Expected to Reach $9 Trillion by 2034

How Much is Health Spending Expected to Grow?

This chart collection explores how much health spending is expected to grow in the coming years, with a look at growth in prescription drug spending, out-of-pocket spending, and related trends.

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. 

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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  • Analysis: Inconsistencies Within Hospital Price Transparency Data Make Cost Comparisons Difficult

    News Release

    Since 2021, federal law has required hospitals to publicly post information about their standard prices and negotiated discount rates for common health services to encourage consumers to compare prices and to promote competition. To date, however, the transparency data currently shared by hospitals to comply with the law are messy, inconsistent and confusing, making it challenging, if not impossible, for patients or researchers to use them to compare prices across hospitals or payers, a new…

  • Outpatient Visits Are Growing More Complex: Implications for Health Costs

    Issue Brief

    This analysis for the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker uses claims data from private, large employer-based plan to examine trends in complexity coding across outpatient practice settings from 2004 to 2021. It finds a trend toward higher complexity codes that contributes to higher outpatient spending.

  • KFF’s Kaiser Health News and CBS News Team Up to Investigate a Dental Device That Allegedly Has Left a Trail of Mangled Mouths and Devastated Patients

    News Release

    In a months-long project, KFF’s Kaiser Health News correspondent Brett Kelman joined forces with CBS News National Consumer Investigative Correspondent Anna Werner to investigate an unregulated dental device that is at the heart of numerous accounts of pain and disfigurement. At least 10,000 dental patients have been fitted with the fixed Anterior Growth Guidance Appliance (“AGGA”), which costs about $7,000. The device resembles a retainer, is typically worn for several months, and uses springs to…

  • How Have Costs Associated With Obesity Changed Over Time?

    Issue Brief

    This analysis finds that, among people with large employer health plans, those with an obesity diagnosis on average have higher total and out-of-pocket spending than those without an obesity diagnosis. It also examines the cost of common surgical and pharmacological treatments for obesity. 

  • How Do Facility Fees Contribute To Rising Emergency Department Costs?

    Issue Brief

    With the high costs of emergency department visits of significant importance to consumers and policymakers, this analysis examines claims data from privately insured individuals with large employer health plans, to examine the role that facility fees play in rising cost of emergency care.

  • Premiums and Worker Contributions Among Workers Covered by Employer-Sponsored Coverage, 1999-2026

    Interactive

    Since 1999, the Employer Health Benefits Survey has documented trends in employer-sponsored health insurance. Every year, private and non-federal public employers with 10 or more employees complete the survey. Among other topics, the survey asks firms for the premium (or full per-person cost) of their health coverage, as well as worker contributions (amount of the premium that workers pay). The graphing tool below looks at changes in premiums and worker contributions over time for covered…

  • How Much is Health Spending Expected to Grow?

    Feature

    This chart collection explores how much health spending is expected to grow in the coming years, with a look at growth in prescription drug spending, out-of-pocket spending, and related trends.

  • 2026 Employer Health Benefits Survey

    Feature

    This is the 28th Employer Health Benefits Survey (EHBS) and reflects employer-sponsored health benefits in 2026. As in years past, the survey examines trends in employer coverage, including premiums, employee contributions, deductibles, offer rates, and employer practices. This year, we asked employers detailed questions about satisfaction with their health plans; coverage of GLP-1 agonists and IVF; actions taken in response to projected cost increases; and firms’ ability to obtain information about health care costs and…

  • Workers Now Pay $7,471 on Average Annually for Family Health Coverage, Up 9% or $621 from 2025, Benchmark Employer Health Benefits Survey Finds

    News Release

    Workers are paying on average $7,471 annually toward the premiums for employer-sponsored family health benefits this year, which is up 9%, or $621, from 2025, per KFF’s annual benchmark health benefits survey of large and small employers. The burden of family premiums hits particularly hard for workers at small firms with less than 200 workers. On average, covered workers in small firms are contributing $9,687 annually toward family coverage this year. That’s $2,847 more than…