Private Insurance

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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  • 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.

  • 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 Missing Debate Over Rising Health-Care Deductibles

    From Drew Altman

    In this Wall Street Journal Think Tank column, Drew Altman discusses what may be the most important change in the American health system—hint it’s not the Affordable Care Act—which has occurred without much discussion.

  • Data Note: Effect of State Decisions on State Risk Scores

    Issue Brief

    To gauge whether individual market risk pools are healthier in states that have expanded Medicaid and did not allow transitional plans, this data note compares average state risk scores using data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Summary Report on Risk Adjustment for the 2015 benefit year. The analysis finds that states that expanded Medicaid and did not allow transitional plans had lower average risk scores, suggesting the risk pools in those state’s markets are healthier than in non-expansion states and in states that allowed transitional plans.

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll – October 2017: Open Enrollment and the ACA Marketplaces

    Poll Finding

    The October Kaiser Health Tracking Poll focuses on the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) marketplaces as the November 1st open enrollment period approaches, amidst a period of uncertainty on the future of the individual market. The survey finds the majority of the public think it is more important for President Trump and Congress to work on legislation to stabilize the marketplaces rather than continue efforts to repeal and replace the ACA. A majority – across parties – also support a bipartisan compromise that includes Congress guaranteeing cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments to insurance companies.

  • How the Loss of Cost-Sharing Subsidy Payments is Affecting 2018 Premiums

    Issue Brief

    This analysis of 32 states and Washington, D.C., tracks data on 2018 Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace premium increases that insurers directly attributed to the end of cost-sharing reduction payments, which reimburse insurers for providing marketplace health plans with reduced out-of-pocket costs for lower-income people. Following months of uncertainty, the Trump administration announced on Oct. 12 that the payments would be discontinued immediately, although insurers must still offer the subsidized coverage.

  • How Premiums Are Changing In 2018

    Issue Brief

    Maps illustrate how premiums in Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces changed for 2018 by looking at the change in the lowest-cost bronze, silver and gold plans by county; counties where an individual’s tax credit covers the full premium of the lowest-cost bronze plan; and counties where the unsubsidized premium for the lowest-cost gold plan has a lower or comparable premium to the lowest-cost silver plan in 2018.