The numbers
Every figure we have published
80 figures from 20 stories, each with what it measures and the source it was checked against. Newest first.
Medicare drug plan premiums set to rise 50% for enrollees who stay put, KFF finds
$51a month
projected 2027 average premium for stand-alone Part D plans if enrollees keep their current plan, up from $34
10.4million
enrollees without low-income help who would pay a higher premium in 2027, 76% of the group
2.4million
enrollees facing an increase of more than $50 a month, up from 38,000 in 2026
$700
standard Part D deductible for 2027, up from $615
ACA open enrollment opens with benchmark premiums up 13% for 2027
13%
average rise in benchmark silver premiums for 2027, after a 26% rise for 2026
$704a month
national average benchmark premium for a 40-year-old in 2027, up from $625
$12,000
the most a marketplace plan can make one person pay for covered in-network care in 2027
13.1million
projected marketplace enrollment in 2027, down from 22.4 million in 2025
Judge strikes federal limit on Medicaid work rule exemption for medically frail adults
25states and D.C.
the coalition that brought the case
80hours a month
work or community service required of most expansion adults starting Jan. 1, 2027
3.1million to 3.3 million
yearly drop in Medicaid enrollment CMS projected after the first year of work requirements
6months
stay of enforcement on frailty determinations granted to the states
Labor Department rule makes pharmacy benefit managers disclose pay to large employers
$818.4million a year
estimated transfers from PBMs to self-insured plans and their members through lower drug prices
131,102
self-insured group health plans with 100 or more participants covered by the rule
72.4million
participants and beneficiaries enrolled in those plans
July 1, 2027
plan years beginning on or after this date must receive the new disclosures
An urgent care asked an uninsured patient for $400 before an epinephrine shot
$400
up-front payment the urgent care required before giving the epinephrine shot
$605
total bill, including a $40 administration fee and $165 for the visit
$175
approximate cost of a generic EpiPen, according to GoodRx
185million
urgent care visits in 2025 across more than 15,000 centers, per the Urgent Care Association
Medicare raises dialysis payments 2.7% for 2027, and patient coinsurance rises with it
$297.52
Medicare's 2027 base payment per dialysis treatment, up from $281.71
2.7%
estimated increase in total payments to dialysis facilities in 2027
$50million
estimated increase in what Medicare patients pay in coinsurance
7,600
approximate number of dialysis facilities Medicare expects to pay under the system in 2027
Centene's marketplace membership falls to 3.4 million from 5.8 million a year earlier
3.4million
Centene marketplace members on Sept. 30, 2026, down from 5.8 million a year earlier
21%
drop in Centene's commercial premium and service revenues, to $8.7 billion
267,000
Molina marketplace members on Sept. 30, 2026, down from 713,000
114%
average increase in premium payments marketplace enrollees faced to keep the same plan in 2026
HCA puts third-quarter cost of patients who lost exchange coverage at $400 million
$400million
HCA's estimate of the third-quarter cut to income before taxes from more uninsured patients
19%
drop in HCA's admissions of ACA patients from a year earlier
$144million
Tenet's estimated cost of caring for uninsured patients in the third quarter, up from $99 million
114%
average increase in premium payments marketplace enrollees faced to keep the same plan in 2026
Doctors' offices owned by hospitals can bill 10 times more, Washington Post reports
10times
how much higher bills can run when office care is billed at hospital rates with a facility fee
57
services HCCI compared, every one priced higher in the hospital outpatient setting from 2018 to 2022
$405
average price of a cast billed as outpatient care, compared with $83 in a doctor's office
27%
rise in outpatient charges from 2017 to 2022, against 2% for doctors' offices, per Blue Cross Blue Shield Association research
Proposed rule would hold back ACA subsidies until eligibility is verified
332,500
fewer marketplace enrollees each year under the proposal, by CMS's estimate
$7.6billion
estimated yearly drop in federal advance premium tax credit spending starting in 2028
$655a month
average advance premium tax credit per enrollee used in CMS's estimate
0.4%
estimated rise in average premiums as healthier enrollees leave
