Latest news with #WestHealthPolicyCenter
Boston Globe
02-04-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
More Americans can't afford medical care, poll finds
"The extent to which that has broadened and expanded really exposes how vulnerable these classes of individuals are," Dan Witters, a senior researcher at Gallup, said. Advertisement White adults and high earners said they experienced no real change in their ability to pay. According to the survey, 8 percent of white adults reported being unable to afford care, the same share as in 2021. Higher premiums, the added cost of going to the doctor and the recent rollback in Medicaid coverage have all contributed to making it harder for people to afford care. Health care costs continue to rise, and dramatic cuts to Medicaid and the elimination of tax subsidies that lower the cost of Obamacare plans, as discussed by the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers, will likely exacerbate the problem, according to experts. Advertisement "It puts further pressure on a system that already has a financial toxicity that is pervasive," said Tim Lash, president of the West Health Policy Center. Many families are already struggling with medical debt, he said. Unlike doing without a new blender, people who forgo care can suffer or die, he said. While there have been significant improvements in the past 15 years under the Affordable Care Act, which significantly expanded Medicaid, "we're not a country where health care is affordable," said Sara R. Collins, a health economist who is vice president for health care coverage and access for the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund. Even when people have insurance, many do not have sufficient coverage to pay their medical bills. If the hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts go through that Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration are considering, the number of people who will not able to afford care is likely to climb, she said, as millions of people lose their coverage or replace it with less generous plans. "We're getting back to levels that existed before the Affordable Care Act," she said. This article originally appeared in .
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
More Americans than ever can't afford healthcare. prescriptions, study says
The inability to pay for health care has reached a new high in the United States, a new study says. More than one-third of Americans -- an estimated 91 million people -- say they couldn't afford to access quality health care if they needed it today, according to the latest West Health-Gallup Healthcare Affordability Index. "The rising trajectory in the inability to pay for healthcare is a disturbing trend that is likely to continue and even accelerate," said Tim Lash, president of West Health Policy Center, part of a group of nonprofit organizations focused on healthcare and aging. "Policy action at both the state and federal level is urgently needed, or even more Americans will have to go without treatment or be forced to make painful tradeoffs between paying for medical care or paying for other necessities," Lash continued in a news release. "The human and economic costs are enormous." The Healthcare Affordability Index has been tracking health care access in the U.S. since 2021, researchers said. Its latest results show that 35% of Americans could not access quality health care if they need it. Rates were even higher among Black Americans (46%) and Hispanic Americans (52%), results show. Access to health care remained stable among wealthier Americans, but declined significantly among lower-income households. About two-thirds (64%) of people earning less than $24,000 said they can't afford health care, an 11-point increase from 2023, results show. Likewise, 57% of households with an annual income between $24,000 and $48,000 said they struggle to afford health care, up 12 points from 2023. In all, about half (51%) of Americans are considered "cost secure," in that they have faced no recent difficulty affording either health care or prescriptions, researchers found. It's the lowest level observed since the index started in 2021. Hispanic Americans have experienced the greatest declines in such security, with 34% saying they have no problem affording health care - down 17 points from 2021. Black Americans experienced a 13-point drop in health care security, with 41% now saying they don't struggle with health care bills. Overall, about 11% of Americans, about 29 million people, are classified as "cost desperate" - meaning they are unable to afford either health care or prescriptions. "Healthcare affordability and access continue to erode nationally, and this issue is especially acute among Black, Hispanic, and lower-income adults," Dan Witters, a senior researcher at Gallup, said in a news release. "White adults and those in higher-income households, in contrast, remain largely insulated from these worsening trends," Witters added. "Among these groups, this is the widest gap in access to care we have recorded thus far, with many Americans experiencing increased hardship year over year." The survey was conducted online and by mail between Nov. 18 and Dec. 27 among 6,296 people 18 and older. Respondents were from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The margin of error for the full sample is plus or minus 1.6 percentage points. More information KFF has more on Americans' struggle with health care costs. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
New York Times
02-04-2025
- Health
- New York Times
More Americans Can't Afford Medical Care, Poll Finds
