Dive Brief:
The number of Americans who could not afford to access necessary healthcare reached a four-year high last year, according to a survey conducted by West Health and Gallup.
Eleven percent of people surveyed — roughly 29 million people — said they were unable to afford medication and care within the past three months. Over one-third of respondents said that if they needed quality medical treatment today they would not be able to afford it.
Hispanic and Black respondents, as well as those from lowest-income households, were more likely to report difficulty accessing healthcare compared to 2021, while there was no meaningful change in the proportion of White adults or middle- to high-income earners facing barriers to care compared to 2021, the study said.
Dive Insight:
The survey, fielded between mid-November and late December, found healthcare access is becoming increasingly out of reach for Americans as costs climb, with Black and Hispanic Americans, as well as low income Americans, most likely to be shut out from the system.
Overall, 51% of respondents reported being cost secure, or having access to quality, affordable care and the ability to pay for needed care and medicine. That’s down five percentage points since 2021 for all adults, and down 13 percentage points for Black adults and 17 percentage points for Hispanic adults.
White adults have had no real change in their ability to pay for care, with 8% of adults being unable to afford care — the same percent as 2021.
Low income households’ barriers to care have also worsened. A quarter of respondents with an annual household income of less than $24,000 are now considered cost desperate, meaning they could not afford or access care within the past three months, an 11% change since 2021.
Taken together, “disparities in access to healthcare based on race, ethnicity and income are… at their highest point since surveying began,” according to the survey.
Recent Medicaid disenrollments, drug shortages and persistent consumer and medical inflation are driving higher medical costs, according to Gallup.
Costs could climb further if more Americans lose access to health insurance. Republicans in Congress are currently weighing cuts to the Medicaid program that advocacy groups warn would be “catastrophic” to the nation’s safety net.
Meanwhile, many Americans are borrowing money to pay for healthcare. Last year, Gallup found 12% of U.S. adults borrowed some $74 billion to pay for needed care in the past year, and over half of surveyed adults felt somewhat or very concerned about going into debt to pay for a major medical event.
Concerns about the affordability of medical care have often been targeted at insurers. The killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December sparked a dark celebration on social media, with many posters sharing stories of times their care had been delayed or denied due to their insurance policies.
The federal government has attempted to address concerns by making costs more predictable, tackling surprise billing, bolstering price transparency and scrutinizing nonprofit health systems’ compliance with charity care laws.
The Biden administration also moved to wipe medical debt from consumer credit reports and barred lenders from using debt to make lending decisions. The move was cheered by patient support groups as a step toward lessening the impact of debt on patients.
