Category: cost-sharing

What resources are available for privately insured patients who get surprise balance bills?

Most patients do not know about the new surprise billing protections and likely also do not know of resources available to seek recourse for incorrect medical bills. This brief provides resources to privately insured patients who receive surprise balan…

Charges for Emails with Doctors and other Healthcare Providers

Patient-provider email messaging accelerated early in the COVID-19 pandemic as more patients sought medical care remotely, and the addition of billing codes for digital health services and subsequent changes in insurers’ payment policies have enabled p…

People with Medical Debt are Much More Likely to Experience Other Forms of Financial Stress

People with medical debt are much more likely than those without such debt to show other signs of financial vulnerability, like having no “rainy day” fund, overdrawing a checking account, or relying on costly loans, according to a new KFF analysis of n…

How financially vulnerable are people with medical debt?

This analysis uses government data to examine the burden of medical debt, including variations based on age, race and ethnicity, and health status . It estimates 9% of adults – or roughly 23 million people -owe medical debt, including 11 million who ow…

How Financially Vulnerable are People with Medical Debt?

This analysis of government data finds that people with medical debt are much more likely to have other forms of financial distress than those without medical debt, like having no “rainy day” fund, overdrawing a checking account, or relying on costly l…

The Burden of Medical Debt in the United States

This analysis uses government data to examine the burden of medical debt, including variations based on age, race and ethnicity, and health status . It estimates 9% of adults – or roughly 23 million people -owe medical debt, including 11 million who ow…

3 Charts: Medicare Drug Price Negotiations

Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the federal government for the first time will negotiate directly with drug companies to determine the prices that Medicare will pay for certain high expenditure drugs covered under Medicare Part D (starting in 2026) …

3 Charts About Medicare Drug Price Negotiations

Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the federal government for the first time will negotiate directly with drug companies to determine the prices that Medicare will pay for certain high expenditure drugs covered under Medicare Part D (starting in 2026) …

The Two Health Care Cost Crises

In this column, KFF’s President and CEO Drew Altman explores the nation’s twin health cost crises of affordability, especially for people who are sick and need a lot of health care, and national health spending, and why the solutions often work at cros…

How Do Health Expenditures Vary Across the Population?

This slideshow explores the variation in health spending across the population through an analysis of the 2019 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data. It finds that 5% of the population with the highest health expenditures accounted for nearly ha…