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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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  • Average Annual Workplace Family Health Premiums Rise Modest 3% to $18,142 in 2016; More Workers Enroll in High-Deductible Plans With Savings Option Over Past Two Years

    News Release

      Few Employers Report Changing Workers’ Hours Due to ACA’s Employer Requirements; Those That Do Are More Likely to Shift Workers to Full-Time Status Menlo Park, Calif. – Annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose an average of 3 percent to $18,142 this year, a modest increase at a time when workers’ wages (2.

  • Diminishing Offer and Coverage Rates Among Private Sector Employees

    Issue Brief

    This brief examines long-term trends in health insurance offer and enrollment rates in private sector establishments, broken out by size of firm. It finds the percentage of workers in private-sector businesses who work in firms that offer health benefits and who are eligible for those benefits has been falling for many years, as has the percentage of workers covered by health insurance in their own firm. These declines have been particularly large for workers in firms with fewer than 50 employees.

  • 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey

    Feature

    This annual Employer Health Benefits Survey (EHBS) provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing provisions, and other relevant information. The 2016 EHBS survey finds average family health premiums rose 3 percent in 2016, relatively modest growth by historical standards.

  • Web Briefing for Media: 2016 Kaiser/HRET Employer Health Benefits Survey

    Event Date:
    Event

    The Kaiser Family Foundation and the American Hospital Association’s (AHA’s) Health Research & Educational Trust (HRET) held their annual reporters-only web briefing on Wednesday, September 14 at 11 a.m. ET to release their benchmark 2016 Employer Health Benefits Survey.

  • The ACA Marketplace Problems in Context (and Why They Don’t Mean Obamacare Is ‘Failing’)

    From Drew Altman

    In this Wall Street Journal Think Tank column, Drew Altman discusses the latest challenges faced by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces and why they should be kept in perspective: “If Obamacare had bipartisan support, they would be treated much more like mundane implementation issues to be addressed by Congress than glaring headlines about Obamacare failure.”

  • A Final Look: California’s Previously Uninsured after the ACA’s Third Open Enrollment Period

    Report

    The Kaiser Family Foundation California Longitudinal Panel Survey is a series of surveys that, over time, tracked the experiences and views of a representative, randomly selected sample of Californians who were uninsured prior to the major coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The initial baseline survey was conducted with a representative sample of 2,001 nonelderly uninsured Californian adults in summer 2013, prior to the ACA’s initial open enrollment period. After each enrollment period concluded, a survey was conducted of the same group of previously uninsured Californians who participated in the baseline (a longitudinal panel survey). The fourth and final survey in the series, and the focus of this report, followed up with them after the third open enrollment period in spring 2016 to find out whether more have gained coverage, lost coverage, or remained uninsured, what barriers to coverage remain, how those who now have insurance view their coverage, and to assess the impacts that gaining health insurance may have had on financial security and access to care.

  • New Survey Finds 72% of Previously Uninsured Californians Now Have Coverage, Including 78% of Those Eligible for New Affordable Care Act Options

    News Release

    For Remaining Uninsured Residents, Cost and Immigration Status Are Main Obstacles Three years after the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansions were fully implemented in California, nearly three quarters (72%) of the state’s previously uninsured residents now have health coverage, finds the fourth Kaiser Family Foundation Longitudinal Panel Survey, which is tracking the experiences of a randomly…

  • Explaining Health Care Reform: Risk Adjustment, Reinsurance, and Risk Corridors

    Issue Brief

    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.