Half of working-age adults went without needed care because of cost, survey finds
50%
share of adults ages 19 to 64 who went without needed care because of cost in 2026, up from 46% in 2022
23%
share of working-age adults who were underinsured, with out-of-pocket costs or deductibles high relative to income
51%
underinsured rate among adults insured all year through marketplace or individual-market plans
11.2%
uninsured rate among working-age adults in 2026, up from 8.9% in 2024
Workers' cost for family coverage rose 9% to $7,471 in 2026, KFF survey finds
$7,471
average annual worker contribution toward family coverage in 2026, up 9% from 2025
$28,303
average total annual premium for employer family coverage in 2026, up 5%
$9,687
average annual family premium contribution for workers at firms with fewer than 200 employees
38%
share of covered workers in a plan with a single deductible of $2,000 or more, up from 34% in 2025
Oregon hospitals doubled financial aid after a law required automatic screening
2.7%
share of operating expenses Oregon hospitals spent on free and discounted care in the law's first full year, up from 1.4%
64%
OHSU patients who automatically qualified for aid in the law's early months, up from 12%
$116.3million
OHSU charity care at forgone charges in fiscal 2025, up from $39.4 million in fiscal 2024
166
Texas nonprofit general hospitals whose aid policies Tradeoffs analyzed, nearly half of which bill before screening
New drugs launched at a median net price near $257,000 a year in 2025, report finds
$257,369
median estimated annual net launch price of novel drugs approved in 2025
35%
inflation-adjusted increase in the median net launch price from 2022 to 2025
36%
share of first outpatient prescriptions for newly launched drugs filled within 30 days
20%
share filled within 30 days when billed to Medicare, compared with 51% for commercial insurance
Medicare proposal would cap costs for patients misled by wrong provider directories
6million
low-income enrollees whose generic drug copays would fall to $0 in 2028
$1.337billion
net federal cost of eliminating those copays from 2028 to 2037
90days
how often plans would have to verify most directory listings
$444million
Congressional Budget Office estimate of federal savings from the Part D PBM fee limit, 2026 to 2035
Illinois says its program has erased $1.4 billion in medical debt in two years
$1.4billion
medical debt erased by the Illinois Medical Debt Relief Program in two years
694,000
Illinois residents who received relief
$1,200
average debt erased per person, with one person receiving more than $900,000
$10million
approximate state spending, or more than $100 of debt erased per state dollar
Rush and Endeavor Health plan to merge into a 12-hospital Chicago-area system
12
hospitals in the proposed combined system, with more than 400 care sites
$6.4billion
Endeavor Health's 2025 revenue, alongside about $4.4 billion for Rush
$1billion
additional investment Endeavor committed to fund for community, research and care programs
46,000
employees and clinicians the combined system would have, at minimum
Prices drove 90% of employer plan spending growth from 2019 to 2023, report finds
$6,743
average health care spending per person with employer coverage in 2023
90%
share of the $1,068 rise in per-person spending from 2019 to 2023 explained by higher prices
17.7%
growth in average prices from 2019 to 2023, compared with 1.8% growth in use of care
$923
average out-of-pocket spending per person in 2023, up 10.3% since 2019
High-deductible plan members paid up to 2.4 times as much for chronic care, study finds
1.6to 2.4 times
how much more HDHP enrollees paid out of pocket for recommended chronic care than enrollees in other plans
$153.91
estimated annual out-of-pocket cost of recommended diabetes care in an individual HDHP, compared with $68.06 in other plans
70.5%
share of the total cost of recommended diabetes care paid by patients in individual HDHPs, compared with 35.8% in other plans
29%
share of covered workers in HSA-qualified plans in 2026
UnitedHealth profit rises 75% as its Medicare Advantage rolls shrink by 935,000
88.4%
UnitedHealth's third-quarter medical care ratio, down from 89.9% a year earlier
935,000
decline in people served through UnitedHealth's Medicare Advantage plans since the end of 2025
$4.11billion
third-quarter net earnings, up from $2.35 billion
6%
approximate share of UnitedHealthcare's medical spending going to No Surprises Act arbitration payouts in some regions