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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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  • New Animated Video Provides an Engaging Look at the Cost and Quality of the Nation’s Health System

    News Release

    A new animated video on the Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker provides an engaging “check-up” of the nation’s health system, addressing questions of whether it’s getting better or worse and how it compares to other countries. Health of the Healthcare System, produced by the Kaiser Family Foundation, draws on the most up-to-date, reliable data to offer an easy-to-understand portrait of cost, quality and access to health care in the United States. Julie Rovner, a veteran health reporter…

  • Health of the Healthcare System

    Video

    Health of the Healthcare System is a diagnostic look at the state of our healthcare system. How does the U.S. healthcare system compare to health systems of other high-income countries, and how has it fared over time? Kaiser Health News and former-NPR reporter, Julie Rovner, takes us through a check-up of our system by assessing four key areas: how healthy we are, the quality of care we receive, how much it costs, and how accessible…

  • In 73 Percent of Counties, Healthcare.Gov Enrollees Could Lower Their Silver Plan Premiums by Comparison Shopping

    News Release

    A new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that in 73 percent of counties served by Healthcare.gov, people enrolled in the lowest-cost silver plan this year could save money on premiums by switching to a different silver plan in 2016. In these counties, the silver plan with the lowest premiums in 2015 is no longer the lowest-cost plan in 2016, according to the analysis. If they stay in their current plan, Healthcare.gov enrollees who…

  • Potential Savings from Actively Shopping for Marketplace Coverage in 2016

    Issue Brief

    This analysis looks at how the premiums for the lowest-cost silver plans in Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces changed between 2015 and 2016. The analysis examines premiums of the 2015 lowest-cost silver plans (in states that used Healthcare.gov in both 2015 and 2016) for a single 40 year-old adult to see how much these premiums increase in 2016 and whether enrollees could obtain lower premiums by switching plans.

  • Patient Cost-Sharing in Marketplace Plans, 2016

    Issue Brief

    This brief and accompanying slides examine cost sharing - deductibles, copayments and coinsurance - in 2016 insurance plans sold on the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) federally-facilitated marketplaces. The analysis looks at out-of-pocket limits, as well as cost sharing for hospital stays, physician visits, emergency room visits, and prescription drugs, for plans across the metal levels (platinum, gold, silver and bronze).

  • The Good and Bad of Those Ubiquitous Drug Ads

    News Release

    In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman examines the public’s mixed views about prescription drug ads and their impact on prescribing patterns, based on a new Kaiser Family Foundation survey. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available online.

  • The Good and Bad of Those Ubiquitous Drug Ads

    From Drew Altman

    In this column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, Drew Altman examines the public’s mixed views about prescription drug ads and their impact on prescribing patterns, based on a new survey.

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: October 2015

    Feature

    This month’s Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds that the affordability of prescription drugs continues to be at the top of the public’s priority list for the President and Congress, picked by majorities across political parties. Issues specific to the ACA, such as repealing provisions of the law or repealing the law entirely, fall much lower on the list. The survey also probes the public's experiences with drug advertisements. A large majority (82%) report they’ve seen…