National Data

This brief presents estimates of the number and percentage of children whose parents engage in problematic substance use, including past-year substance use and SUD by substance type and child demographics. Key findings include:

Using a national Medicaid database, the report shows significant racial/ethnic disparities in mental health service use among children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This Data Point presents changes in HealthCare.gov enrollment by race and ethnicity from 2015-2022 using a validated imputation method for missing information on race and ethnicity.

This study updates ASPE’s previous analysis of the associations between COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths among Medicare beneficiaries and COVID-19 vaccination rates, with full year data through the end of 2021.

High prescription drug costs are a leading concern among Americans. Americans pay higher prices for prescription drugs than any other country in the world, with prescription drug prices in the U.S. more than 2.5 times as high as those in other similar high-income nations.

Prescription drug price increases create affordability challenges for patients and for the government. This report tracks drug price changes from 2016-2022. There were 1,216 products whose price increases during the twelve-month period from July 2021 to July 2022 exceeded the inflation rate of 8.5 percent for that time period. The average price increase for these drugs was 31.6 percent.

Nutrition assistance programs have been shown to increase children’s health and well-being and decrease the risk of child maltreatment. At the same time, food insecurity rose in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This factsheet provides descriptive information on child care eligibility and receipt. Of the 12.5 million children potentially eligible for child care subsidies under federal rules, 16 percent received subsidies. Of the 8.7 million children eligible for child care subsidies under more restrictive state rules, 23 percent received subsidies.

The COVID-19 pandemic had wide-ranging impacts on health care delivery, particularly services that require in-person interactions. For patients needing access to medications to treat pain or certain substance use disorders, the COVID-19 pandemic presented particular challenges for continuity of treatment.

Payers across the health care spectrum have begun transitioning from paying for quantity toward paying for quality. These value-based payment (VBP) programs vary in scope and focus, but generally share the goals of improving cost-savings and linking payments to value rather than volume.