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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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  • High-Risk Pools as Fallback for High-Cost Patients Require New Rules

    From Drew Altman

    In this Wall Street Journal Think Tank column, Drew Altman examines how Republicans would “split the risk pools” between the healthier and the sick in their Affordable Care Act replacement plans, using state high risk pools as a fallback for higher cost patients, and examines the steps that would be necessary to make them effective based on prior experience in the states.

  • Snapshot of Where Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump Stand on Seven Health Care Issues

    Issue Brief

    Where do the 2016 Presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, stand on key health care issues? This snapshot outlines the candidates' positions and policy statements on issues such as health insurance, the ACA, Medicaid, Medicare, the opioid epidemic, prescription drug costs, women's reproductive health, and Zika.

  • More than 8 in 10 Workers With Spousal Health Benefits Have Access to Same-Sex Spousal Benefits, Analysis Finds

    News Release

    Following two major Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage, a new Kaiser Family Foundation data note finds that in 2016, 84 percent of employees who worked at firms offering spousal health benefits also had access to same-sex spousal benefits. Eight percent did not have access, while another 8 percent worked at firms who reported they had not encountered this benefits issue. The data note draws from responses to the Kaiser/Health Research & Educational Trust (Kaiser/HRET)…

  • Uniform Coverage Summaries for Consumers

    Issue Brief

    This brief explains the proposed federal rule that requires private health plans to provide a short, easy-to-read uniform summary of benefits and coverage to all health insurance applicants and enrollees. The rule, which implements a provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), is intended to make it simpler for consumers to compare health plans before they enroll and understand their coverage once they are enrolled. Currently, consumers in employer-sponsored plans receive summaries of their benefits,…

  • 2013 Employer Health Benefits Survey

    Report

    This annual Employer Health Benefits Survey (EHBS) provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, and other relevant information. The 2013 EHBS survey finds average family health premiums rose 4 percent in 2013, relatively modest growth by historical standards.

  • 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…

  • Who Will be the H&R Block and TurboTax for Health Insurance?

    Perspective

    There's been quite a bit of focus lately insofar as these issues go, anyway on health insurance agents and brokers (sometimes known in the industry as "producers"). They are pushing legislation that has been introduced in Congress and is now being studied by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners that would exempt agent and broker commissions for health insurance from minimum medical loss ratio (MLR) thresholds established in the health reform law. (The MLR is…

  • Remember the People Outside of the Exchanges

    Perspective

    There has been a substantial amount of focus on the recently released draft regulations governing state-based health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). And that's appropriate, since the exchanges have the important roles under reform of providing consumers with easier access to insurance and facilitating tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies that make coverage more affordable. But, as central as exchanges will likely be, it's important to remember that there are other key provisions that help…

  • Insurance Coverage of Contraceptives

    Perspective

    In this post, we answer some of the key questions about the new contraceptive coverage policy generally, and more specifically, how it will be applied to religious organizations.

  • Affordability in the ACA Marketplace Under a Proposal Like Joe Biden’s Health Plan

    Issue Brief

    This KFF analysis finds that expanding Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies like Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has proposed would lower the cost of Marketplace coverage for nearly all potential enrollees, including the uninsured and others currently priced out of the Marketplace. Biden's plan would, however, increase federal spending, which we do not attempt to estimate here.