Health Costs

Health care for a family covered by a large employer cost, on average, $22,885 last year. That’s $2,000 more than the sticker price for a brand-new Volkswagen Beetle. Drew Altman discusses why it matters in this Axios column.

A new KFF analysis that looked at both premiums and other out-of-pocket costs shows that families with coverage through a large employer paid 67 percent more for their health benefits and care in 2018 than a decade earlier. In 2018, a typical family of four with large employer coverage spent…

An analysis of large employer health coverage on the Peterson-Kaiser Health System Tracker finds that the cost to families for health coverage and care has risen more than two times faster than wages and three times faster than inflation over the last decade.

This data note explores the attitudes and experiences of older adults, ages 65 and up, when it comes to prescription drugs and related policy proposals being discussed. Experiences across different demographic groups are explored, such as household income and health status.

You have heard about the 5% of the population responsible for 50% of spending. Meet the 1.3%–persistent high spenders with very complex medical needs responsible for 20%. Drew Altman discusses this and possible ways to help them, read the Axios column.

Among people with three consecutive years of coverage from a large employer, just 1.3 percent of enrollees accounted for 19.5 percent of overall health spending in 2017, finds a new KFF analysis. These “people with persistently high spending” – people in the top five percent of spending in each of…

This analysis looks at the amounts and types of health spending for people with employer-based health insurance who have continuing high health care spending. It finds that, among people with three consecutive years of coverage from a large employer, just 1.3 percent of enrollees accounted for almost 20 percent of…

A new KFF analysis estimates that the Affordable Care Act’s tax on high-cost health plans would affect one in five (21%) employers offering health benefits when it takes effect in 2022 unless employers change their health plans. An even larger share (31%) could be affected when workers’ voluntary contributions to…

The high cost plan tax (HCPT) sometimes referred to as the Cadillac tax, is an excise tax on the cost of employer health benefit exceeding certain threshold. The HCPT provides a powerful incentive to control health plans costs over time, whether through efficiency gains or shifts in costs to workers. While many employers do not expect that the tax will take effect in 2022, others are already amending their health programs in anticipation. We estimate if the tax takes effect in 2022, 21% will be subject to the tax, increasing to 37% by 2030 unless firms reduce costs. Larger shares would be affected when counting workers’ voluntary contributions to Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)

Dr. Uwe Reinhardt is a giant in the health policy field who advised policymakers and influenced debates about the nation’s health system before his passing in 2017. His recently released last book, Priced Out: The Ethics and Economics of Health Care, completed by his wife and longtime collaborator Tsung-Mei (May) Cheng gives…