Health Costs

Affordable care act

Poll: Health Care Costs, Expiring ACA Tax Credits, and the 2026 Midterms

Heading into this midterm election year, the cost of health care tops the public’s economic anxieties, and more than 4 in 10 voters say the issue will have a major impact on their vote, a new KFF Health Tracking poll finds. Two thirds of public say Congress "did the wrong thing" by not extending ACA enhanced tax credits, but Republicans largely say Congress “did the right thing.”

Affordability and Spending

Our Darwinian Approach to Health Care Costs

Our Darwinian Approach to Health Care Costs

In his latest column, President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman presents his Venn diagram of health care cost problems and shows how, in our fragmented health system, reducing one health cost problem often makes another worse. "...Reducing health care costs has become a Darwinian game; everyone wants to reduce health care costs and spending – their own, often at the expense of someone else."

KEY RESOURCES
  • Health Policy 101: Costs and Affordability

    This Health Policy 101 chapter explores trends in health care costs in the U.S. and the factors that contribute to this spending. It also examines how health care spending varies and the impact on affordability and people's overall financial vulnerability.  


  • Americans’ Challenges with Health Care Costs

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

  • National Health Spending Explorer

    This interactive Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker tool allows users to examine five decades worth of data on health expenditures by federal and local governments, private insurers, and individuals.

  • Polling on Prescription Drugs and Their Prices

    This chart collection draws on recent KFF poll findings to provide an in-depth look at the public’s attitudes toward prescription drugs and their prices. Results include Americans’ opinions on drug affordability, pharmaceutical companies, and various potential measures that could lower prices.

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  • Why Higher Drug Costs Are Consumers’ Biggest Cost Worry

    News Release

    In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, Drew Altman discusses why public concern over drug prices is the “tip of the iceberg” representing broader concerns about out-of-pocket health care costs. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available online.

  • Analysis of 2016 Premium Changes in the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplaces

    Fact Sheet

    The chart and tables below present an updated analysis of changes in premiums for the lowest- and second-lowest cost silver Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace plans in major cities in 48 states and the District of Columbia, where we were able to find complete data on rates for all insurers. This page will be updated as complete rate information becomes available for more states. More background can be found in our earlier analysis of 2016 rates.

  • Two Substantive Sides to Debate Over Obamacare’s ‘Cadillac Tax’

    From Drew Altman

    In this column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman says debate about whether to keep or repeal the Cadillac tax is more than a debate between sound policy and good politics, there are strong substantive arguments on both sides.

  • A Reconfigured U.S. Supreme Court: Implications for Health Policy

    Issue Brief

    U.S. Supreme Court decisions shape health policy in important ways. The nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, if confirmed, is expected to establish a solid 6:3 conservative majority that could affect case outcomes in several areas. This issue brief considers the potential implications of a reconfigured Court for health policy issues, including those already on the Court’s docket for the coming term and those that the Court may choose to consider in this term or in the future.

  • KFF Health Tracking Poll – October 2020: The Future of the ACA and Biden’s Advantage On Health Care

    Report

    The poll examines the public's views on the Supreme Court case to overturn the Affordable Care Act and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Less than a month from the results of the 2020 presidential election, this poll examines the top issues for voters (the economy, the coronavirus pandemic, health care, criminal justice and policing, among others) as well as which candidate, Biden or Trump, they think has the better approach to handle key health care policy areas.

  • Tracking Poll: A Large and Growing Majority, Including Republicans, Does Not Want the Supreme Court to Overturn the ACA’s Protections for People with Pre-Existing Conditions

    News Release

    As the Senate considers Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court, the October KFF Health Tracking Poll finds a large majority (79%) of the public do not want the Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions, up 17 percentage points since last year when 62% held…

  • The Pandemic is Boosting the Public’s View of Doctors

    From Drew Altman

    In this Axios column, Drew Altman looks at how the heroic performance of the nation's doctors on the frontlines of coronavirus care and effective communication by many physician scientists on television, is shifting the public's views, with twice as many Americans now saying doctors put people ahead of profits than they did in earlier KFF polling.

  • Health Insurer Financial Performance Through September 2020

    Issue Brief

    In this brief, we analyze third quarter data from 2018 to 2020 to examine how insurance markets performed financially through the end of September. Average margins remained relatively high compared to the same point in recent years, suggesting many insurers remained profitable even as non-COVID-related care returned in the summer and fall.

  • How Might Internet Connectivity Affect Health Care Access?

    Feature

    A new chart collection looks at how internet access may affect health care in the U.S., as more providers turn to telemedicine during the pandemic. An estimated 25 million Americans - about 8% of the population - lack access to internet at home.