Healthcare Costs
Understand the drivers of hospital costs and explore strategies to improve efficiency and affordability.
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Under the Magnifying Glass: A Wave of Drug Price Transparency
Recent federal actions by Congress, the Department of Labor, and the Federal Trade Commission have placed pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) transparency at the forefront of drug pricing policy. New disclosure requirements aim to help health plans better understand PBM revenues, drug costs, and potential conflicts of interest—and use that information to make more informed purchasing decisions and hold...
Launch Price and Access Report: Drug Approvals from 2022-2025
ICER and West Health developed the 2026 “Launch Price and Access Report”, an independent analysis of drug prices and patient access for newly launched FDA-approved treatments. This Launch Price and Access Report analyzes launch price trends over four years (2022-2025). It also includes an in-depth review of patient access to newly launched drugs using real-world pharmacy and medical claims data, a...
Feelings Meet Facts: What We See When We Overlay Our Gallup Survey on the City Checkup
Nearly one in four U.S. workers, about 23 million people, say they're staying in a job they want to leave because they're afraid of losing their health insurance.1 Researchers call this job lock, and according to new research from our West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America, it's risen eight percentage points since 2021.1,2 That's a feeling, captured the way we capture feelings through ...
Impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on Medicare Beneficiary Affordability and Mortality
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) introduced multiple reforms to Medicare prescription drug payments, including a redesign of the Part D prescription drug benefit, rebates for drugs with price increases beyond inflation, the ability for Medicare to negotiate the price of certain drugs, and an option to have a predictable monthly payment plan for some beneficiaries. These changes are intended to im...
Why Medicare Isn't One-Size-Fits-All: The Medicare Quilt
From Original Medicare to Medicare Advantage, Medigap, Part D, and beyond, no two beneficiaries experience Medicare the same way.Medicare is often talked about as if it's a single program, but for the millions of Americans who rely on it, coverage looks more like a quilt than a blanket. Some beneficiaries stay in Original Medicare with Parts A and B. Others add Part D for prescription drugs, or Me...
How Do Older Adults Experience the U.S. Healthcare System?
Gallup and West Health have unveiled a new, first-of-its-kind state-by-state ranking measuring how Americans experience the healthcare system, not through claims or spending totals, but through their lived experience. The new West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America offers an unprecedented look at healthcare cost, access and quality across all 50 states and Washington, DC. It brings clar...
What Happens When Healthcare Costs Are Out of Reach?
In the infographic below, we illustrate how Americans fall into three categories of healthcare affordability. Each of these categories—or paths—leads to dramatically different outcomes for access to care, financial stability, and overall well-being.Key Takeaways:· A shrinking share of Americans are Cost Secure. Roughly half of U.S. adults (49%) can obtain the healthcare and medicine they need with...
Healthcare Affordability is Eroding
Key Takeaways:The Cost Secure share has slipped to a five-year low. Just 49% of US adults can pay for needed healthcare and medicine and have access to quality, affordable care, down 12 percentage points since 2022.Roughly 41% of adults are Cost Insecure, meaning they have either struggled recently to pay for prescriptions or treatment, or they don't have reliable access to affordable, quality car...
The Hidden Costs of Healthcare
The infographic below illustrates the range of financial sacrifices Americans are making to afford care. These insights capture both the scale of the affordability crisis and the everyday realities it creates for millions of American households. Key Takeaways: With approximately 82 million U.S. adults, roughly 1 in 3 adults, who made at least one tradeoff to afford care, healthcare affordability e...
Rising MSP Participation Signals Progress, but Significant Enrollment Gaps Remain
Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) help low-income Medicare beneficiaries afford essential health care by covering premiums and other out-of-pocket costs, yet millions of eligible individuals remain unenrolled. A new analysis from the Urban Institute, conducted in partnership with West Health and Aurrera Health Group, found that MSP participation has improved over the past decade. Despite this progr...