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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.”

New and noteworthy

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.

Health System Tracker

Among adults 18 - 64 with private insurance, mental health and substance use treatment accounted for 10% of all overnight stays at hospitals or other medical facilities in 2023.

Cost and Utilization of Inpatient Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment This analysis describes the most common diagnoses for inpatient treatment and total associated costs.

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 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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  • Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard University School of Public Health: Update on Americans’ Views on the Consumer Protections Debate

    Poll Finding

    Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard University School of Public Health: Update on Americans' Views on the Consumer Protections DebateThe Kaiser Family Foundation/Harvard University School of Public Health Update on American's Views on Consumer Protections in Managed Care is based on findings from the April 1999 Kaiser/Harvard Health News Index. The survey was designed and analyzed by researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University. Nationwide interviews were conducted by telephone with 1,200 adults, 18 years and…

  • Analysis of Benefits Offered By Medicare HMOs, 1999: Complexities and Implications

    Report

    This report analyzes supplemental benefits offered and premiums charged by Medicare HMOs nationwide in 1999, assessing the generosity of selected benefits, including prescription drugs. The study finds that the level of monthly premiums charged by Medicare HMOs, and the generosity of many supplemental benefits, especially prescription drugs, vary widely within and across markets. The study also finds that variations in benefits offered by Medicare HMOs can expose beneficiaries to complex choices and have a significant…

  • The Difference Different Approaches Make: Comparing Proposals to Expand Health Insurance

    Report

    The Difference Different Approaches Make: Comparing Proposals to Expand Health Insurance This paper estimates and compares the impacts of alternative mechanisms for expanding health insurance coverage. A variety of approaches-expansions of existing public programs, direct subsidies, and tax credits-and target populations-including children, poor adults, parents of Medicaid- or CHIP-covered children, and early retirees-are considered. The impacts of the proposals on coverage, costs and other program outcomes are compared. This paper is part of the Kaiser…

  • Toplines: Health Care in America 2006 Survey

    Poll Finding

    These toplines provide the complete survey questions and findings from the 2006 survey on Health Care in America conducted jointly by ABC News, the Kaiser Family Foundation and USA Today between Sept. 7 and 12, 2006. The survey examines Americans’ views and experiences related to health care costs and quality, as well as their attitudes toward possible policy solutions. Toplines (.pdf)

  • Pulling it Together: The Most Popular Provision in the ACA?

    Perspective

    In our most recent monthly tracking poll, we asked the American people what elements of the health reform law they like and dislike. Surprisingly, the runaway favorite was a relatively obscure requirement that health plans provide consumers with a short, easy to understand description of their benefits and coverage. Sixty percent of the American people gave this requirement for greater transparency in health insurance benefits a very favorable rating, the only provision in the law…

  • Texans’ Experiences with Health Care Affordability and Access

    Report

    Using data from the Kaiser Family Foundation/Episcopal Health Foundation 2018 Texas Health Policy Survey, this brief explores Texas residents’ experiences with health care affordability and access to care. It examines Texans’ difficulty affording health care compared to other basic needs, problems paying medical bills, and skipping or postponing care because of costs. It also explores the experiences of vulnerable groups like the uninsured and those with lower incomes.

  • Data Note: Voters Views of the Economy: What’s Health Care Got to Do With It?

    Poll Finding

    Voters frequently cite the economy as a key issue in determining their preferences in any given election. At the same time, many people report that they are very worried about the rising costs of health care, naming it as a top personal concern. This Public Opinion Data Note focuses on how much the two points are related, and to what extent concerns about health care costs drive impressions about the economy as a whole. When…

  • Pulling it Together: Business and Health Care Costs

    Perspective

    Hidden away on page 218 of our annual Employer Health Benefits Survey is a table that shows what employers think of the main strategies they have to control health care costs.  More specifically, the table shows what the person in the firm responsible for its health benefits thinks, which is whom we survey.  The short answer is, employer confidence in their own ability to control costs is not high. Not more than about a quarter…

  • Key Findings: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — February 2009

    Poll Finding

    This document contains the key findings from the February 2009 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. The survey was conducted February 3 through February 12, 2009, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,204 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews conducted by landline (903) and cell phone (301, including 123 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English and Spanish. The margin of sampling error for the total sample is plus or minus 3…

  • Chartpack: Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — December 2009

    Poll Finding

    This document contains the chartpack from the December Health Tracking Poll. The survey was designed and analyzed by public opinion researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation and was conducted December 7 through December 13, 2009, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,204 adults ages 18 and older. Telephone interviews conducted by landline (801) and cell phone (403, including 111 who had no landline telephone) were carried out in English and Spanish. The margin of…