WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Twannetta Weaver felt like she made the responsible choice when she enrolled in a high-deductible health insurance plan through her employer, an option that avoided high premiums and allowed her to save for retirement.
Then, in 2025, she slipped a disk in her back, requiring medication and physical therapy. Suddenly, the medical bills were so overwhelming that Weaver, an adult learner working toward a leadership degree on the side, had to delay graduation by a year.
鈥淚 had to start calculating, am I going to be able to afford to pay my tuition, as well as my books, as well as my living expenses, and continue to care for my family?鈥� the 43-year-old in Sanford, Florida, said in an interview. 鈥淚t makes you feel powerless as a consumer.鈥�
Weaver鈥檚 experience is familiar to a growing number of Americans, according to new data from the , which shows only about half of U.S. adults could afford their healthcare and had access to quality care last year. Concerns about affording healthcare in the year ahead were at a record high since tracking began in 2021, signaling that many were feeling anxious about rising healthcare costs as 2025 ended.
The new findings published Thursday draw on a survey conducted from October to December 2025 鈥� before major recent changes to health policy, like Congress鈥� Medicaid cuts or its decision not to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies, took effect. It demonstrates how the country’s fraught healthcare system is increasingly straining Americans at a time when inflation is driving high costs and affordability concerns are top of mind as midterm elections approach.
Americans are worried they won鈥檛 be able to pay for care
The index used the responses from multiple questions to place Americans into three categories depending on their access to quality care and ability to pay for care and medicine. In the new data, 49% of U.S. adults were considered 鈥渃ost secure,鈥� meaning that they had access both to high-quality, affordable care and they had recently been able to afford the care and medicine they needed. In 2021, when the measurement began, 56% of U.S. adults were 鈥渃ost secure.鈥� That rose to 61% in 2022 but has been falling ever since.
In the survey, about three-quarters of U.S. adults said healthcare costs were a 鈥渕ajor鈥� or 鈥渕inor鈥� financial burden for them and their family. Only about 3 in 10 said they鈥檙e not a burden.
Meanwhile, about half of respondents were 鈥渆xtremely concerned鈥� or 鈥渃oncerned鈥� that their household would be unable to pay for needed healthcare services in 2026, up from 42% who said that in 2022.
Inger Perez, 59, from Encino, Texas, is one of those worried Americans. She has a family history of diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer. She said she did blood work recently, and while she wants to know the results, she鈥檚 bracing herself for what they could show.
鈥淚 literally was crying last night because I鈥檓 nervous about what I鈥檓 going to find out and how much care that is and how much money that is,鈥� she said in an interview. 鈥淚鈥檓 terrified that I鈥檒l start a plan of treatment but won鈥檛 be able to afford to keep up with it.鈥�
More than half of survey respondents said the cost of healthcare contributes 鈥渁 lot鈥� or 鈥渟ome鈥� to stress to their daily lives. That鈥檚 compared to about 3 in 10 who said these costs contribute 鈥渧ery little stress鈥� and about 2 in 10 who said they contribute 鈥渘o stress at all.鈥�
Perez said she is also frustrated by the quality of the care she receives, in part because she lives in a rural area about an hour from a doctor鈥檚 office. To fit her budget, she had to choose a lower-cost Affordable Care Act marketplace plan with a limited network of covered providers, creating another obstacle to finding good care.
Healthcare affordability is declining across demographics
Younger adults, older adults and women were among several groups of Americans that saw drops in healthcare affordability and access in 2025, according to the findings.
Among Americans under 30, only about one-third were categorized as 鈥渃ost secure,鈥� down from 46% in 2021. Women were already less likely to be 鈥渃ost secure鈥� than men, but the gap widened last year. About 57% of men were 鈥渃ost secure鈥� in the 2025 survey 鈥� down from a high of 67% in 2022 鈥� compared to 42% of women.
Older Americans, most of whom are covered by the government’s Medicare health insurance program, are generally more likely to be 鈥渃ost secure.鈥� However, this group saw meaningful decreases as well, falling from 73% in 2021 to 61% in 2025.
Patients make sacrifices to pay the bills
Several survey respondents who talked to The Associated Press discussed things they have had to give up to pay their health bills.
About 2 in 10 U.S. adults in the 2025 poll said there had been a time in the prior three months when they or a member of their household was unable to pay for medicine or drugs that a doctor had prescribed because of costs. About 3 in 10 said they or someone in their household did not seek treatment for a health problem because of the expense.
One dad in Arizona, 55-year-old Xavier Chapa, said his 50-year-old wife has been fighting her insurance company over a preventive colonoscopy that her doctor had recommended.
He said the company verbally assured her it would be covered, but didn鈥檛 honor that after the procedure was completed.
The looming $3,000 bill means they’ve had to cut back their 8-year-old son鈥檚 summer camp schedule from full-day to half-day programs, along with trimming their budget elsewhere.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot to deal with,鈥� said Chapa, who moved back to the U.S. from Europe three years ago. 鈥淲hat point does it serve if you’re living in this country and having to pay such a high price and you can’t get some of the basic things?”
___
Swenson reported from New York.
___
The West Health-Gallup Center poll of 5,660 adults was conducted Oct. 27-Dec. 22, 2025 using a sample drawn from Gallup’s probability-based Gallup Panel. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
