Americans are feeling the squeeze from rising health care costs, and they are already doing without. One-third of Americans — an estimated 82 million people — say they are making sacrifices, including skipping meals or driving less, to pay for care, according to a new survey released on Thursday.
In the survey, 15 percent of individuals said they had borrowed money in the last year to pay for medical expenses, while another 11 percent said they had skipped a meal. Those without insurance reported even more trade-offs.
The survey was conducted from June through August 2025 by the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America, a partnership between Gallup and West Health, a group of nonprofits focused on health care costs.
“It is impacting people every day in their decisions,” Tim Lash, president of the West Health Policy Center, said. “It is getting worse.”
In the survey, people also said they had delayed making major changes to their lives, like having a child or retiring, in the last four years because of health care costs. About 29 percent said they had postponed a vacation, while 26 percent said they had put off surgery or another medical treatment.
A poll by the same groups in late 2024 found an increasing number of Americans believed they would not be able to afford care if they needed it. At the time, the share of adults reporting that they had recently been unable to pay for a medicine and treatment was about 11 percent, the highest level in four years.
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A Third of Americans Have Cut Spending or Borrowed Money for Health Care
