Health Insurance Costs, Health Care & Health Care Services - Research, Public Opinion, Facts & Analysis

Sort Documents by:

Document Type:

Date Range:

2009 Kaiser/HRET Employer Health Benefits Survey
This annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including changes in premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing policies and other relevant information.

Report Examines How Families Affected By Cancer Are Faring in the Recession
This report profiles six cancer patients and survivors and the challenges they face to help gauge how the recession and rising unemployment is affecting workers who are most in need of ongoing medical care. It is a follow up to Spending to Survive: Cancer Patients Confront Holes in the Health Insurance System, released in February.

Recent Documents: (496 results)

Pages 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 >>

2009 Kaiser/HRET Employer Health Benefit Survey -- September 2009
This benchmark annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including changes in premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing policies and other relevant information.

"Pulling it Together": Simple Arithmetic -- September 2009
In his latest essay for "Pulling It Together, From Drew Altman," the Foundation's President and CEO explores how health insurance premiums could rise to $30000 within 10 years and the implications of such an increase.

Massachusetts Health Care Reform: Three Years Later -- September 2009

This fact sheet describes the basic components of the landmark Massachusetts health reform law, examines how many people have gained coverage and discusses cost containment and affordability goals and implementation challenges.

Health Reform: Lessons From Massachusetts -- September 2009

Two reports and an updated fact sheet examine state-level health reform in Massachusetts and the lessons it offers for policymakers in Washington.

Explaining Health Care Reform: What Are Health Insurance Subsidies -- August 2009
This brief explains how government subsidies included in major reform proposals work in making coverage more affordable, protecting lower-income people from high out-of-pocket costs and encouraging broad participation in health insurance.

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — August 2009 -- August 2009
The August Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds a slim majority of Americans continues to favor moving forward on health care reform now despite an intensifying ad war and a political climate of contentious town hall meetings that coincide with rising concerns about the reform effort.

Emergency Departments Under Growing Pressure -- August 2009

This issue brief examines the impact of the recession on hospital emergency departments.

Patients Under Pressure: Profiles of How Families Affected by Cancer Are Faring in the Recession -- July 2009

This report by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the American Cancer Society profiles six cancer patients and survivors and the challenges they face to help gauge how the recession and rising unemployment is affecting workers who are most in need of ongoing medical care. It is a follow up to Spending to Survive: Cancer Patients Confront Holes in the Health Insurance System, released in February.

Explaining Health Care Reform: How Might a Reform Plan Be Financed? -- July 2009
This brief explains the likely sources of added costs under health reform, the types of financing measures being considered, and some of the key questions likely to be addressed by how a plan is financed.

Health Care and the Middle Class: More Costs and Less Coverage -- July 2009
This analysis paper examines the availability, affordability and stability of the health insurance coverage of the American middle class, defined as those with incomes of $44,000 to $88,000 for a family of four. It also addresses the growing burden of health care costs for the middle class and the adequacy of today's health insurance plans as protection from large medical bills.

This benchmark annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including changes in premiums, employee contributions, cost-sharing policies and other relevant information.

In his latest essay for "Pulling It Together, From Drew Altman," the Foundation's President and CEO explores how health insurance premiums could rise to $30000 within 10 years and the implications of such an increase.

Two reports and an updated fact sheet examine state-level health reform in Massachusetts and the lessons it offers for policymakers in Washington.

This brief explains how government subsidies included in major reform proposals work in making coverage more affordable, protecting lower-income people from high out-of-pocket costs and encouraging broad participation in health insurance.

The August Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds a slim majority of Americans continues to favor moving forward on health care reform now despite an intensifying ad war and a political climate of contentious town hall meetings that coincide with rising concerns about the reform effort.

This issue brief examines the impact of the recession on hospital emergency departments.

This brief explains the likely sources of added costs under health reform, the types of financing measures being considered, and some of the key questions likely to be addressed by how a plan is financed.

This analysis paper examines the availability, affordability and stability of the health insurance coverage of the American middle class, defined as those with incomes of $44,000 to $88,000 for a family of four. It also addresses the growing burden of health care costs for the middle class and the adequacy of today's health insurance plans as protection from large medical bills.

View all items >

Pages 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 >>

Health Insurance/Costs

Americans receive their health care coverage from a variety of sources including private insurance provided through their employment or purchased on their own, and public insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. About 160 million nonelderly Americans have employer-sponsored health insurance, and another 13 million purchase insurance directly from an insurer or HMO. Spending for health care services continues to rise, in total ($1.4 trillion in 2001; $3.1 trillion projected for 2012) and as a share of the country’s gross national product (14.1% in 2001; 17.7% projected for 2012).

Premium costs for people with private insurance have risen dramatically in recent years, with double-digit rate increases each of the first three years of the new millennium. At the same time, consumers have seen their out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, copayments, and other cost sharing rise significantly over the same period. While coverage availability has declined only modestly for those with job-based coverage, a slack economy and high unemployment have focused attention on access and cost issues faced by consumers seeking individual coverage. Coverage and cost issues have led to debate about how to control increases in health care costs and how to provide coverage for the uninsured.

Through its Health Care Marketplace Project, the Foundation provides information and analysis about issues and trends in health insurance, health care costs, and health care services. Descriptions of how the private health insurance market operates and how it is regulated are provided in a series of fact sheets, chart packs, and reports. Data from the annual KFF/HRET employer health benefit survey documents annual changes in the costs, availability, and benefits of job-based coverage. Information on insurance issues of importance to consumers, such as appeal rights and other consumer protections, is provided through reports and surveys. The Foundation also provides information on trends in health care costs and how these costs affect individuals and employers.