Category: Kaiser Family Foundation

Health Care Costs Top the Public’s List of Financial Worries, and Those Who Are Struggling the Most Want to Hear Presidential Candidates Discuss Economic and Health Care Issues

At a time when kitchen table economic problems are on voters’ minds, unexpected medical bills and health care costs top the public’s list of financial concerns, and voters who are struggling to pay their monthly bills are the most eager to hear the pre…

What Would Another Trump Presidency Mean for Health Care?

In a new column in JAMA Health Forum, Larry Levitt, KFF’s executive vice president for health policy, explores what a second Trump presidency might mean for health policy based on his record and remarks, including potentially weakening the Affordable C…

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: Drug Prices in the United States

This post was updated to clarify that less than 10% of the nation’s total health spending is spent on retail prescription drugs and does not include spending on drugs administrated by physicians or in hospitals.Prescription drug costs are a top c…

3 Charts About Drug Prices in the United States

Prescription drug costs are a top concern for the American public. While prescription drugs represent less than 10% of total U.S. health spending and are not the primary driver of the nation’s high health costs, Americans often pay more for the same pr…

Commercialization of COVID-19 Vaccines, Treatments, and Tests: Implications for Access and Coverage

With the depletion of the federal-purchased supply of COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests following the end of the public health emergency, this resource provides an overview of the implications of these changes for access to people covered by Medi…

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) …