Larry Levitt

Only 1 in 5 large employers cover GLP-1s for weight loss. 9% of employers are using international prescription drug purchasing services.

There’s still one insurance market where people with pre-existing conditions can be denied coverage: Medigap. 74% of Medicare Advantage enrollees have a pre-existing condition that could lead to a Medigap denial if they switch to traditional Medicare. www.kff.org/medicare/nea...

Recent polls, including from @kff.org, show growing support for Medicare for All. This isn’t surprising, given worries about health care affordability and frustrations with insurers. But in a full-fledged national debate, arguments from critics — some true, some not — would resonate.

Here’s my latest: www.npr.org/2026/10/07/n...

President Trump is sending $500 to some ACA enrollees. Leaving aside the legal issues, it's important to get beyond the headline. The checks go to about 1 million out of 19 million ACA enrollees, and don't come close to the higher costs people face from expired premium subsides.

It tells you a lot about how concerned voters are about the affordability of health care when it's tied with gas prices right now as an economic worry. www.kff.org/public-opini...

The Medicare Part B premium is $2,435 this year, plus deductibles, coinsurance, and potential supplemental premiums. President Trump says he’s going to send $90 checks to Medicare beneficiaries.

President Trump is saying he's sending checks to some Medicare enrollees, after promising checks for some federal ACA marketplace enrollees as well. If we had a federal Medicare for All system, the president might have found a way to send checks to everyone.

When Congress passed the biggest health care cuts ever, they delayed almost all of them until after the midterms, while the temporary rural health fund they created started this year. But, very few rural voters have heard much of anything about the rural fund.

Early results show people losing coverage due to early implementation of a Medicaid work requirement in Nebraska, with signs that they're being caught up in administrative barriers. www.kff.org/medicaid/ear...

In many states, enrollees in United’s AARP PDPs will face substantially higher premiums, with monthly premium increases of $50 or more in most states for AARP Medicare Rx Preferred and in many states for AARP Medicare Rx Saver. These plans enroll more than 2 million non-LIS enrollees in 2026.

There will be no $0 premium PDPs for enrollees not receiving low-income subsidies in 2027. KFF analysis shows 28% of non-LIS PDP enrollees are in $0 premium plans this year. They will all face higher premiums in 2027. www.kff.org/medicare/med...

The overall number of stand-alone prescription drug plans will drop from 360 to 312, with two plans (HealthSpring Extra and SilverScript Choice) pulling out of multiple regions. Humana remains the only insurer offering three PDPs in all 34 PDP regions.

CMS has just released information about Medicare drug plan offerings for 2027, emphasizing stability. Some quick top-level analysis about the stand-alone Part D drug plan market to follow. ⬇️ www.cms.gov/newsroom/pre...

We @kff.org pulled public drug prices from peer countries to compare to TrumpRx.gov. Results here: www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/how-tr...

New: Are TrumpRx drug prices the lowest in the world? No. Many brand name drugs are cheaper than the average in other wealthy countries, but about an equal number are more expensive. www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/how-tr...

Deciding what health care gets covered largely falls to insurers. KFF polling finds prior authorization is the single biggest burden insured adults say they face beyond cost. KFF’s @larrylevitt.bsky.social weighs whether the savings are worth the impact of delays & denials on patients & providers.

Insurers take a cut of every premium dollar for overhead and profit. The question isn’t just whether they profit, but whether we’re getting value in return. KFF’s @larrylevitt.bsky.social breaks down how administrative costs and profit varies across private markets and Medicare.

New Census numbers show the number of people uninsured held steady in 2025. BUT...That's before enhanced ACA premium subsidies expired, causing millions of people to drop coverage this year. And before Medicaid cuts start to hit next year. www.census.gov/library/publ...

One thing I'm unclear on: Are these rebates only going to those *currently enrolled* in unsubsidized coverage? If so, does nothing to help the people who dropped coverage because they could no longer afford it without the enhanced subsidies.

