Healthcare costs rank among U.S. adults’ top financial worries, with 26% saying they are “very” worried about affording healthcare for themselves and their families, according to Oct. 23 KFF polling data.
The concern is similar to the 27% who are “very” worried about gas and transportation costs, followed by food and groceries (21%), monthly utilities (21%), and rent or mortgage (19%).
The data combines several recent KFF surveys on how costs shape whether people get care, fill prescriptions and pay their bills.
Here are five findings from the data:
1. Forty-three percent of American adults did not take their medication as prescribed in the past year because of cost. This includes 31% who took over-the-counter drugs instead of filling their prescription, 27% who did not fill a prescription and 19% who cut their pills in half or skipped medication doses due to cost. Larger shares of lower-income, uninsured, Black and Hispanic adults and women reported taking these measures.
2. Twenty-eight percent of adults skipped or postponed needed care due to cost in the past year. Rates were highest among uninsured adults under 65 (62%), adults under 30 (40%), Hispanic adults (34%), lower-income adults (32%) and women (31%). Insurance offered only partial protection: 30% of insured adults ages 18 to 64 also skipped or delayed care, and about a quarter had trouble paying medical bills.
3. Fifteen percent of adults said their health worsened due to skipped or delayed care for reasons including cost, which rose to 27% for people with multiple health conditions.
4. Twenty-two percent of adults said they had issues paying or were unable to pay medical bills in the last 12 months. This includes 14% who cut back on basic household expenses like clothes or food to afford healthcare costs.
5. Heading into the midterm elections, 26% of adults are “very” concerned about healthcare costs for themselves and their families, and 36% are “somewhat” concerned. For uninsured adults under age 65, 82% said they are “very” or “somewhat” worried about affording healthcare costs, but 63% of insured adults under 65 are also worried.
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