Lynne Cotter

The ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits have more than doubled Marketplace enrollment since they were introduced — with most of the growth concentrated in a handful of southern, red states.

The credits will expire at the end of this year if Congress doesn’t act to extend them.

2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey | KFF This annual survey of employers provides a detailed look at trends in employer-sponsored health coverage, including premiums, worker contributions, cost-sharing provisions, offer rates, and more. This...

What is the average cost of insurance for employees: #newdata from @kff www.kff.org/health-costs... of the data, @nytimes says "If the extra Obamacare subsidies expire... salaried workers at that income will get tax subsidies that aren’t available to entrepreneurs earning the same amount."

A Steep Subsidy Cliff Looms for Older Middle-Income Enrollees if ACA Enhanced Tax Credits Expire The expiration of the ACA enhanced premium tax credits at the end of this year would reintroduce the “subsidy cliff,” which abruptly ends the credit for Marketplace enrollees earning over 400% of pove...

ACA Marketplace enrollees with incomes above the "Subsidy Cliff" would see a steep increase in their out-of-pocket premiums if the enhanced premium tax credits expire. @kff.org analysis here: www.kff.org/quick-take/a...

About Us | KFF KFF is the leading health policy organization in the

If you're just learning about KFF, we’re a nonpartisan health policy research, polling, and news organization. We have no connection to Kaiser Permanente and we're not a foundation. Please call us KFF, our legal operating name. More here: www.kff.org/about-us/.

CDC Wonder, the source for data on US mortality, cancer, population (and more) is down.

Changes in Health Care Spending and Uncompensated Care Under Enhanced Tax Credit Expiration for Marketplace Coverage If the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) enhanced premium tax credits expire, hospitals, physicians, and other providers would face more than $32.1 billion in lost revenue and a $7.7 billion spike in uncomp...

ACA Marketplace enrollees stimulate the economy, and @rwjf.org and @urbaninstitute.bsky.social estimate $32 billion in lost revenue in 2026, and ⬆️$7.7 billion in uncompensated health care if subsidies expire. www.rwjf.org/en/insights/...

Most Americans (86%) would be concerned if millions of their fellow Americans lost health insurance.

More Than 3 in 4 ACA Marketplace Enrollees Live in States Won by President Trump in 2024 As Democrats push for an extension of the ACA’s enhanced premium tax credits, new data from KFF show the extent to which states won by Trump in 2024 have come to rely on the ACA Marketplaces and the t...

80% of #obamacare #ACA health care tax credits go went to enrollees in Trump-won states, @kff.org analysis shows.

www.kff.org/quick-take/m...

Wondering what the ACA expiring premium tax credits mean for household budgets? Drew lays it out: www.kff.org/from-drew-al...

Tariffs Are Driving up Premiums for Small Businesses | KFF Some insurers in the ACA’s small group market are citing tariffs, particularly those affecting prescriptions drugs, as a reason for higher-than-expected premium increases.

#Tariffs don't just impact the cost of household goods, they also increase the cost of prescription drugs. KFF analysis finds that the small group market has more prescription drugs claims, so tariffs may have an outsized impact on small businesses.

www.kff.org/health-costs... #healthinsurance

KFF graphic featuring a quote from Drew Altman, KFF President and CEO, that was featured in a New York Times article titled “Why Obamacare Bills May Double Next Year” published on September 24, 2025. The quote says, “The consequences are potentially pretty dire for the 24 million people in the marketplaces whose costs are going to skyrocket.”

The Senate’s failure to pass a spending bill last week raises the stakes for 24M people in the ACA marketplaces who could see significantly higher premiums next year if the enhanced tax credits expire.

More from @drewaltman.bsky.social via @nytimes.com: nyti.ms/46k2XE2

How much and why premiums are going up for small businesses in 2026 - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker Each year, health insurers submit rate filings to state regulators outlining their expectations for the coming year and proposing premium changes for Affordable Care Act (ACA)-compliant plans. This an...

KFF analysis of rate filings shows small group insurers are raising prices an average of 11% in 2026. Not as staggering as the individual market (18%) but still substantial. www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/how-mu...

#healthcare #costs #insurance

Health costs associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and infant care - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker Pregnancy is one of the most common causes of hospitalization among non-elderly people. In addition to the cost of the birth itself, pregnancy also involves costs associated with prenatal visits as we...

Delivering a baby + postpartum care costs an average of $20,000, with $2,700 paid out of pocket.
C-sections are more expensive as well, plus there are additional costs for infant healthcare. #pregnancy #birth #healthcare #healthcarecosts www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/health...

How healthcare prices and utilization in the United States compare to peer nations? - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker This chart collection compares indicators of health care utilization and prices in the United States and 11 similarly wealthy countries to investigate whether higher prices or higher utilization of he...

