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Beyond the Data: Are the Tradeoffs from Prior Authorization Worth It? 

In his latest column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman asks if prior authorization review could be eliminated entirely, discussing how it might be done and the tradeoffs. He writes “Nothing makes American health care consumers more frustrated using the health system than prior authorization review. I know because they told us that, ranking prior authorization review far ahead of any other problems they have getting care and navigating the health care system, including getting appointments and understanding their bills.”

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 that these 2025 Marketplace enrollees are experiencing following the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits. The survey 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

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.

 

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 Do Health Expenditures Vary Across the Population? Five percent of the population made up nearly half of all health spendings, pending an average of $72,918 annually in 2023.

NHE explorer

National Health Spending Explorer: Get up-to-date information on U.S. health spending by federal and local governments, private companies, and individuals.

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  • The Affordable Care Act After Six Years

    From Drew Altman

    In this column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman examines the role of the Affordable Care Act in the health system on its sixth anniversary, and how the hot debate about the law may have created an exaggerated impression of the good and the bad it can do.

  • How Health Care Factors Into the Presidential Campaign

    From Drew Altman

    In this column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, Drew Altman discusses how health care issues have cooled in the election season but matter more for certain voting groups than others, and for “health care voters” encompass more than the Affordable Care Act.

  • Payments for Cost Sharing Increasing Rapidly Over Time

    Issue Brief

    This Kaiser Family Foundation analysis finds that for workers covered by their employer's health plans, out-of-pocket costs including deductibles and coinsurance have been increasing significantly faster than costs paid by insurers, reflecting a decade-long trend toward slightly less generous coverage.

  • Nursing Labor Markets Tutorial

    Interactive

    This tutorial was produced for kaiserEDU.org, a Kaiser Family Foundation website that ceased production in September 2013. The kaiserEDU.org tutorials are no longer being updated but have been made available on kff.org due to demand by professors who are using the tutorials in class assignments. You may search for other tutorials to view on kff.org.

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Health Care Priorities for 2017

    Feature

    The most recent Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that health care is among the top issues, with the economy and jobs and immigration, Americans want President-elect Donald Trump and the next Congress to address in 2017. As Congressional lawmakers make plans for the future of the Affordable Care Act, the latest survey finds the public is divided on what they would like lawmakers to do when it comes to the 2010 health care law with similar shares saying the next Congress should vote to repeal the law (49%) as saying that it should not vote to repeal it (47%).

  • Media Availability on Senate Health Bill

    Event Date:
    Event

    The Kaiser Family Foundation held a media-only conference call Tuesday, June 27, with key experts to explain the Senate Republican health bill and to answer questions about its implications and the CBO’s scoring of the bill.