Health Costs

Health Care Affordability

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.”

Health Care Is Becoming an Economic Issue for US Voters

Americans’ Challenges with Health Care Costs

Annual Family Premiums for Employer Coverage Rise 6% in 2025

Poll: Health Care Costs in the Current Moment of Economic Anxiety

Affordable Care Act

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 Marketplace Premium Payments Would More than Double on Average Without Enhanced Premium Tax Credits

1 in 3 ACA Marketplace Enrollees Say They’d ‘Very Likely’ Shop for a Cheaper Plan If Their Premium Payments Doubled

Calculator: ACA Enhanced Premium Tax Credit

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.

State-Based Efforts Will Provide Limited Relief from Enhanced Tax Credit Expiration

health system tracker

AFFORDABILITY
Higher Premium Payments or Higher Deductibles
This analysis examines the tradeoffs ACA Marketplace enrollees must consider as they decide whether to keep their current plan or switch to a new one, following the expiration of the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credit.
INSURANCE MARKETS
Recent Trends in Commercial Health Insurance Market Concentration
The individual market, which consists mostly of the ACA Marketplaces, has attracted more insurers and witnessed greater insurer competition since the implementation of the enhanced premium tax credits in 2021.
affordability
How ACA Marketplace Costs Compare to Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance
This analysis compares ACA Marketplace costs to employer-sponsored health insurance costs and finds that individual market premiums have become more similar to employer-sponsored premiums since 2017.
Health Spending
How Healthcare Prices and Utilization in the United States Compare to Peer Nations?
This chart collection compares indicators of health care utilization and prices in the U.S. and 11 peer nations to investigate whether higher prices or higher utilization of healthcare services drives high health care spending in the U.S.

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.