Category: health costs

Analysis: Many Private Insurers Offer Financial Relief for COVID-19 Treatment, but Cost-Sharing Waivers Are Expiring

A new analysis finds that most people with individual or fully-insured group market coverage are in plans that waived cost-sharing for COVID-19 treatment, though many of those waivers are set to expire in the coming months. About 88% – nearly nin…

Cost-Sharing Waivers and Premium Relief by Private Plans in Response to COVID-19 (Nov. 2020 Update)

An updated issue brief estimates the number of enrollees in individual and fully-insured group market plans that have waived cost-sharing – out-of-pocket costs including coinsurance, copayments, and deductibles – for COVID-19 treatment. The analysis al…

Health Affairs Article: Medicare Part D Plans Rarely Cover Brand-Name Drugs When Generics Are Available

In an article in Health Affairs, KFF’s Juliette Cubanski, Sarah True and Tricia Neuman, and several other co-authors, explore how often brand-name drugs receive favorable formulary inclusion relative to generics in the Medicare Part D program’s prescri…

How Private Insurers Are Using Telehealth to Respond to the Pandemic

Private insurance plans have taken a variety of steps to expand telemedicine uptake and access during the COVID-19 pandemic. A new issue brief on the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker examines four actions private insurers have taken to promote telehe…

The Veterans Health Administration’s Role During the COVID-19 Response

A new issue brief examines the role of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) during the coronavirus pandemic, and public health emergencies more broadly. The analysis finds that the VHA has provided assistance to 46 states and D.C., including treati…

What We Know About Provider Consolidation

This brief reviews what we know about the impact of provider consolidation on health care prices and quality and finds that consolidation leads to higher prices with no compelling evidence of commensurate quality improvements.

Drew Altman: The Pandemic is Boosting the Public’s View of Doctors

In this Axios column, Drew Altman looks at how the heroic performance of the nation’s doctors on the frontlines of coronavirus care and effective communication by many physician scientists on television, is shifting the public’s views, with twice as ma…

Public’s Views of Doctors, Nurses, Insurance Companies, and Drug Companies Survey

This brief survey examines how the public views the motivations of doctors, nurses, insurance companies, and drug companies when it comes to making profits vs. working for the public good. It updates a question asked in 2005 to measure how views have c…

Updated Dashboard Features New Data on U.S. Health System Performance

Newly updated and expanded, the Peterson-KFF Health System Dashboard compiles data on the U.S. health system’s performance in four areas: access and affordability, health and well-being, health spending, and quality of care. Users can explore trends ov…

Health System Dashboard

The Peterson-KFF Health System Dashboard examines the U.S. health system’s performance in four areas: access and affordability, health and well-being, health spending, and quality of care. Users can explore trends over time, as well as disparities and …