Dashboard test page
The Health Care Value Hub’s 2026 Health Care Affordability State Policy Snapshot provides legislators, consumer advocates, regulators and other stakeholders with a tool to compare their state’s health policies across other states.
The Snapshot explores policies impacting health care affordability across four domains:
- Improve Transparency and Market Oversight
- Contain Health Care Costs in the Commercial Market
- Promote Effective, Affordable Health Care Delivery
- Balance Constrained State Budgets
Policies were selected based on whether they have the potential to impact health care affordability or access to health care at the state level. Policies under the “Improve Transparency and Market Oversight” domain were examined for whether they were active, implemented to a limited degree, or not active as of May 15, 2026.
Policies captured under the “Contain Health Care Costs in the Commercial Market,” “Promote Effective, Affordable Health Care Delivery,” and “Balance Constrained State Budgets” domains will be available in October 2026.
Detailed notes and sources for this information can be found in the Methods and Source Workbook.
To see prior years’ state Snapshots, see individual states pages below. For past years’ Snapshot glossaries, methods and sources, and dashboards, visit the Snapshot Archive.
Select a State Snapshot
Dashboard Table
See multiple states and policies at once and which states have implemented specific policies, including details on each state’s approach and degree of implementation. Users can filter by State, Category, Policy Type, and Implementation to view specific policy types and levels of implementation to compare policy action between different states. To access a PDF of each state’s full Snapshot, click the state name in the Dashboard Table.
| Category | Policy Type | Implementation | State Policy Description | Summary |
| General description of the policy. | Components of the policy. | Implementation status reflects whether legislation establishing a policy has been enacted, is currently available to its intended population, and is serving its full function in terms of improving health care affordability. | Full description of what the state has implemented. | Notes about the individual state’s policy, or their efforts to enact one. |
*Partial implementation is granted in cases where there is evidence that further expansion of the policy would have a greater impact on health care affordability, such as: active policies that are available to some, but not all, people within the population it is intended to serve; policies that do not include all components that make them effective at improving affordability; and policies that limit some, but not all, of a practice that can make care less affordable. Additional details available the in downloadable Excel file.
Dashboard Map
See one policy at a time across all states and DC as a visual map. Hover over states to see details and click state name to access a PDF of each state’s full Snapshot.
