Fewer than 49 percent of Americans say they can afford healthcare, the lowest rate recorded since Gallup began tracking the figure in 2021, according to data released Thursday.
The findings come from Gallup's Healthcare Affordability Index, which is sponsored by West Health and draws on self-reported data from nationally representative surveys. The latest figures are based on a study conducted between October and December of 2025, according to ABC News.
In a single year, roughly 2.8 million people no longer identified as being cost secure, meaning they could no longer afford access to quality care or pay for visits and prescriptions. Worry about future healthcare costs is also at an all-time high, topping 40 percent.
The data shows healthcare has become a financial burden across income levels. One in three upper-middle income households, defined as those earning between $120,000 and $180,000 per year, are not cost secure. Neither are one in five households earning above $180,000.
Young adults aged 18 to 29 experienced the sharpest single-year decline, with those identifying as cost secure dropping 7 percentage points in one year.
The gap between men and women in healthcare affordability also reached a record. Between 2021 and 2024 the difference stood at 9 percent. In 2025 it widened to 15 percent, the largest gender gap in healthcare affordability on record.
Healthcare spending reached $5.3 trillion in 2024. Hospital prices increased 3.4 percent that year, the fastest rate of increase since 2007. Insurance premiums went up by 20 percent following the expiration of subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
Studies show that financial barriers to healthcare can lead to delayed or deferred care, contributing to worse health outcomes overall.
