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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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  • Health Insurance Market Reforms: Guaranteed Issue

    Fact Sheet

    Guaranteed issue laws require insurance companies to issue a health plan to any applicant - an individual or a group - regardless of the applicant's health status or other factors. Currently, in most states, insurance companies can deny nongroup coverage to people based on their health status or their medical expenses over the past year. This means that an uninsured person who develops a certain condition, such as breast cancer, might not be able to…

  • Quantifying the Effects of Health Insurance Rate Review

    Report

    This report from the Kaiser Family Foundation analyzes the effect of government efforts to ensure that insurance premium increases are justifiable and provide value to consumers and small businesses. Rate review programs require insurers in the small group and individual markets to submit proposed rate increase requests to state or federal regulators, who determine if the requests are reasonable. The report finds that one out of every five requests submitted to states in 2011 resulted…

  • Employer Coverage of Travel Costs for Out-of-State Abortion

    Policy Watch

    This Policy Watch gives an overview of employers offering to cover travel expenses for workers who need to go out of state for an abortion in the context of increasing restrictions on abortion around the country. We discuss who is offering these benefits, the implications for workers, and some of the legal and political concerns for employers.

  • How 13 Million Americans Could Lose Insurance Subsidies

    From Drew Altman

    This was published as a Wall Street Journal Think Tank column on November 19, 2014. Kaiser Family Foundation calculations of how many Americans could lose subsidies in 2016 depending on the Supreme Court’s ruling in King v. Burwell. The Supreme Court is expected to rule next year on King v. Burwell, the lawsuit in which the federal government’s authority to provide financial assistance to people who buy insurance in federally operated insurance exchanges is being challenged under a…

  • Issue Brief Explores Consequences of Potential Supreme Court Decisions on the ACA Contraceptive Coverage Requirement

    News Release

    A new Kaiser Family Foundation issue brief explores some of the factors influencing employers’ coverage decisions and possible consequences for employers and workers that could arise from possible Supreme Court decisions in the cases brought by Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties, for-profit corporations challenging the Affordable Care Act’s requirement to cover contraceptive services and supplies in health insurance. Other resources about the Supreme Court case are also available online.

  • 2019 Employer Health Benefits Survey

    Report

    Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage reached $20,576 this year, up 5% from last year, with workers on average paying $6,015 toward the cost of their coverage. The average deductible among covered workers in a plan with a general annual deductible is $1,655 for single coverage. Fifty-six percent of small firms and 99% of large firms offer health benefits to at least some of their workers, with an overall offer rate of 57%.

  • The Affordable Care Act Doesn’t Rank Highly As an Issue for Voters in the Presidential Primaries

    News Release

    Despite Anecdotal Reports about Narrow Networks, 87% of Working-Age Adults with Insurance Are Satisfied With Their Plan's Choice of Doctors; 12% Say They Had to Change Doctors in Past Year As the ACA's Open Enrollment Nears End, Most of Those Who Remain Uninsured Are Disengaged While this month Congress passed and President Obama vetoed legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act, voters nationally aren't focused on the law in this year's presidential election, the latest…