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The MIDTERMS

Democrats Hold a Nearly 2-to-1 Advantage Over Republicans on Handling the Cost of Health Care

Poll: Cost of Health Care and Gas Top Voters’ Midterm Concerns; Democrats Hold Significant Advantage on Health Care Costs and Cost of Living 

With the 2026 midterms about a month away, health care costs remain tied with gas as voters’ top midterm concerns and the Democrats hold a clear edge over the Republicans Party on who voters trust to handle many top electoral issues, including the cost of health care and the cost of living. Two-thirds of U.S. adults now favor Medicare-for-all, a new high in KFF Polling, but support shifts when competing claims from critics and proponents are heard.

New and noteworthy

Americans’ Challenges with Health Care Costs

This data note reviews our recent polling data that finds that many Americans struggle to afford many aspects of health care, including disproportionate shares of uninsured adults, Black and Hispanic adults and those with lower incomes.

Health System Tracker

Is This A Healthcare Economy?

Health care employment has grown faster than other sectors of the economy, with jobs in physician offices, hospitals, outpatient care centers, home health, and other settings increasing over the past year even as the rest of the job market plateaued. 

Cumulative percent change in health sector and non-health sector employment, January 1990 - August 2026

What Are the Recent Trends in Health Sector Employment

Health care employment continues to grow even as hiring across other sectors has plateaued. The health sector added nearly 379,000 jobs over the past year, a 2% increase, compared with just 0.2% growth in other non-farm employment, with outpatient care among the fastest-growing health care settings.

How TrumpRx Brand-Name Drug Prices Compare

TrumpRx prices for brand-name drugs are about as likely to be higher as lower compared to average prices in other wealthy countries, according to an analysis that compares 32 brand-name drugs.

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  • Updated Health Spending Explorer Features the Latest National Data

    News Release

    The latest data on U.S. health spending are now available on the Health Spending Explorer, an interactive tool that allows users to explore trends in health expenditures by federal and local governments, insurers, service providers, and individuals. The data, which span from 1960 to 2017, are based on the just-released national health spending report from the federal government. Users can build and download custom charts, with options to filter data by type of service and source…

  • A Generation of Health Care in the United States: Has Value Improved in the Last 25 Years?

    Issue Brief

    Using data from the Health System Dashboard, a new analysis looks at trends in health spending and outcomes in the United States between 1991 and 2016. While many U.S. health outcomes, like life expectancy and disease burden, have improved, the share of GDP devoted to health increased by 40%, and the U.S. still lags behind other countries in many key measures. The analysis is part of the Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker, an online information hub dedicated to monitoring and…

  • Some Can Get Marketplace Plans With No Premiums,Though With Higher Deductibles and Cost-Sharing

    News Release

    Many low-income consumers who are eligible for federal financial help under the Affordable Care Act can get a bronze-level plan and pay nothing out-of-pocket in premiums in more than 2,000 counties next year, depending on their annual income, according to a new analysis from KFF (the Kaiser Family Foundation). Such plans come with higher deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums, however. The analysis finds that the ACA’s premium tax credits would cover the full premium of the lowest-cost bronze…

  • 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. 

  • Short-Term Health Insurance Plans Charge Less than Half as Much in Premiums as ACA Plans By Excluding Pre-Existing Conditions and Severely Limiting Benefits

    News Release

    Short-term health insurance plans offer a trade-off for consumers: substantially lower premiums than plans that comply with the Affordable Care Act, but much less protection if they get sick and need care. Just how much cheaper are the premiums and what are consumers giving up to get them? A new KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation) analysis finds short-term plans are able to charge premiums 54 percent lower than ACA-compliant plans, by excluding pre-existing conditions and severely…

  • Web Briefing for Journalists: Key Issues Ahead of Marketplace Open Enrollment

    Event Date:
    Event

    Marketplace open enrollment, the period during which consumers can shop for health plans or renew existing coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces, begins on Nov. 1. Recent policy changes at the state and federal levels have the potential to impact individuals and families purchasing health insurance for 2019. It’s the first open enrollment period following Congress’ repeal of the ACA’s individual mandate penalty, the requirement that individuals have minimum essential health coverage…

  • How Repeal of the Individual Mandate and Expansion of Loosely Regulated Plans are Affecting 2019 Premiums

    Issue Brief

    In health insurance systems designed to protect people with pre-existing conditions and guarantee availability of coverage regardless of health status, countervailing measures are also needed to ensure people do not wait until they are sick to sign up for coverage (as doing so would drive up average costs for other enrollees). The Affordable Care Act (ACA) included a variety of “carrots” (e.g., premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions) and “sticks” (e.g., the individual mandate penalty…

  • 50-State Survey Finds Flat Medicaid Enrollment Tied to a Stronger Economy and New Eligibility Systems

    News Release

    For the first time in a decade, states are reporting no overall growth in Medicaid enrollment last year and expecting minimal growth this year amid a stronger economy, a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey finds. The 18th annual 50-state survey of Medicaid directors reveals that enrollment was flat in state fiscal year (FY) 2018 (down an average 0.6 percent), and states are budgeting for minimal increases during FY 2019 (up an average 0.9 percent). States…

  • 2019 Premium Changes on ACA Exchanges

    Issue Brief

    This tracker monitors preliminary 2019 premiums in the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces as insurers file rate information with state regulators. It shows preliminary premium information in a major city in each available state for the lowest-cost bronze plan and “benchmark” silver plan, which is used to determine the size of the premium tax credits available to low- and moderate-income enrollees. The tracker also shows how those premiums are changing from 2018 and what a 40-year-old…