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KFF Health Tracking Poll: Health Care Costs and the Midterms

This KFF poll finds that health care costs continue to top the public’s list of affordability worries, even as concerns about gas prices have risen in recent weeks, with two-thirds of the public expressing worry over affording health care costs. Majorities say health costs will influence their vote this election. Voters favor Democrats on the issue, while Republicans hold an advantage on addressing fraud and abuse.

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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  • Visualizing Health Policy: Health Care Costs

    Other Post

    The September 2012 Visualizing Health Policy  infographic  examines health costs in the United States, including how costs have changed, how they compare to some other countries, and how they impact American families. See the full-size infographic at The Journal of the American Medical Association View the related Slideshow Visualizing Health Policy is a monthly infographic series produced in partnership with the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Each month's infographic is freely available on JAMA’s website…

  • We Still Have a Health-Care Spending Problem

    From Drew Altman

    Drew Altman, President and CEO of the Foundation, and Larry Levitt, Senior Vice President, co-authored a Washington Post op-ed that examined how the economy affects the nation’s health spending.  It concludes that the record slow growth rate of recent years stems largely from economic factors beyond the health system, with the economy explaining 77 percent of the slowdown, and more rapid growth expected in coming years if the economy strengthens as expected.  The op-ed was based…

  • New Study Provides Insight and Analysis to Help Explain the Medicare Spending Slowdown

    News Release

    Medicare, the federal health program that provides health care and coverage to 54 million seniors and younger adults with permanent disabilities, is in the midst of an unprecedented slowdown in spending growth.  A new issue brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation, How Much of the Medicare Spending Slowdown Can be Explained? Insights and Analysis from 2014, examines the factors that help explain why Medicare is on track to spend an estimated $580 billion in 2014,…

  • New Report on the “Rising Cost of Living Longer” Details Medicare Spending by Age

    News Release

    A new report, The Rising Cost of Living Longer: Analysis of Medicare Spending by Age for Beneficiaries in Traditional Medicare, from the Kaiser Family Foundation takes a detailed look at per person Medicare spending by age and by service among the nearly 30 million people covered by traditional Medicare in 2011

  • How Workers and Employers Diverge on Wellness Programs 

    News Release

    In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman examines employer attitudes and the evidence on wellness programs, and what the prospects for wellness programs are long term. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available online.

  • Annual Increase in National Health Expenditures and Their Share of Gross Domestic Product, 1961-2023

    Feature

    Annual Increase in National Health Expenditures and Their Share of Gross Domestic Product, 1961-2023-HEALTHCOSTS Download Source Kaiser Family Foundation calculations using NHE data from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Office of the Actuary, National Health Statistics Group, at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalHealthExpendData/ (For 2012 data, see Historical; National Health Expenditures by type of service and source of funds, CY 1960-2012; file nhe2012.zip. For 2013-2023 data, see Projected; NHE Historical and projections, 1965-2023, file nhe65-23.zip). Gross Domestic Product…

  • State-by-State Effects of a Ruling for the Challengers in King v. Burwell

    Interactive

    A map and table showing the number of people now receiving premium subsidies who would lose them if the Court finds for the challengers; the total amount of federal subsidy dollars; the average subsidy (or average premium tax credit) that subsidized enrollees have qualified for; and the average increase in premiums that subsidized enrollees would face if the subsidies are disallowed.

  • New Analysis Details Impact on Residents in Different States If the U.S. Supreme Court Rules for Challengers in King v. Burwell

    News Release

    The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule this month in the King v. Burwell case that challenges whether low- and moderate-income Americans are eligible for subsidies to help pay for insurance if they live in states where the federal government, rather than the state, established its new insurance marketplace under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Using 2015 enrollment data released today, a new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis and interactive map breaks out how residents…