Home Private Insurance Topics

Private Insurance

New and Noteworthy

How Employers Support Lower-Waged Workers’ Access to Health Insurance Options

Health insurance makes up 8% of total employee compensation on average, and while most employees take up health insurance when it is offered, lower-wage workers are far less likely to be able to access coverage, according to a new Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker analysis of survey data and focus groups with more than 100 U.S. employers with over a quarter of a million employees.

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

Latest News

More KFF Health News

Subscribe to KFF Emails

Choose which emails are best for you.
Sign up here

View the Latest: Private Insurance

Filter

List Grid

771 - 780 of 896 Results

  • Since Dobbs, Few Large Firms Have Changed Their Plan’s Abortion Coverage Policy

    News Release

    According to an analysis of responses to KFF’s Employer Health Benefits Survey in 2023, relatively few (8%) large firms (with 200 or more workers) offering health benefits report reducing or expanding coverage for abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling. Since Dobbs, 3% of these large firms reduced or eliminated coverage for abortion where it is legal. Meanwhile, 12% of large firms whose largest plan covers…

  • Access to Adult Dental Care Gets Renewed Focus in ACA Marketplace Proposal

    Policy Watch

    Adult dental care can lead to high out of pocket costs for consumers, especially for those with private insurance coverage. This post analyzes a proposed provision in the HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2025, and possible implications for consumers who have Marketplace coverage.

  • Health Insurance Market Reforms: Rate Restrictions

    Fact Sheet

    Rate restrictions limit how much insurance companies can vary premiums charged to individuals and businesses based on factors such as health status, age, tobacco use and gender. Currently, federal law does not place any limits on the ways that insurance companies set their premium rates. However, beginning January 1, 2014, insurance companies must meet the Affordable Care Act's minimum premium rating rules for health plans for individuals and small businesses. This brief explains the current…

  • Kaiser Health Poll Report Selected Findings on 2006 State of the Union Address and Health Care

    Poll Finding

    A new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation examines what the public took away from President Bush's State of the Union address, finding that the health messages in the speech have yet to register with most Americans. Despite extensive news coverage both before and after the speech giving information about the President's proposals for expanding the use of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), seventy-one percent of adults have not heard the term "health savings account." Survey…

  • How Accessible is Individual Health Insurance for Consumers in Less-Than Perfect Health?

    Report

    This report documents the findings of a study examining access to health insurance coverage in the individual market for people with health problems. Seven hypothetical consumers with varying health conditions were defined and insurers and HMOs in eight different markets around the country were asked to consider them as though they were real consumers applying for coverage. Renewed debate over proposals to expand coverage for the uninsured using tax credits for the purchase of individual…

  • Toplines: National Survey of Enrollees in Consumer-Directed Health Plans

    Poll Finding

    These toplines provide the complete survey questions and findings from the National Survey of Enrollees in Consumer-Directed Health Plans conducted between June 21 and July 10, 2006. The survey looks at the views and experiences of people enrolled in consumer-directed health plans as compared to people with traditional health insurance. Toplines (.pdf)

  • Explaining Health Care Reform: What Is An Employer “Pay-or-Play” Requirement?

    Issue Brief

    To broaden coverage, some health reform proposals would require employers to offer coverage or pay to help finance subsidies for those without access to affordable coverage. These types of reforms are often referred to as “pay-or-play” policies. The brief explains the concept and policy implications of employer pay-or-play proposals, which can vary in terms of the level of coverage required for compliance, the cost of the penalty to employers who do not offer, and whether…

  • Summary of Coverage Provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

    Issue Brief

    This short summary describes the health coverage provisions contained in the final version of the Affordable Care Act signed into law in March 2010, including the individual mandate requirements, expansion of public programs, health insurance exchanges, changes to private insurance and employer requirements.