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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 

Prior to the 2026 midterm elections, 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.

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Health System Tracker

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. 

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.

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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  • External Review of Health Plan Decisions in the States and Medicare

    Report

    An analysis of the external review process, the formal dispute resolution process established by state or federal agencies, independent of disputing parties, that has the capacity to evaluate and resolve at least those disputes involving medical issues. This paper identifies critical features of external review systems in thirteen states and in the Medicare program. Executive Summary Report

  • Maternity Care and Consumer-Driven Health Plans

    Report

    Maternity Care and Consumer-Driven Health Plans This report compares out-of-pocket costs of maternity care under 12 consumer-driven health plans (CDHP) from the group and individual markets to a traditional health insurance plan. CDHPs typically have lower premiums but higher deductible levels than traditional health plans, shifting more of the financial responsibility for the costs of medical care to patients to promote more cost-conscious health care choices. In some cases, out-of-pocket costs under CDHPs may be…

  • Snapshots: Offer Rates for Smaller Establishments by Business Age

    Issue Brief

    Employer-provided health insurance is the primary source of insurance coverage in the United States, covering almost 160 million people or more than 90 percent of the non-elderly privately-insured population.1 In recent years, the percentage of firms who offer such benefits has been falling; 69 percent offered health coverage benefits in 2000, whereas 60 percent did the same in 2007.2 Since employers are not required to offer health benefits to their employees, changes in the rate at which…

  • The Prescription Drug Conundrum: Pharmaceutical Coverage, Costs, and Affordability — Issue Brief

    Issue Brief

    A 2-page issue brief that discusses significant trends in prescription drug coverage, expenditures, utilization, along with how the pharmaceutical industry prices drugs. The brief also looks at what states are doing to control drug costs and to address issues of affordability and access for low-income and elderly populations, how health plans are controlling prescription drug costs, and proposed prescription legislation in California. The brief lists the panel for a California Health Policy Roundtable held in…

  • HIPAA Compliance Strategies In California:  Reforming the State’s Individual Health Insurance Market — Policy Brief

    Other Post

    HIPAA Compliance Strategies In California: Reforming the State's Individual Health Insurance Market -- Policy Brief A policy brief on reform of the individual insurance market and implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in California. The brief is based, in part, on discussion at a California Health Policy Roundtable held in Sacramento, California on March 12, 1998. Note: This publication is no longer in circulation. However, a copy may still exist in…

  • HIV and Managed Care, Special Supplement to JAIDS

    Other Post

    HIV and Managed Care, Special Supplement to JAIDS Health policy and public health experts examine the politics, practice, and special considerations of providing AIDS/HIV care under a managed care health system. This work was published as a special supplement to JAIDS, the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology, and produced as part of the Kaiser Forums program, an ongoing series of issue-specific briefings at which policy makers, health experts, practitioners, and others…

  • 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…

  • Health of the Healthcare System

    Video

    Health of the Healthcare System is a diagnostic look at the state of our healthcare system. How does the U.S. healthcare system compare to health systems of other high-income countries, and how has it fared over time? Kaiser Health News and former-NPR reporter, Julie Rovner, takes us through a check-up of our system by assessing four key areas: how healthy we are, the quality of care we receive, how much it costs, and how accessible…