Category: health costs

Analysis: Hospital Price Transparency Data Lacks Standardization, Limiting Its Use to Insurers, Employers, and Consumers

In spite of a new price transparency rule that requires hospitals to publish the prices of common health services, comparing prices across hospitals remains challenging due to limited compliance with the law and a lack of standardization in the availab…

Early Results from Federal Price Transparency Rule Show Difficultly in Estimating the Cost of Care

A new issue brief examines compliance with a new federal price transparency rule and variation in payer-negotiated rates at U.S. hospitals. The analysis looks at the websites of the two largest hospitals in each state and the District of Columbia, and …

COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Excess Mortality and Potential Years of Life Lost in the U.S. and Peer Countries

A new issue brief reviews excess death rates in the U.S. and peer countries by age groups to examine how the pandemic has affected excess mortality rate among younger people. The analysis looks specifically at the excess deaths that arose in 2020 to ex…

Compared to Peer Countries, the U.S. Had the Highest Rate of Mortality Among People Under Age 65 and Potential Years of Life Lost in 2020 Due to the Pandemic

A new KFF issue brief examines 2020 data on excess mortality – the number of deaths above what is expected in a typical year – and finds that among similarly large and wealthy nations, the United States had the highest premature excess mortality …

Moving the Needle on Prescription Drug Costs: Using the Innovation Center and Other Demonstration Authority

This brief examines how the CMS Innovation Center (also known as CMMI) and Section 402 demonstration authority could become pathways for the Biden Administration to implement policy changes related to prescription drug costs.

March 30 Web Event: Unsung Heroes: The Crucial Role – and Tenuous Circumstances – of Home Care Workers During the Pandemic

Even as the pandemic took a devastating toll on health care workers and older adults in the United States, many home care workers continued to report to work and provide vital care to vulnerable people despite the health risks to themselves and their o…

KFF Tracking Poll: More Than a Third of Americans Say They’ve Struggled to Pay Living Expenses Since December; 6 in 10 Families Hit by COVID Have Lost A Job or Income

Majorities Favor Provisions to Expand Marketplace Tax Credits and Encourage States to Expand Medicaid As Congress considers an additional $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan, more than a third (37%) of Americans say that someone in their household has h…

KFF Health Tracking Poll: Economic Hardship, Health Coverage, And The ACA

This poll examines the public’s assessments of the Biden administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the impact COVID-19 has had on people’s finances, and support for provisions of the latest COVID-19 relief bill. It examines the public’s vi…

KFF Health Tracking Poll: Economic Hardship, Health Coverage, And The ACA

This poll examines the public’s assessments of the Biden administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the impact COVID-19 has had on people’s finances, and support for provisions of the latest COVID-19 relief bill. It examines the public’s vi…

Analysis: Spending on Health Care Would Drop by an Estimated $352 Billion in 2021 if Private Insurance Used Medicare Rates to Reimburse Hospitals and Other Health Care Providers

Total health care spending for people with private health insurance would be an estimated $352 billion lower in 2021 if private insurers used Medicare rates to pay hospitals and other health care providers, rather than the substantially higher rates th…