How Much is Health Spending Expected to Grow?
This chart collection explores how health spending is expected to grow in coming years, with a look at growth in prescription drug spending, out-of-pocket spending, and related trends.
The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news.
KFF’s policy research provides facts and analysis on a wide range of policy issues and public programs.
KFF designs, conducts and analyzes original public opinion and survey research on Americans’ attitudes, knowledge, and experiences with the health care system to help amplify the public’s voice in major national debates.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the organization’s core operating programs.
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.
Choose which emails are best for you.
Sign up here
This chart collection explores how health spending is expected to grow in coming years, with a look at growth in prescription drug spending, out-of-pocket spending, and related trends.
A new Kaiser Family Foundation survey of insurance brokers and assistance programs examines the help they provided to consumers during the 2015 open enrollment period for Affordable Care Act coverage.
A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis of Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans in major metropolitan areas in 11 states where data are available, including the District of Columbia, finds that preliminary 2016 premiums for benchmark silver plans grew modestly, but increased more sharply this year than last year. The average increase for benchmark plans across the cities is 4.4 percent for 2016 compared with a 2 percent increase nationwide in 2015.
An interactive tool from the Kaiser Family Foundation is now updated with 2015 data, allowing users to view on a local level the share of potential enrollees who signed up for a health plan in a federally-based marketplace under the Affordable Care Act.
This brief explores the problem of "surprise medical bills" -- charges arising when an insured individual inadvertently receives care from an out-of-network provider. It reviews studies on the extent of the issue, including Kaiser Family Foundation polling data, and outlines state and federal policy responses, including rules and proposed rules for Medicare and plans in Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
This brief explains three provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – risk adjustment, reinsurance, and risk corridors – that were intended to promote insurer competition on the basis of quality and value and promote insurance market stability, particularly in the early years of reform as the ACA marketplaces, also known as exchanges, were established.
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.
This was published as a Wall Street Journal Think Tank column on April 8, 2015. In my last Think Tank piece, I reported that just 3% of Americans felt health costs had been rising more slowly than usual, even though they have been growing at record low rates in recent years.
In his latest column for The Wall Street Journal's Think Tank, Drew Altman explores the trend of higher deductibles in health plans and discusses a new analysis showing that many people with insurance don’t have sufficient financial resources to pay a mid- or high-range deductible. All previous columns by Drew Altman are available online.
The Kaiser Family Foundation’s interactive map now allows users to compare what consumers in each county would pay in health insurance premiums after tax credits in 2020 under the Affordable Care Act vs. the House GOP replacement plan, the American Health Care Act.
© 2025 KFF