It's not just the high price of eggs or the rising cost of housing that is contributing to Americans' unhappiness over the cost of living. Health care remains stubbornly unaffordable for millions of people, according to a new survey released Wednesday that underscores the struggle many people have in paying for a doctor's visit or a prescription drug — even before any talk of cutting government coverage. In the survey, 11 percent of people said they could not afford medication and care within the past three months, the highest level in the four years the survey has been conducted. More than a third of those surveyed, representing some 91 million adults, said if they were to need medical care, they would not be able to pay for it. The survey, conducted from mid-November to late December 2024 by West Health and Gallup, also showed widening disparities for Black and Hispanic adults and for those making the least amount of money. A quarter of those with an annual household income of less than $24,000 said they could not afford or access care within the past three months. 'The extent to which that has broadened and expanded really exposes how vulnerable these classes of individuals are,' Dan Witters, a senior researcher at Gallup, said. White adults and high earners said they experienced no real change in their ability to pay. Eight percent of white adults reported being unable to afford care, the same share as in 2021, according to the survey. Higher premiums, the added cost of going to the doctor and the recent rollback in Medicaid coverage have all contributed to making it harder for people to afford care. Health care costs continue to rise, and dramatic cuts to Medicaid and the elimination of tax subsidies that lower the cost of Obamacare plans, as discussed by the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers, will likely exacerbate the problem, according to experts. 'It puts further pressure on a system that already has a financial toxicity that is pervasive, ' said Tim Lash, president of the West Health Policy Center. Many families are already struggling with medical debt, he said. Unlike doing without a new blender, people who forgo care can suffer or die, he said. While there have been significant improvements in the past 15 years under the Affordable Care Act, which significantly expanded Medicaid, 'we're not a country where health care is affordable,' said Sara R. Collins, a health economist who is vice president for health care coverage and access for the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund. Even when people have insurance, many do not have sufficient coverage to pay their medical bills. If the hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts go through that Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration are considering, the number of people who will not able to afford care is likely to climb, she said, as millions of people lose their coverage or replace it with less generous plans. 'We're getting back to levels that existed before the Affordable Care Act,' she said.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
31 million Americans borrowed money for health care last year: Poll
More than 31 million Americans borrowed money last year to pay for health care, a new survey found. Those Americans borrowed about $74 billion, despite most of them have some form of health insurance, the West Health-Gallup survey found. Most of the borrowers were ages 18-29, 30-39 and 40-49. Just two percent of Americans who borrowed were over 65 years old. 'Too many Americans are racking up medical debt whether they have health insurance or not,' Tim Lash, West Health Policy Center president, said in a statement. 'A high-priced healthcare system that requires Americans to take out loans or make painful tradeoffs just to stay healthy is in desperate need of policy reform or things will get even worse.' The survey found that Black and Hispanic Americans were 'significantly' more likely to have borrowed than white adults. Twenty-three percent of Black respondents said they borrowed for health care over the last year, while 16 percent of Hispanic adults borrowed. Just 9 percent of white adults borrowed funds for healthcare. Most Americans, 58 percent, say they are at least somewhat concerned that a major health event will put them in debt. The survey noted that the concerns span income levels. 'It is clear that high healthcare costs continue to burden the American people, and financial insecurity around care is not limited to any one demographic,' Dan Witters, director of wellbeing research at Gallup, said in a statement. The West Health-Gallup survey was conducted Nov. 11-18, 2024, among 3,583 respondents and has a margin of error of 2.1 percentage points. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
05-03-2025
- Health
- The Hill
31 million Americans borrowed money for health care last year: Poll
More than 31 million Americans borrowed money last year to pay for health care, a new survey found. Those Americans borrowed about $74 billion, despite most of them have some form of health insurance, the West Health-Gallup survey found. Most of the borrowers were ages 18-29, 30-39 and 40-49. Just two percent of Americans who borrowed were over 65 years old. 'Too many Americans are racking up medical debt whether they have health insurance or not,' Tim Lash, West Health Policy Center president, said in a statement. 'A high-priced healthcare system that requires Americans to take out loans or make painful tradeoffs just to stay healthy is in desperate need of policy reform or things will get even worse.' The survey found that Black and Hispanic Americans were 'significantly' more likely to have borrowed than white adults. Twenty-three percent of Black respondents said they borrowed for health care over the last year, while 16 percent of Hispanic adults borrowed. Just 9 percent of white adults borrowed funds for healthcare. Most Americans, 58 percent, say they are at least somewhat concerned that a major health event will put them in debt. The survey noted that the concerns span income levels. 'It is clear that high healthcare costs continue to burden the American people, and financial insecurity around care is not limited to any one demographic,' Dan Witters, director of wellbeing research at Gallup, said in a statement. The West Health-Gallup survey was conducted Nov. 11-18, 2024, among 3,583 respondents and has a margin of error of 2.1 percentage points.
