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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.”

Health System Tracker

Small Businesses Could See Double-Digit Premium Increases in 2027, According to Insurers’ Preliminary Rate Filings

Nearly 300 insurers offering offering health coverage to small businesses reported a median proposed premium increase of 14% for next year, according to an analysis of preliminary rate filings from all 50 states and DC.

ACA Marketplace Insurers Are Proposing a Median Premium Increase of About 15% in 2027

ACA Marketplaces insurers are proposing a median premium increase of 15% in 2027, according to an updated analysis of 276 insurers with publicly available filings across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

In 2024, life expectancy in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 79 years but remained years behind the average in comparable countries

Life expectancy at birth in the U.S. increased 0.6 years from 78.4 years in 2023 to 79.0 years in 2024, its highest-ever level. However, the average life expectancy in comparable countries was about 3.7 years longer than in the U.S.

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.

Using claims data from the 2023 Merative MarketScan Commercial Claims Database, this analysis describes the most common diagnoses for inpatient treatment and total associated costs, including patients’ out-of-pocket share.

New and noteworthy

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

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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.

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  • Section 1: Health Spending and Costs, Including Prescription Drugs

    Other Post

    Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 next > Exhibit 1.1: National Health Expenditures and Their Share of Gross Domestic Product, 1960-2004 Expenditures in the United States on health care were nearly $1.9 trillion in 2004, more than two and a half times the $717 billion spent in 1990, and more than seven times the $255 billion spent in 1980.…

  • Massachusetts Health Reform Tracking Survey

    Poll Finding

    This survey finds that, with a July 1 implementation milestone approaching, most Massachusetts residents support a new state law to provide health coverage to almost all residents, including the individual mandate that requires residents to obtain coverage or pay a penalty. The poll, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Harvard School of Public Health and the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, finds support for the new health insurance law has increased. In…

  • Section 7: Implications of Health Market Trends for Consumers and the Safety Net

    Other Post

    Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 next > Exhibit 7.1: Number of the Nonelderly Uninsured, 1994-2004 The number of the nonelderly (under age 65) uninsured in the United States increased in 2004 to 45.5 million, an increase of 800,000 over 2003. Health insurance affects people’s access to health care, their health status, their job decisions, and their financial security. Health insurance…

  • Medical Malpractice Law in the United States

    Report

    In recent years, medical malpractice law and insurance have become popular topics for debate in Washington, DC and around the country. This report provides an overview of the issues surrounding medical malpractice law, including the legal changes that states have made over the past thirty years in response to periodic concerns about rising medical malpractice costs; some newer proposals for changing medical malpractice law; and trend data for malpractice claims. This report was prepared for…

  • Relative Contributions of Different Types of Health Services to Total Growth in National Health Expenditures, 2001-2011

    Feature

    Relative Contributions of Different Types of Health Services to Total Growth in National Health Expenditures, 2001-2011 Download Source Kaiser Family Foundation calculations using NHE data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary, National Health Statistics Group, at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalHealthExpendData/ (see Historical; National Health Expenditures by type of service and source of funds, CY 1960-2011; file nhe2011.zip). 

  • Health Insurance Quiz

    Feature

    What is a health insurance premium? Can you describe what an annual health insurance deductible is? Take this 10-question quiz and learn how health insurance literate you are compared to a survey of Americans who were asked the same questions. The language of health insurance can be complex and confusing, particularly for many long-time uninsured people enrolling in the new insurance marketplaces set up under the Affordable Care Act.

  • Annual Out-of-Pocket Spending, in Billions, and Their Share of Total National Health Expenditures, 2010-2023

    Feature

    Annual Out-of-Pocket Spending, in Billions, and Their Share of Total National Health Expenditures, 2010-2023-HEALTHCOSTS Download Source Kaiser Family Foundation calculations using NHE data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary, National Health Statistics Group, at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalHealthExpendData/ (For 2010-2012 data, see Historical; National Health Expenditures by type of service and source of funds, CY 1960-2012; file nhe2012.zip. For 2013-2023 data, see Projected; NHE Historical and projections, 1965-2023, file nhe65-23.zip).

  • Public Ranks Drug Costs and Sufficient Provider Networks Ahead of Affordable Care Act Changes as Health Care Priorities for Next President and Congress to Address

    News Release

    As the 2016 campaign nears its end, the latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll examines the public’s view on health care priorities for the next president and Congress. Overall, Americans rank addressing high prescription drug costs and ensuring adequate provider networks in insurance plans among their top health care priorities. Health care itself is not playing a major role in the election, as the poll finds the candidates’ characteristics, the economy and jobs, and foreign policy…

  • Where Do Americans Get Vaccines and How Much Does It Cost to Administer Them?

    Issue Brief

    A new issue brief shows where Americans typically get flu vaccines in the U.S. and how much it costs to administer flu and other vaccines. Among the analysis' findings: while most people get flu vaccines at a doctor’s office or retail health clinic, White people are more likely than Black, Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian or Alaska Native adults to get vaccinated through a retail pharmacy or store - a discrepancy could have implications for…