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

471 - 480 of 1,586 Results

  • The Cost of Inpatient and Outpatient Care Drives High Health Spending in the U.S. Relative to Other Countries, New Analysis Finds

    News Release

    A new KFF issue brief compares the main drivers of health spending in the United States and other large, wealthy countries, and finds that the cost of inpatient and outpatient care – much more so than prescription drugs or administrative costs – drives high per capita health spending in the U.S. In 2018, the U.S. spent $10,637 on health per person – nearly twice as much as other comparably large and wealthy countries. The analysis finds…

  • What Do We Know About Spending Related to Public Health in the U.S. and Comparable Countries?

    Feature

    A new chart collection examines what we know about public health spending in the U.S. and comparable countries. The chart collection explores high-level trends in spending on public health and prevention in the U.S., and finds that while the U.S. spends more than most comparable countries on preventive care, the share of total U.S. health spending committed to preventive care has declined in recent years, and the U.S. still has a higher rate of preventable…

  • Drugs Aren’t the Reason the U.S. Spends So Much on Health Care

    From Drew Altman

    Drew Altman’s column in Axios: the U.S. now spends twice per capita what other wealthy countries do on health care. But while drug costs get all the time in public debate, it's hospital and outpatient spending that mostly explains the difference. And that will be impossible to take on without real pain and political risk, he says.

  • What Do We Know About People with High Out-of-Pocket Spending?

    Feature

    Based on an analysis of claims data, this slideshow examines overall trends, gender and age of high out-of-pocket spenders in large employer health plans, as well as differences in out-of-pocket health expenditures across diseases.

  • Affordability in the ACA Marketplace Under a Proposal Like Joe Biden’s Health Plan

    Issue Brief

    This KFF analysis finds that expanding Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies like Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has proposed would lower the cost of Marketplace coverage for nearly all potential enrollees, including the uninsured and others currently priced out of the Marketplace. Biden's plan would, however, increase federal spending, which we do not attempt to estimate here.

  • Analysis Examines the Affordable Care Act’s Impact on Nearly All Americans

    News Release

    A week after the 2020 elections, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on a legal challenge, supported by the Trump administration, that seeks to overturn the Affordable Care Act, an outcome that would have major effects throughout the health care system as the law’s provisions have affected nearly all Americans in some way. A KFF analysis examines key provisions of the 2010 law that have changed the nation’s health care system, including what’s…

  • From the Federal Response to COVID-19 to Ongoing Efforts to Repeal the ACA and Proposals for Lowering Drug Prices, President Trump Has an Extensive Record on Health Care

    News Release

    Since taking office in 2017, President Trump has laid down an extensive record on health care, including his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, his early and ongoing efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, his annual budget proposals to curb spending on Medicare and Medicaid, his executive orders and other proposals to lower prescription drug prices, and his initiative on hospital price transparency. President Trump’s record on health care provides a window into…

  • President Trump’s Record on Health Care

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief provides a detailed overview of the Trump Administration’s record on health care issues relating to: the Administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACA and private insurance markets, Medicaid, Medicare, reducing prescription drug and other health care costs, sexual and reproductive health, mental health and substance use, immigration and health, long-term care, HIV/AIDS policy, and LGBTQ health.