Health Costs

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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.”

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  • Cumulative Percent Change in National Health Expenditures, by Selected Sources of Funds, 2000-2011

    Feature

    Cumulative Percent Change in National Health Expenditures, by Selected Sources of Funds, 2000-2011 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/ (see Historical; National Health Expenditures by type of service and source of funds, CY 1960-2011; file nhe2011.zip). 

  • Distribution of National Health Expenditures, by Type of Service, 2001 and 2011

    Feature

    Distribution of National Health Expenditures, by Type of Service, 2001 and 2011 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/ (see Historical; National Health Expenditures by type of service and source of funds, CY 1960-2011; file nhe2011.zip). 

  • Medicaid Spending Growth Per Enrollee Has Been Slower than Growth in Private Health Spending

    Feature

    Medicaid Spending Growth Per Enrollee Has Been Slower than Growth in Private Health Spending Download Source Urban Institute, 2010. Estimates based on data from Medicaid Financial Management Reports (HCFA/CMS Form 64), Medicaid Statistical Information System (MSIS), and KCMU/HMA enrollment data. Expenditures exclude prescription drug spending for dual eligible benficiaries to remove the effect of their transition to Medicare Part D in 2006  

  • Peering Into the Black Box of Insurance Rating

    Perspective

    Recently, the New York Times reported that private health insurers continue to seek large premium increases despite seeing lower than expected use of medical care and booking record profits. The story highlights a significant problem for health policy: the lack of good, public information about how health insurers manage health care use and what they pay for medical services. As a nation, we rely on competition among largely private health plans to ensure that health…

  • Explaining Health Reform: Eligibility And Enrollment Processes For Medicaid, CHIP and Subsidies in the Exchange

    Issue Brief

    The new health reform law will require most U.S. citizens and legal residents to have health coverage by 2014. It provides new options for coverage by expanding Medicaid eligibility to more low-income people and creating a state-based system of health insurance exchanges through which individuals can purchase coverage, with federal subsidies for many. This brief and accompanying explanatory chart summarize key requirements that states face under health reform to construct coordinated and consumer-friendly enrollment systems…

  • Filling In The Long-Term Care Gaps

    Event Date:
    Event

    At a June 3 hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Diane Rowland, Executive Vice President of the Kaiser Family Foundation and Executive Director on the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, testified on the key challenges to providing a larger role for private long-term care insurance in financing long-term care for the elderly and people with disabilities. Her testimony coincided with the release of a policy brief on long-term care financing by…

  • The Sleeper Health Cost Policy

    From Drew Altman

    In this Axios column, Drew Altman unpacks President Biden’s recent executive order on promoting competition, exploring its significance for new efforts to control health costs by addressing consolidation in the health care industry.

  • The No Surprises Act Begins January 2022: This is What You Can Expect

    News Release

    The “No Surprises Act,” which establishes new federal protections against most surprise out-of-network medical bills when a patient receives out-of-network services during an emergency visit or from a provider at an in-network hospital without advance notice, will take effect next month. A new KFF brief outlines what to expect in 2022, summarizing key provisions that will be implemented. Most adults (2 in 3) say they worry about unexpected medical bills and among privately insured patients,…

  • How Marketplace Costs and Premiums Will Change if American Rescue Plan Subsidies Expire

    News Release

    In a new Policy Watch, KFF analysts explore the potential impact of the expiration of the American Rescue Plan Act’s enhanced financial help and new eligibility for the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance Marketplace federal subsidies. While the COVID-19 relief legislation passed earlier this year provides greater subsidy assistance through 2022, Democrats in Congress are currently considering making the temporary federal help permanent or extending it as part of their planned budget reconciliation legislation. The…