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Hospital Prices Have Risen Much Faster for Private Insurance Than Medicare Since 2019

Hospitals account for nearly one-third of US health spending and 40% of spending growth from 2022-2024. Analysis shows hospital prices paid by private insurers have risen faster than Medicare rates since 2019, a trend with implications for affordability.

Hospital prices paid by private insurers rose 30% from 2019-2026, compared to a 21% increase in Medicare payment rates. The disparate growth widened an existing gap between what Medicare and private plans pay for hospital services.

What Are the Recent Trends in Employer-Based Health Coverage?

Policy Changes Bring Renewed Focus on High-Deductible Health Plans

Health Insurer Financial Performance in 2024

Examining Short-Term Limited-Duration Health Plans

Health Care Affordability

BTD Health Policy in 2026

Health Policy in 2026

President and CEO Dr. Drew Altman forecasts eight things to look for in health policy in 2026. “First and foremost,” he writes, “is the role health care affordability will play in the midterms.” And, he notes: “The average cost of a family policy for employers could approach $30,000 and cost sharing and deductibles will rise again after plateauing for several years.”

View all of Drew’s Beyond the Data Columns

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  • How Health-Care Bills Hinder Millions of Americans

    News Release

    In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman examines the problems many Americans with health insurance are having paying medical bills based on a new Kaiser-New York Times Survey, and discusses why the issue of the adequacy of insurance coverage is gaining traction. All previous columns by Drew Altman are online.

  • State Flexibility to Address Health Insurance Challenges under the American Health Care Act, H.R. 1628

    Issue Brief

    The American Health Care Act (AHCA), a bill passed by the House in May 2017 to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), would present states with new authority in individual insurance markets, along with a number of difficult problems and choices and limited resources with which to address them. States would be able to obtain waivers and would be eligible for $123 billion in grant funds, including money from a new Patient and…

  • Map: Counties at Risk of Zero Insurers Offering Plans in the 2018 Marketplace

    News Release

    Ahead of the June 21 federal deadline for insurers to submit rates for healthcare.gov, the Kaiser Family Foundation has released a new map that will track counties at risk of zero insurers offering plans in the 2018 marketplace. Compiled from a Foundation analysis of insurer filings and news reports, the map charts the counties at risk of having no insurers based on current public announcements, along with the name of the 2017 participating insurer and…

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll – Late April 2017: The Future of the ACA and Health Care & the Budget

    Report

    With the ongoing debate about the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the latest tracking poll examines the public awareness of and attitudes about some recent developments related to the 2010 health care law, including uncertainty about cost-sharing reduction payments and insurers opting out of some health insurance marketplaces. The poll also takes a look at Americans’ budget and health care priorities.

  • Premiums for Employer-Sponsored Family Health Coverage Rise Slowly for Sixth Straight Year, Up 3% but Averaging $18,764 in 2017

    News Release

    Workers Covered By Smaller Firms Pay More Toward Family Premiums and in Cost Sharing Than Those in Larger Ones Menlo Park, Calif. – Annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose an average of 3 percent to $18,764 this year, continuing a six-year run of relatively modest increases, according to the benchmark Kaiser Family Foundation/Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) 2017 Employer Health Benefits Survey released today. This year’s premium increase is similar to the rise in…

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll – September 2017: What’s Next for Health Care?

    Feature

    This poll finds large majorities across all parties say reauthorizing funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is an important priority for Congress; however, a larger share of Republicans also say it is important for Congress to work on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare). This month's Kaiser Health Tracking Poll also examines public support for a variety of competing health care policies aimed at improving or replacing the…

  • Regulation of Private Long-Term Care Insurance: Implementation Experience and Key Issues

    Report

    Regulation of Private Long-Term Care Insurance: Implementation Experience and Key Issues While private long-term care insurance (LTCI) has been available since the mid-1970s, its popularity has grown rapidly in recent years, and Congress is considering proposals that would further encourage LTCI purchase through expanded tax subsidies. Yet there has been little research on how well LTCI works and how much security it really provides. This report focuses on consumer protections for individuals buying LTCI in…

  • Summary of Coverage Provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

    Issue Brief

    This short summary describes the health coverage provisions contained in the final version of the Affordable Care Act signed into law in March 2010, including the individual mandate requirements, expansion of public programs, health insurance exchanges, changes to private insurance and employer requirements.

  • Firearms are the Leading Cause of Death for Children in the United States But Rank No Higher Than Fifth in Other Industrialized Nations

    News Release

    Firearms are now the number one cause of death for children in the United States, but rank no higher than fifth in 11 other large and wealthy countries, a new KFF analysis finds. Guns - including accidental deaths, suicides, and homicides - killed 4,357 children (ages 1-19 years old) in the United States in 2020, or roughly 5.6 per 100,000 children. In each of the peer countries, guns kill fewer children than motor vehicles, cancer,…