Private Insurance

This brief reviews what we know about the impact of provider consolidation on health care prices and quality and finds that consolidation leads to higher prices with no compelling evidence of commensurate quality improvements.

In this Axios column, Drew Altman looks at how the heroic performance of the nation’s doctors on the frontlines of coronavirus care and effective communication by many physician scientists on television, is shifting the public’s views, with twice as many Americans now saying doctors put people ahead of profits than they did in earlier KFF polling.

The Health Insurance Marketplace Calculator, updated with 2019 premium data, provides estimates of health insurance premiums and subsidies for people purchasing insurance on their own in health insurance exchanges (or “Marketplaces”) created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). With this calculator, you can enter your income, age, and family size to estimate your eligibility for subsidies and how much you could spend on health insurance.

Although premiums for Affordable Care Act Marketplace benchmark silver plans are decreasing on average across the U.S. in 2020, changes vary widely by geographic location and plan type, including premium increases in a number of counties and plans, according to a new KFF analysis of county-level data. The analysis of…

This analysis looks at the amounts and types of health spending for people with employer-based health insurance who have continuing high health care spending. It finds that, among people with three consecutive years of coverage from a large employer, just 1.3 percent of enrollees accounted for almost 20 percent of…

Among people with three consecutive years of coverage from a large employer, just 1.3 percent of enrollees accounted for 19.5 percent of overall health spending in 2017, finds a new KFF analysis. These “people with persistently high spending” – people in the top five percent of spending in each of…

This month’s KFF Health Tracking Poll explores public opinion towards a government-administered public option, and finds that attitudes can change after hearing common arguments. The poll also examines the public’s views toward Medicare-for-all and the Affordable Care Act, as well as the top issues for Democrats ahead of the second round of presidential debates.

You have heard about the 5% of the population responsible for 50% of spending. Meet the 1.3%–persistent high spenders with very complex medical needs responsible for 20%. Drew Altman discusses this and possible ways to help them, read the Axios column.

Health Care Remains a Top Issue for Democrats Heading into Next Debates; At This Stage, More Want to Hear About Candidates’ Difference than Contrasts with President Trump The 2020 presidential election may be shaping up to be another election cycle focused on health care, with Democratic candidates offering competing proposals…

This brief examines the role private insurers play in providing health coverage for Americans today in employer plans and the individual market, as well as in Medicare and Medicaid, and how that would likely change under Medicare-for-all and other proposals.