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Policymaking in the Age of Affordability: Surveys Show Bipartisan Support for Wide Range of Health Care Policies
Authors: Alexandra Allen, MSPPM, Beth Beaudin-Seiler, PhD Health care affordability is a top concern for patients, families, and employers, and a leading issue residents want state policymakers to address. High costs strain household budgets, increase stress, and contribute to reduced access to care and poorer health outcomes. Nearly half of U.S. adults struggle to afford […]
Read MoreHealth Care Affordability Across States: National Findings from CHESS
Beth Beaudin-Seiler, PhD; Alexandra Allen, MSPPM; Chris Duke, PhD; Emily Zitek, MS Altarum’s Consumer Healthcare Experience State Survey (CHESS) is a multi-state, population-based survey initiative designed to capture how individuals experience, navigate, and pay for health care. Since its inception in 2018, CHESS has been fielded in sixty-three waves across thirty-seven unique states, producing insights […]
Read MoreCHES Survey Findings and Impact of HR1: Webinar Companion Brief
Laura McGovern, MPA; Shelby Owen, MPH; Maria DeNunzio, PhD, MS Introduction The Consumer Health Care Experience State Surveys The Healthcare Value Hub conducted 45 Consumer Health Care Experience State Surveys (CHESS) across 36 states between 2018 and 2025, with some states participating multiple times. CHESS is designed to provide reliable, state-level estimates of respondents’ views […]
Read MoreCHESS Respondents Worry About the Cost of Aging: The Impact of Aging on the Sandwich Generation
Shelby Owen, MPH; Maria DeNunzio, PhD, MS Introduction In 2020, Americans age 65 or older accounted for about 17% of the population, yet accounted for about 37% of health care spending, nearly 2.5 times higher than working-age adults and more than five times higher than children (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, n.d.). By 2050, […]
Read MoreThe Consumer Healthcare Experience State Survey (CHESS) Methods and Applications: Measuring Healthcare Financial Burden and System Experiences
Mary Rozga, PhD, RDN, Emily Zitek, MS Executive Summary The Consumer Healthcare Experience State Survey (CHESS) is a state-level survey designed to capture consumer perspectives on healthcare affordability and system navigation. Developed by Altarum in 2018, CHESS addresses critical gaps in state-specific data by measuring both objective financial measures and subjective experiences of affordability, including […]
Read MoreHealth Literacy in Rural Communities: Aligning Transformation with Needs
Mary Rozga, PhD, RDN Background Rural Health Disparities Rural communities in the United States face persistent and widening health disparities compared to non-rural populations, including significantly higher mortality rates.1–3 Natural-cause mortality is estimated to be 43% higher in rural areas,2 with elevated rates of both cardiovascular4 and diabetes5 related deaths. Rural residents also experience more […]
Read MoreConsumer Health Care Experience State Survey: Five Year Retrospective Report
Maria DeNunzio, PhD, MS and Shelby Owen, MPH Executive Summary Background The Health Care Value Hub conducted 45 Consumer Health Care Experience State Surveys (CHESS) across 36 states between 2018 and 2025, with some states participating multiple times. CHESS is designed to provide reliable, state-level estimates of respondents’ views on a wide range of health […]
Read MoreFinancialization’s Impact on Medical Debt in the U.S. Healthcare System and on Disenfranchised Communities, Advocacy and Policy Responses
Authors: Alexandra Allen, MSPPM, Britt Sanderson, MS, MPH Executive Summary The financialization of the U.S. health care sector has fundamentally reshaped the way care is delivered and paid for, worsening medical debt and deepening imbalances. Building on systemic barriers that creates racially stratified health insurance products[1],[2] and suppresses the political and economic power of people […]
Read MoreLeveraging CHESS Data for Research, Policy, and Advocacy
By Laura McGovern, MPA Many health care survey initiatives encounter challenges, two of those are: (1) a lack of focus on state-level estimates, and (2) insufficient examination of the full range of health care affordability burdens affecting consumers and the system-wide factors contributing to these difficulties. Altarum’s Consumer Healthcare Experience State Surveys (CHESS) seek to […]
Read MoreFinancialization in Health Care: History, Current Trends, and Impacts on Patients
By Alexandra Allen, MSPPM Financialization in health care impacts hospital and provider decision-making. The health care system is tied to the financial sector and strategies through consolidation, investments, venture capital and for-profit subsidiaries, private equity, and lending practices, where non-operating income including investment income from stocks, bonds, asset sales, and revenue from for-profit subsidiaries contribute […]
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