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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.

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  • Medicaid Spending Growth Per Enrollee Has Been Slower than Growth in Private Health Spending

    Feature

    Medicaid Spending Growth Per Enrollee Has Been Slower than Growth in Private Health Spending Download Source Urban Institute, 2010. Estimates based on data from Medicaid Financial Management Reports (HCFA/CMS Form 64), Medicaid Statistical Information System (MSIS), and KCMU/HMA enrollment data. Expenditures exclude prescription drug spending for dual eligible benficiaries to remove the effect of their transition to Medicare Part D in 2006  

  • 2023 Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator

    Interactive

    The Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator, updated with 2023 premium data, provides estimates of health insurance premiums and subsidies for people purchasing insurance on their own in health insurance exchanges (or “Marketplaces”) created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

  • The Health-Cost Problem Is Coming Back

    From Drew Altman

    Drew Altman, in The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, discusses how the conversation will soon shift back to health-care costs from health coverage, because they are rising more sharply again. And as the discussion turns back, he says that because there is no national agreement on a strategy to address increasing costs, current efforts in the public and private sector, however fragmented and uncoordinated, will need to step up their game.

  • Uwe Reinhardt’s New Book Priced Out: His Health Policy Ideas in Today’s Debates

    Event Date:
    Event

    Dr. Uwe Reinhardt is a giant in the health policy field who advised policymakers and influenced debates about the nation’s health system before his passing in 2017. His recently released last book, Priced Out: The Ethics and Economics of Health Care, completed by his wife and longtime collaborator Tsung-Mei (May) Cheng gives us the gift of further insights into the U.S. health system and many issues that the country is debating right now, ranging from health price…

  • Medicare Part D Enrollees with Serious Health Conditions Can Face Thousands of Dollars in Out-of-Pocket Costs Annually for Specialty Drugs

    News Release

    Despite Medicare’s protections, Part D enrollees with serious health conditions can face thousands of dollars in annual out-of-pocket costs for expensive specialty drugs, a new KFF anaylsis finds. The analysis draws on data from Medicare’s Plan Finder website to calculate expected annual 2019 costs for more than two dozen specialty tier drugs used to treat four health conditions -- cancer, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis – based on coverage and costs in national and…

  • How Affordability of Employer Coverage Varies by Family Income

    Issue Brief

    This analysis looks at the share of family income people with employer-based coverage pay toward their premiums and out-of-pocket payments for medical care. The cost of employer sponsored health insurance—including premiums, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket costs—has risen steadily over time.

  • The New Health Care Agenda: Gridlock, Lots of Hearings

    From Drew Altman

    In an Axios column, Drew Altman analyzes what the midterm election means for the health policy agenda between now and 2020--mostly political positioning and gridlock in Congress, with most of the action affecting people in the states. 

  • What are the Trends in Health Utilization and Spending in Early 2024?

    Issue Brief

    Recent trends in healthcare utilization and spending suggest that most spending on health services exceeds pre-pandemic levels and health costs are growing at a faster rate than in recent years. However, utilization of care has been uneven by setting and market.

  • Insurer Strategies to Control Costs Associated with Weight Loss Drugs

    Issue Brief

    Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace plans rarely cover GLP-1 drugs approved solely for obesity treatment, according to a an analysis of 2024 federal plan data. Wegovy, a drug that is approved for weight loss, is covered by just 1% of Marketplace prescription drug plans, compared to 82% of Marketplace prescription drug plans for Ozempic, which contains the same active ingredient as Wegovy (semaglutide) but is approved only for diabetes. This analysis examines publicly available formularies…