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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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  • Ten Changes to Watch in Open Enrollment 2022

    Issue Brief

    Even as the ninth annual Open Enrollment period gets underway, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces continue to evolve and important changes are expected. This issue brief discusses what changes to watch out for in the coming enrollment period.

  • Analysis of Insurer Participation in 2016 Marketplaces

    Issue Brief

    As Marketplace enrollees begin to shop for coverage starting in 2016, the number of insurance choices available to them is changing in some parts of the country.  In early 2015, an average of 6.1 insurer groups offered coverage in each state, up from an average of 5.0 in 2014.  Since then, some insurers have announced their exit or been required to withdraw from the Marketplaces, most notably a number of nonprofit Consumer Operated and Oriented…

  • The Burden of Medical Debt: Results from the Kaiser Family Foundation/New York Times Medical Bills Survey

    Report

    To date, there has been little research providing a quantitative look at the causes of medical bill problems and the impacts they have on people’s families, their finances, and their access to health care. To fill this gap, the Kaiser Family Foundation and The New York Times conducted an in-depth survey with 1,204 adults ages 18-64 who report that they or someone in their household had problems paying or an inability to pay medical bills…

  • Patient Cost-Sharing in Marketplace Plans, 2016

    Issue Brief

    This brief and accompanying slides examine cost sharing - deductibles, copayments and coinsurance - in 2016 insurance plans sold on the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) federally-facilitated marketplaces. The analysis looks at out-of-pocket limits, as well as cost sharing for hospital stays, physician visits, emergency room visits, and prescription drugs, for plans across the metal levels (platinum, gold, silver and bronze).

  • Individual Insurance Market Performance in 2017

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines recently-released annual financial data from 2017 and finds insurers selling individual market plans had their best financially since 2014, when new ACA insurance market rules took effect that guaranteed access to coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. At the same time, recent political and policy changes, including the repeal of the individual mandate penalty as part of tax reform legislation and proposed regulations to expand loosely-regulated short-term insurance plans, cloud plans’ outlook…

  • New Analysis Maps Prevalence of Pre-Existing Conditions by Metro Area

    News Release

    A new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis maps rates of pre-existing conditions across 129 metropolitan and micropolitan areas in the U.S., finding that even within the same state, the prevalence of such conditions can vary substantially. For example, 34 percent of residents of Florence, South Carolina have a pre-existing condition, but further south in Charleston and Hilton Head, the rate is 24 percent. The share of non-elderly adults with a pre-existing condition ranges from 41 percent…

  • Poll: As Midterms Approach, Health Care Remains Voters’ Top Issue, But President Trump and Other Factors Also Loom Large

    News Release

    Most Florida Voters Favor Expanding Medicaid in their State, As Do Voters across All Non-Expansion States In an expansive look at the role issues and politics may play in the 2018 midterm elections, the latest KFF Health Tracking Poll continues to find health care as the top issue for voters, but large shares of voters also say candidate characteristics, President Trump, and party control over Congress will be major factors. In the last KFF tracking…

  • Corporate health costs don’t look like a crisis

    From Drew Altman

    n this Axios column, Drew Altman presents a puzzle around corporate health costs: companies are talking like there is a crisis, but new data doesn’t really show it.