Recent Poll Reveals Health Care Cost Struggles for Many Americans
About one-third of adults in the U.S. have reported facing health care expenses over the past year, according to a recent poll by West Health and Gallup. This includes actions like skipping medications or incurring debt to manage costs.
Another survey from the same group found that nearly 10% of adults have postponed their retirement due to medical expenses. Some individuals also mentioned delays in changing jobs, buying homes, or starting families because of these costs.
These nationally representative surveys were published on Thursday. The first survey collected responses from around 20,000 adults from June to August last year, while the second included over 5,600 participants from October to December.
Timothy Rush, President of West Health, noted that nearly every metric in their health care survey indicates a troubling trend. West Health and Gallup have been gathering data on this issue since 2021.
Rush emphasized that this is not just a regional or political issue; it impacts individuals and communities across the board. “It’s not simply about health care costs,” he shared. “It’s also about the economic security of people.”
While the financial strain was most pronounced among low-income individuals and those without insurance, the first survey revealed that around 25% of adults earning between $90,000 and $120,000 made compromises to afford health care. Even 11% of those making over $240,000 reported similar issues.
As voters head into the midterm elections, health care costs have now surpassed even food, rent, and utilities as their primary concern, as indicated by KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research organization.
Former President Donald Trump has focused on health care costs in his messaging. However, his proposed policies, like the “big, beautiful bill,” actually cut Medicaid funding, and congressional Republicans allowed enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies to lapse at the end of last year, which led to increased premiums for many Americans.
Health policy professor Stacey Dusetsyna from Vanderbilt University commented that the findings align with other studies. A report from KFF in January indicated that nearly half of American adults feel unable to afford medical care.
Dusetsyna highlighted that the amount individuals must pay out-of-pocket before insurance kicks in is significant, noting that even those with higher incomes aren’t immune to rising deductibles.
Typically, patients receive treatment and are billed later, which is different from prescription drugs where payment is required upfront at the pharmacy. This situation might illustrate the tightening grip of medical expenses on individuals, Dusetsyna remarked.
Rush warned that unless meaningful reforms are enacted, the situation could deteriorate further. He described initiatives such as TrumpRx, which aims to offer brand-name medications at reduced prices, as mere “band-aids.”
“We really need to take proactive measures,” he insisted.
Art Caplan, who leads medical ethics at NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine, found the results alarming. “This underscores the burden of a dysfunctional health care system,” Caplan stated. “We pay more for health care than anyone else globally, and yet this is the outcome we see.”
