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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.”

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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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  • Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Six Years Later

    Issue Brief

    In 2006, then-Gov. Mitt Romney signed Massachusetts' comprehensive health reform designed to provide near-universal health insurance coverage for state residents. Building on a long history of health reform efforts, the state embarked on an ambitious plan to promote shared individual, employer, and government responsibility. This brief examines Massachusetts' experience with coverage and access to care over the last six years, as well as the state's ongoing efforts to deal with persistent high health-care costs. The…

  • 2022 Employer Health Benefits Survey

    Report

    This annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, worker contributions, cost-sharing provisions, offer rates, and more. This year’s report also looks at how employers are addressing a growing need for mental health services.

  • Using Payment to Promote Better Medicaid Managed Care for People with AIDS

    Report

    This paper suggests methods of financing managed care for people with HIV or AIDS. Note: This publication is no longer in circulation. However, a few copies may still exist in the Foundation's internal library that could be xeroxed. Please email order@kff.org if you would like to pursue this option.

  • Key Findings: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — April 2009

    Poll Finding

    This document contains the key findings from the April Health Tracking Poll. The survey was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and was conducted April 2 through April 8, 2009, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,203 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews conducted by landline (902) and cell phone (301, including 98 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English and Spanish. The margin…

  • Key Findings: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll? – June 2009

    Poll Finding

    This document contains the key findings from the June Health Tracking Poll. The survey was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and was conducted June 1 through June 8, 2009, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,205 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews conducted by landline (804) and cell phone (401, including 157 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English and Spanish. The margin…

  • Preventing Chronic Disease: The New Public Health

    Event Date:
    Event

    There is a groundswell of activity in local communities to support healthier lifestyles and help people make long-lasting and sustainable changes that can reduce their risk for chronic diseases. A number of provisions in the health reform law are aimed directly at improving population health by addressing conditions where Americans live, learn, work, and play. Public health agencies across the nation are involved in promoting healthy life styles in their communities and the U.S. Department…

  • Examing the Role of Private Long-Term Care Insurance in the Financing of Long-Term Care

    Issue Brief

    As the long-standing gap between Americans’ need for long-term care services and the public and private funding available to pay for them grows ever wider, this policy brief from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examines the fundamentals of private long-term care insurance. The brief describes the results of a study exploring how consumers buy policies, how much policies cost and how they work, and what regulations exist to protect consumers. It also…

  • Pulling it Together: A Holiday Reminder on the Economy and Health Care

    Perspective

    With so much of the focus on the political dynamics of the health reform debate and a few hot button issues, I wonder if we have lost track of what propelled health care to the top domestic issue in the first place—people’s concerns about paying for health care in the middle of a deep recession. This gave health greater traction as a national issue and brought us our best chance at national health reform legislation…

  • Closing the Long-Term Care Funding Gap: The Challenge of Private Long-Term Care Insurance

    Issue Brief

    This policy brief from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examines the fundamentals of private long-term care insurance. It describes the results of a study exploring how consumers buy policies, how much policies cost and how they work, and what regulations exist to protect consumers. It also discusses some key challenges that policymakers face when considering whether to enlarge the role of private long-term care insurance in financing long-term care. Policy Brief (.pdf)