The 25% Problem: Why Health Care Is So Expensive (And What We Can Do About It)

CHCF October 13, 2025
Kristof Stemikis, Catherine Teare

Health care costs hurt Californians every day. Millions can’t afford the care they need. More than half of all Californians skip or delay getting care because it costs too much.

How did we get here?

Health care is too expensive for people in large part because underlying costs in our health care system have grown unchecked for decades. Underlying costs are the “base ingredients” that determine how expensive health care is. Think of things like hospital operating costs, prescription drug prices, and doctor fees — when these costs go up year after year, they get passed on to patients through higher premiums, bigger deductibles, and larger medical bills.

Some of that rising cost has produced things we actually want, such...

Today's Sponsors

Today's Sponsor