Health Costs

This Visualizing Health Policy infographic with JAMA spotlights national spending on prescription drugs and the public’s views on pharmaceutical prices.

This Visualizing Health Policy infographic spotlights national spending on prescription drugs and the public’s views on pharmaceutical prices. Prescription drug spending rose sharply in 2014, driven by growth in expenditures on specialty drugs, including medications to treat cancer and hepatitis C. Medicare’s spending on prescription pharmaceuticals also has risen, largely…

National health spending started to grow more rapidly recently after several years of unusually slow growth. This analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis helps to dissect why that may be happening. Using recently-released disease-based health spending data compiled by the federal government, the analysis finds…

In this column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman examines the role of the Affordable Care Act in the health system on its sixth anniversary, and how the hot debate about the law may have created an exaggerated impression of the good and the bad it can do.

This brief explores the problem of “surprise medical bills” — charges arising when an insured individual inadvertently receives care from an out-of-network provider. It reviews studies on the extent of the issue, including Kaiser Family Foundation polling data, and outlines state and federal policy responses, including rules and proposed rules for Medicare and plans in Affordable Care Act marketplaces.

This brief analyzes data from the 2014 Consumer Expenditure survey to measure the impact of insurance on the health care spending and budgets of low-income households.

Is choice of doctors eroding? Drew Altman explores the rhetoric versus reality and why the issue resonates with Americans, in his latest column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank. All previous columns by Drew Altman are online.

Drew Altman explores the rhetoric versus reality on whether choice of doctors is eroding and why the issue resonates with Americans, in this column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank.

Larry Levitt’s February 2016 post explains how “surprise medical bills” — unanticipated charges for out-of-network care – can happen. It describes some government approaches to the issue and outlines the challenges to protecting consumers. The post is now available at The JAMA Forum.