Costly health insurance premiums strain employers & consumers alike. But it’s underlying healthcare spending that’s driving costs. KFF’s @larrylevitt.bsky.social looks at how hospital consolidation & employer demands for broad networks affect insurers’ ability & willingness to control prices.

New federal data from the Quarterly Services Survey show hospital revenues were up 9.9% in the second quarter compared to last year. That is what's at the root of the affordability crisis in health care. www.census.gov/services/ind...

Also, drought, which causes crop failures, animal deaths and financial losses which in turn can trigger mental health issues. The South Dakota ag department made a post about this, with general and ag-related mental health resources: www.facebook.com/SDDANR/posts...

@amyactonoh.bsky.social told me that when she visited with a bipartisan group women farmers a few months ago she expected them to mainly talk about tariffs and the cost of fuel and fertilizer. Instead, they poured out their health care woes. www.politico.com/news/2026/08...

Many farmers are facing a double whammy this year: Rising diesel prices, plus higher health insurance costs after Congress allowed enhanced ACA premium subsidies to expire.

President Trump's deals with drugmakers are hard to evaluate since they're not public, but he has made a very public push on drug prices. That said, the current drop in drug prices likely has as much if not more to do with the law passed by Democrats for Medicare drug price negotiation.

On the Health Care Rounds podcast, KFF’s @larrylevitt.bsky.social discusses the health care system’s focus on short-term costs at the expense of long-term savings. Listen to the full episode for more on health cost concerns in the U.S.: https://bit.ly/3TUN5nM

New: When patients appeal prior authorization denials by health insurance companies, the denials often get overturned. The problem is, few people appeal. www.kff.org/patient-cons...

KFF’s @larrylevitt.bsky.social joined @npr.org’s The Indicator from @planetmoney.bsky.social to discuss what KFF polling shows about voters’ concerns over health care costs and how they could shape the midterm elections. Listen to the full episode: https://n.pr/4xxe478

Who the public trusts for health information. www.kff.org/public-opini...

Will a Medicaid enrollee who suffers from seizures and addiction, and became homeless after losing his job, be able to navigate the process to prove he's too frail to work? That's the kind of question hanging over the implementation of a new Medicaid work requirement. @k-hought.bsky.social

Medicare for All is the only health reform policy that truly fits on a bumper sticker. Incremental policies are inherently more complicated to explain. The ACA did much more than ban pre-existing condition exclusions, but that part was easy for people to grasp.

Medicare for All advocates talk about universal coverage, no premiums and out-of-pocket costs, administrative savings, and eliminating insurance profits. Opponents talk about higher taxes, more government control, and giving up your current insurance plan. All of that is true.

If Abdul El-Sayed wins the Michigan senate primary next week, I suspect we're going to be talking a lot more about Medicare for All.

We don't have real-time data showing the number of people uninsured with enhanced ACA premium subsidies expiring, but these reports from hospitals of more patients unable to pay their bills is a pretty good indication of what's happening. @reedabelson.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/b...

Open enrollment for Medicare Part D drug coverage begins October 15.

The Trump admin is in court *today* defending its new rule requiring Medicaid patients with cancer and other chronic illnesses to prove they're too sick to work to maintain their insurance. 25 states and DC are asking a judge to block the rule. www.politico.com/news/2026/07...

ACA enrollment has dropped in every state, except New Mexico. What's special about New Mexico? They are the only state to fully replace the extra federal premium subsidies that ended this year. www.kff.org/affordable-c...

New: With enhanced ACA premium subsidies expired and Medicaid cuts phasing in, the Congressional Budget Office expects the share of the population uninsured to rise above 10% for the first time since the ACA was implemented. www.cbo.gov/publication/...

A story from our news operation about patients getting caught up in errors in Medicaid computer systems, operated by a private contractor. This is a symptom of a health insurance system that has become mind-numbingly complex.

"but taxes would go up!" ok but premiums would go down even more