Category: financing

Marketplace Insurers are Proposing a 7% Average Premium Hike for 2025 and Pointing to Rising Hospital Prices and GLP-1 Drugs as Key Drivers of Costs

ACA Marketplace insurers are proposing a median premium increase of 7% for 2025, similar to the 6% premium increase filed for 2024, according to a new KFF analysis of the preliminary rate filings. Insurers’ proposed rate changes – most of which fall be…

International Comparison of Health Systems

This Health Policy 101 chapter explores the performance of the U.S. health system on a number of cost, outcomes, and quality measures by comparing it with those in similarly large and wealthy OECD nations. It highlights that despite significant spendin…

Gross Medicare Spending on Ozempic and Other GLP-1s Is Already Skyrocketing – Even Though Medicare Cannot Cover The Drugs for Weight Loss

A KFF analysis shows that gross total Medicare spending on Ozempic and other similar drugs has increased dramatically in recent years – even though Medicare is explicitly prohibited by law from covering the drugs for obesity. That’s because Medicare no…

Medicare Spending on Ozempic and Other GLP-1s Is Skyrocketing

This policy watch analyzes the latest data on Medicare Part D spending on GLP-1 drugs, initially approved to treat diabetes but in high demand as treatments for obesity, and shows how spending on these drugs has increased substantially in recent years….

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…

Marketplace Insurers are Proposing a 6% Average Premium Hike for 2024 and Pointing to Inflation as a Key Driver of Costs

ACA Marketplace insurers are requesting a median premium increase of 6% for 2024, according to a new KFF analysis of the preliminary rate filings. Insurers’ proposed rate changes – most of which fall between 2% and 10% – may change during the review pr…

The Estimated Value of Tax Exemption for Nonprofit Hospitals Was Nearly $28 Billion in 2020

This data note estimates that the value of tax exemption for nonprofit hospitals was $28 billion in 2020. This amount exceeds estimated charity care costs among nonprofit hospitals in 2020 ($16 billion), though charity care represents only a portion of…

The Estimated Value of Tax Exemption for Nonprofit Hospitals Was About $28 Billion in 2020

This data note estimates that the value of tax exemption for nonprofit hospitals was $28 billion in 2020. This amount exceeds estimated charity care costs among nonprofit hospitals in 2020 ($16 billion), though charity care represents only a portion of…

Potential Costs and Impact of Health Provisions in the Build Back Better Act

A summary of 10 of the major health coverage and financing provisions of the current Build Back Better Act, with discussion of the potential implications for people and the federal budget.

As Coronavirus Cases Surged This Fall, Admissions to Hospitals for Reasons Other Than COVID-19 Fell Markedly, Especially in the Midwest and West

Admissions to hospitals for reasons other than COVID-19 fell markedly again in November as cases of infections with the novel coronavirus began to surge anew, suggesting that more people were delaying care due to the worsening pandemic, according to an…