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BTD Health Policy in 2026

Health Policy in 2026

In a new column, 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

New and Noteworthy

How Much and Why ACA Marketplace Premiums Are Going Up in 2026

A new analysis of initial rate filings for Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace plans submitted by 312 insurers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia finds the median proposed increase for 2026 is 18%, more than double last year’s 7% median proposed increase. The proposed rates are preliminary and could change before being finalized in late summer. In addition to rising cost and utilization of services, insurers cited the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits as a significant factor in their rate hikes for next year.

Explaining Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs)

Examining Short-Term Limited-Duration Health Plans

Health Savings Account Provisions in the 2025 Tax and Spending Law

Consumer Experiences with Health Insurance

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  • Data Note: How Many People Have Nongroup Health Insurance?

    Issue Brief

    The implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has focused attention on the composition of the nongroup market: how it looked before the new regulatory provisions take effect and how it will change afterwards. There are several ways of answering this question, depending on the time period for measuring enrollment and the information source. There is substantial turnover among people with nongroup coverage, which means that the number of people covered at the beginning of a year (or at any other point in time) is quite different than the number of people who keep that coverage throughout the whole year.

  • A Guide to the Supreme Court’s Review of the Contraceptive Coverage Requirement

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief dissects the issues raised by the legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that private insurance plans include contraception as part of their coverage of preventive services for women. Over 40 for-profit corporations and over 40 nonprofit corporations have filed lawsuits claiming that the requirement to provide their employees with contraceptives violates their religious rights. On November 26, 2013, the Supreme Court agreed to hear two cases filed by for-profit corporations, Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties, that claim that this requirement violates their religious rights. At the crux of these cases is a question that the Supreme Court has not previously addressed: Do for-profit corporations have religious protections under the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment? The brief provides background on how the ACA’s contraceptive requirement works, summarizes some of the legal challenges brought by for-profit and non-profit organizations and discusses the implications of potential rulings by the Supreme Court.

  • Medicare Advantage 2014 Spotlight: Plan Availability and Premiums

    Issue Brief

    This data spotlight report examines trends in the Medicare Advantage marketplace, including the choices available to Medicare beneficiaries in 2014, premium levels and other plan features. Medicare beneficiaries, on average, will have 18 private Medicare Advantage plans available to them in 2014, reflecting both new plans entering the market and old plans exiting it. If Medicare Advantage enrollees remain in their current plans, average monthly premiums will rise by almost $5 per month, or 14 percent, to $39 per month. The analysis also examines some benefits provided by Medicare Advantage plans including drug coverage and caps on out-of-pocket spending, and finds that average out-of-pocket limits across all plans will climb 11 percent to $4,797 in 2014. Additionally, this analysis examines changes in the types of plans available (HMOs, PPOs, etc.), including special needs plans in 2014.

  • Obamacare y Usted: Si compra seguro médico en el mercado individual

    Fact Sheet

    Si usted compra su plan de salud por su cuenta (en vez de tener cobertura a través de su empleador), usted tendrá nuevas opciones para tener su cobertura, pero la Ley del Cuidado de Salud a Bajo Precio requiere que usted esté asegurado o será multado.

  • State-by-State Estimates of the Number of People Eligible for Premium Tax Credits Under the Affordable Care Act

    Issue Brief

    Key provisions of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) create new Marketplaces for people who purchase insurance directly and provide new premium tax credits to help people with low or moderate incomes afford that coverage. This analysis estimates that about 17 million people who are now uninsured or who buy insurance on their own (“nongroup purchasers”) will be eligible for premium tax credits in 2014. This issue brief provides national and state estimates for tax credit eligibility for people in these groups.