A shrinking share of Americans are Cost Secure when it comes to healthcare. Only about half of U.S. adults (51%) believe basic healthcare is affordable and readily accessible, a 10-percentage-point drop since 2022.
Meanwhile, a growing share of Americans are Cost Desperate when it comes to affording healthcare. An estimated 28.7 million U.S. adults (11%, a 4-percentage -point increase since 2022) report recent occurrences of being unable to pay for household care, being unable to pay for prescribed medicine and feeling that they would not have access to affordable quality care if needed today.
Struggles with healthcare affordability are growing fastest among Black and Hispanic households and among lower-income households.
