Story at a glance
- A new West Health-Gallup survey found that 55 percent of U.S. adults do not report having problems paying for or accessing the medical care and medications they need.
- In 2022, the percentage of Americans able to access and pay for the healthcare they need was six percentage points higher.
- Now, 37 percent of U.S. adults are “cost insecure” or “cost desperate,” according to the survey, meaning they cannot pay for care or medicine or lack easy access.
Fewer adults in the U.S. can access and afford the healthcare they need in the United States, according to new West Health-Gallup survey findings.
Now, 55 percent of American adults are considered “cost secure” when it comes to healthcare, meaning they do not struggle to pay or access medical care and medicine and can easily access both, according to the survey.
That’s a six-percentage point drop since 2022 and the lowest percentage since West Health and Gallup started tracking healthcare affordability in 2021.
Fewer young adults are “cost secure” than two years ago with the percentage of 18- to 49-year-olds who have not had a recent problem paying or accessing treatment or medicine falling from 52 percent in 2022 to 47 percent in 2024.
The number of “cost secure” 50- to 64-year-olds has dropped by eight percentage points since 2022, falling to 55 percent.
Similarly, the portion of “cost secure” adults aged 65 and older has also decreased by eight percentage points, plummeting to 71 percent over the past two years, according to the survey.
Nearly half of U.S. adults — 45 percent — admit to skipping a doctor’s appointment or not picking up medication they need because they either couldn’t afford to pay for the drugs or an appointment or because they couldn’t easily access either one, according to the West Health-Gallup survey.
West Health and Gallup break down that 45 percent into two groups: Americans who are “cost insecure” and those who are “cost desperate.”
Americans who are “cost insecure” report having problems paying for or accessing medical treatment or medication while “cost desperate” adults cannot pay for nor access medical treatment and medication.
More Americans are considered “cost insecure,” with 37 percent reporting they struggle to pay or access either treatment or medicine. Meanwhile, 8 percent of adults are considered “cost desperate,” according to survey findings.
Younger adults are more likely to have forgone medical treatment or prescribed drugs, the survey found, with 53 percent of adults between the ages of 18 and 49 admitting to not going to a medical appointment or paying for medication because of money or access issues.
Just 29 percent of older adults — 65 years old and up — said they have chosen to skip medical treatment or medication due to finances or access issues, according to the survey.
West Health and Gallup’s healthcare affordability data was collected as of the West Health-Gallup 2024 Survey on Aging in America. Roughly 5,150 U.S. adults completed the web and mail survey conducted between November 2023 and January 2024.
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