Q: The US spends almost 2x on healthcare - why? Is it the 💰prices, or ⬆️use?
A: It's (still) the prices. We pay 2x prices (and often use less: fewer in-person physician visits, shorter hospital stays) www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collec...

#Quality #Affordability #Healthcare

Nicotine vaping graphic showing significant increases in percent of people vaping from 2022 (8.3%) to 2024 (9.6%) in bar graph.

They also put out an infographic compendium with great graphics, such as this report on the increase of nicotine vaping. #vaping #publichealth #samhsa #nsduh #alcohol #marijuana #trees

2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) Releases Conducted annually, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) provides nationally representative data on the use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs; substance use disorders; mental health...

Full report: www.samhsa.gov/data/data-we...

Rates of 🚬cigarette use and 🍺🍷 binge drinking have gone down:
🚬 16% in 2021 to 13.1% in 2024 ⬇️
🍺🍷 21.7% in 2021 to 20.1% in 2024⬇️

Teens are also using alcohol less:
Use in past month: 15.6% in 2021 to 13.3% in 2024

Marijuana use in adults over 26 is increasing:
🍃17.3% in 2021 to 21.7% in 2024

“I had to come back for the insurance, because they informed me this year that I’m on COBRA,” said Venus Williams in a post-match interview at the Mubadala Citi D.C. Open.

Williams, 45, became the oldest woman to win on the Women’s Tennis Association tour since 2004.

Learn more about COBRA.⤵️

I do love the math.

Cuts to Food Benefits Stand in the Way of RFK Jr.’s Goals for a Healthier National Diet - KFF Health News The Trump administration has said improving American nutrition is a priority, but deep cuts to federal food assistance could lead people to forgo healthy food in favor of cheaper alternatives.

In Georgia, families used pandemic-boosted SNAP benefits to buy grapes, strawberries, eggs and fresh vegetables from local grocers.
They worry about what the budget bill will do to their ability to eat healthy foods.

🤷🏾 "I'd buy hotdogs."

kffhealthnews.org/news/article... #MAHA #foodsystems

KFF bar chart showing the distribution of proposed 2026 rate increases among 105 ACA Marketplace insurers in 19 states and D.C. The chart shows that the median proposed increase is about 15%.

Across 105 ACA Marketplace insurers in 19 states and D.C. that have submitted rate filings so far, most are requesting increases of 10% to 20% for 2026.

More than a quarter are proposing premium increases of 20% or more: on.kff.org/3TIMVwq

New: The Congressional Budget Office's official estimate of the Republican tax and spending bill finds it would increase the number of people uninsured by 10 million by 2034.

KFF bar chart showing the distribution of proposed 2026 rate increases among 105 ACA Marketplace insurers in 19 states and D.C. The chart shows that the median proposed increase is about 15%.

A new analysis of early rate filings shows ACA Marketplace insurers are proposing a median premium increase of 15% for 2026.

This would be the largest hike in premiums since 2018 — the last time policy uncertainty contributed to sharp premium growth. on.kff.org/3TIMVwq

Individual market insurers requesting largest premium increases in more than 5 years - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker Early indications are that individual market insurers will be increasing premiums in 2026 by more than they have since 2018, the last time policy uncertainty contributed to sharp premium increases. Ac...

New: Early reports from ACA insurers show the biggest premium increases in years, driven by:

*An expected sicker pool of enrollees if enhanced premium tax credits are allowed to expire at the end of this year
* Tariffs
* Higher health care costs
www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/indivi...

Exclusive | Obamacare Insurers Seek Double-Digit Premium Hikes Next Year Some enrollees could be hit with increases of more than 20% because of federal changes and higher health expenses.

Exclusive: Insurers are seeking hefty 2026 rate increases for Affordable Care Act marketplace plans, the coverage known as Obamacare.

Measles, Mumps, Rubella Vaccination and Autism: A Nationwide Cohort Study: Annals of Internal Medicine: Vol 170, No 8 Background: The hypothesized link between the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism continues to cause concern and challenge vaccine uptake. Objective: To evaluate whether the MMR vaccine i...

New evidence finds no connection between the MMR vaccine and autism. www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/...

The mechanisms by which ultra-processed foods (UPF) drive obesity, an outstanding review article
"the evidence is sufficiently strong to justify immediate public health efforts to reduce UPF consumption."
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Did you know a law from 1974 still impacts your health benefits today?

ERISA — the Employee Retirement Income Security Act set the rules for how many employers offer health coverage. It affects everything from what services are covered to how you can appeal a denial.

"I was doing my own research, by which I mean I was taking in data from disparate sources with differing degrees of credibility on a bewilderingly complicated issue and analyzing it with sophomore-year scientific literacy before making consumer decisions..."