Commercial Health Insurance: Spiraling Costs And Growing Dissatisfaction

Editor’s Note

This article is the latest in the Health Affairs Forefront series, Provider Prices in the Commercial Sector, featuring analysis and discussion of physician, hospital, and other health care provider prices in the private-sector markets and their contribution to overall spending therein. Readers are encouraged to review the Call for Submissions for this series. We are grateful to Arnold Ventures for their support of this work.

In December 2024, the tragic murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO with the words “delay” and “deny” written on the bullets unleashed a torrent of consumer frustration over the business practices of UnitedHealthcare and other commercial insurers. There appears to be a widespread perception that the delay and denial of necessary care...