Home Health Costs Topics

Health Costs

The MIDTERMS

KFF Health Tracking Poll: MAHA and the Midterms

Chemical food additive and pesticide concerns associated with the Make America Health Again (MAHA) movement are shared broadly across the public. But when it comes to voters, health care costs are a higher priority and bigger motivator, even among MAHA supporters, a new KFF Health Tracking Poll finds. When asked to identify their most important health priority for government to address, far more MAHA-supporting voters identify lowering the cost of health care (42%) than other issues more closely associated with the movement.

Affordable care act

ACA Marketplace Survey Feature Image - Website

Cost Concerns and Coverage Changes: A Follow-Up Survey of ACA Marketplace Enrollees

This KFF survey is a follow-up survey of adults who had ACA Marketplace insurance in 2025. The survey examines the cost concerns and coverage changes of Marketplace enrollees following the end of the enhanced premium tax credits and finds that half of returning enrollees say their health care costs are “a lot higher” and most expect to cut back on basic household expenses to afford coverage.

Health System Tracker

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 Cost Affect Access to Health Care? In 2024, about 1 in 6 adults reported delaying or not getting healthcare due to cost, including medical or mental health care.

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.

Latest News

No Posts to Show

More KFF Health News

View the Latest: Health Costs

Filter

List Grid

341 - 350 of 1,581 Results

  • For ACA Enrollees, How Much Premiums Rise Next Year is Mostly up to Congress

    Policy Watch

    Most customers with coverage through Affordable Care Act's marketplaces will face big premium increases next year if Congress doesn’t extend the temporary enhanced tax credits included in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. If the outcome isn’t clear by summer, fall open enrollment could be a mess.

  • New Interactive Provides Essential Facts and Trends Related to Medicare Spending

    News Release

    A new KFF interactive provides essential facts and trends about spending on Medicare, the federal health insurance program that covers 65 million seniors and people with disabilities, or nearly 1 in 5 Americans. In 2020, Medicare spending accounted for 12 percent of the federal budget and 20 percent of national health care spending. Given its size and importance, the program is often part of discussions about how to better manage total federal government spending, health…

  • 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. Fewer cite other issues such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine (18%), climate change (6%), the COVID-19 pandemic (6%), and crime (6%). The…

  • 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.

  • Many Privately Insured People with Diabetes Could Save Money if Congress Caps Insulin Costs

    News Release

    Several legislative proposals in Congress propose a $35 per month cap on what people with health insurance would have to pay out of pocket for insulin, a life-saving hormone taken regularly by many people with diabetes to maintain their health. Such a cap could provide financial relief to at least 1 out of 5 insulin users with different types of private health insurance, a new KFF analysis of insurance claims data finds. In the large…

  • 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…

  • Telehealth Continues to Account for More Than a Third of Outpatient Visits for Mental Health and Substance Use Services Well into the COVID-19 Pandemic

    News Release

    A new analysis from KFF and Epic Research finds that telehealth visits for outpatient mental health and substance use services went from virtually zero percent in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic to a peak of 40% in mid-2020 – and continued to account for more than a third (36%) of such visits in the six months ending in August 2021. The telehealth boom for mental health and substance use services far exceeds the increase…