Health Costs

The MIDTERMS

“...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.”

Health System Tracker

Small Businesses Could See Double-Digit Premium Increases in 2027, According to Insurers’ Preliminary Rate Filings

Nearly 300 insurers offering offering health coverage to small businesses reported a median proposed premium increase of 14% for next year, according to an analysis of preliminary rate filings from all 50 states and DC.

ACA Marketplace Insurers Are Proposing a Median Premium Increase of About 15% in 2027

ACA Marketplaces insurers are proposing a median premium increase of 15% in 2027, according to an updated analysis of 276 insurers with publicly available filings across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

In 2024, life expectancy in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 79 years but remained years behind the average in comparable countries

Life expectancy at birth in the U.S. increased 0.6 years from 78.4 years in 2023 to 79.0 years in 2024, its highest-ever level. However, the average life expectancy in comparable countries was about 3.7 years longer than in the U.S.

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.

Using claims data from the 2023 Merative MarketScan Commercial Claims Database, this analysis describes the most common diagnoses for inpatient treatment and total associated costs, including patients’ out-of-pocket share.

New and noteworthy

How Unaffordable is Health Care and What Can We Do About It?

Event Date:

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.

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  • Report Examines Current Role and Future Outlook of Retiree Health Coverage

    News Release

    A new Kaiser Family Foundation report examines the current role and future outlook of employer-sponsored retiree health benefits for pre-65 and Medicare-eligible retirees. Retiree Health Benefits At the Crossroads reviews recent trends and developments in employer-sponsored retiree health coverage and examines the impact of recent legislation, such as the Medicare drug benefit and the Affordable Care Act, on retiree health coverage. The report describes leading strategies employers have been pursuing to limit costs associated with…

  • Retiree Health Benefits At the Crossroads

    Report

    This issue brief reviews recent trends and developments in employer-sponsored retiree health coverage and examines the impact of recent legislation, such as the Medicare drug benefit and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on retiree health coverage. The report describes leading strategies employers have been pursuing or considering to limit costs for retiree health benefits. In addition, the report considers the potential implications of proposals aimed at reducing federal spending for retiree health coverage and costs.

  • Net Cost of Private Health Insurance, Including Administrative Costs, per Person Covered, 1987-2012

    Feature

    Net Cost of Private Health Insurance, Including Administrative Costs, per Person Covered, 1987-2012-HEALTHCOSTS Download Source Kaiser Family Foundation calculations 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 Expenditures by type of service and source of funds, CY1960-2012, file nhe2012.zip, Total Admin. & Total Net Cost of Hlth Insurance Exp, Pvt Health Insurance); and private health insurance enrollment data from Centers for…

  • Per Enrollee Growth in Medicare Spending and Private Health Insurance Premiums (for Common Benefits), 1970-2012

    Feature

    Per Enrollee Growth in Medicare Spending and Private Health Insurance Premiums (for Common Benefits), 1970-2012-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/ (see Historical; NHE Web tables, Table 21). 

  • Projections of National Health Expenditures and Their Share of Gross Domestic Product, 2013-2023

    Feature

    Projections of National Health Expenditures and Their Share of Gross Domestic Product, 2013-2023-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/ (see Projected; NHE Historical and projections, 1965-2023, file nhe65-23.zip).

  • Projected Annual Percent Change in National Health Expenditures, by Selected Sources of Funds, 2012-2023

    Feature

    Projected Annual Percent Change in National Health Expenditures, by Selected Sources of Funds, 2012-2023-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).

  • Percent Distribution of Personal Health Expenditures, by Source of Funds, 1960-2012

    Feature

    Percent Distribution of Personal Health Expenditures, by Source of Funds, 1960-2012-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/ (see Historical; National Health Expenditures by type of service and source of funds, CY 1960-2012; file nhe2012.zip). 

  • Annual Percent Change in National Health Expenditures, by Selected Sources of Funds, 1960-2012

    Feature

    Annual Percent Change in National Health Expenditures, by Selected Sources of Funds, 1960-2012-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/ (see Historical; National Health Expenditures by type of service and source of funds, CY 1960-2012; file nhe2012.zip).