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Trump Has No Health Plan, He Has the Art of the Health Care Deal

Trump Has No Health Plan, He Has the Art of the Health Care Deal

KFF CEO Dr. Drew Altman analyzes President Trump’s “make a deal” approach to health care. He explains that while the president doesn’t have a health reform plan, or even “concepts of a plan,” or a replacement for the ACA, he does have a distinctive set of tactics that features one-off deals with the health care industry that are more like “health policy by transaction.” He writes that the deals “even do some good,” but “don’t change the long-term incentives of health care companies that participate in the deals,” and a big question is “whether they have staying power.”

Affordable Care Act

Updated Larry QT on ePTCs

There is No Drop-Dead Date for an ACA Tax Credit Extension, But Coverage Losses Will Mount as the Clock Ticks

While the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits expired at the end of 2025, there is no absolute drop-dead date for extending them. An extension could happen even after the deadline to sign up for coverage and be made retroactive to January 1. Open enrollment could also be extended to allow people time to change their plans or allow new people to sign up. ACA enrollees would welcome premium relief whenever it comes, explains KFF's Larry Levitt.

ACA Signups Are Down, But Still an Incomplete Picture

Data currently being released represent Open Enrollment ACA Marketplace plan selections, or how many people have signed up for or been automatically renewed into 2026 coverage. These data do not necessarily translate to enrollments. That is because people who have selected a plan or been automatically renewed may not ultimately choose to pay for their coverage, thus “effectuating” their enrollment.

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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  • COVID-19 preventable mortality

    Issue Brief

    This updated analysis estimates that nationally at least 234,000 deaths from COVID-19 between June 2021 and March 2022 could have been prevented with a primary series of vaccinations. These vaccine-preventable deaths represent 60% of all adult COVID-19 deaths since June 2021, when vaccines first became widely available.

  • Strategies To Lower Drug Costs Top the Public’s Health Priorities for Congress

    News Release

    Against the backdrop of public concern about inflation and rising gas prices, proposals to lower what people pay out-of-pocket for drugs tops the public’s list of health care priorities for Congress, a new KFF Health Tracking Poll finds. Most (55%) of the public say inflation is the biggest problem facing the country.

  • Out-of-pocket spending on insulin among people with private insurance

    Issue Brief

    This analysis of insurance claims data finds that Congressional proposals to set a $35 per month cap on what people pay out of pocket for insulin would provide financial relief to at least 1 out of 5 insulin users with different types of private health insurance.

  • No Surprises Act Quiz

    Feature

    A new federal law provides new consumer protections against "surprise" medical bills beginning this year. Test your knowledge about its provisions with this 12-question quiz.

  • Medicare Part B Drugs: Cost Implications for Beneficiaries in Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage

    Issue Brief

    In the face of rising prescription drug costs, a large majority of the public supports federal efforts to lower drug spending. Policymakers are considering several proposals that would lower prescription drug costs. To better understand the potential out-of-pocket cost exposure that Medicare beneficiaries may face for Part B drugs, which are typically administered by physicians and other health care providers, we analyzed cost-sharing liability for these drugs in traditional Medicare and cost-sharing requirements in Medicare Advantage plans.

  • 1 in 10 Adults Owe Medical Debt, With Millions Owing More Than $10,000

    News Release

    Americans Likely Owe Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in Total Medical Debt A new KFF analysis of government data estimates that nearly 1 in 10 adults (9%) - or roughly 23 million people - owe medical debt. This includes 11 million who owe more than $2,000 and 3 million people who owe more than $10,000.