Poll Shows Healthcare Costs Force Millions of Americans to Cut Spending, Delay Major Life Decisions
Americans across income levels are cutting back on daily expenses and delaying major life decisions to keep up with rising healthcare costs, according to new polling from the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America.
In a survey of nearly 20,000 U.S. adults conducted from June through August 2025, about one-third said they had made at least one trade-off in their daily living expenses to afford healthcare. Those cutbacks include reducing utility use, buying less food, skipping or delaying care, stretching out prescription drugs, or borrowing money to pay medical bills.
The strain is sharpest among people without health insurance: 62% reported making at least one sacrifice, including 32% who borrowed money and 24% who prolonged their medications. Even among insured Americans, nearly three in 10 said they had to make at least one financial sacrifice for healthcare.
More than half of adults in households earning under $24,000 per year reported making at least one trade-off to pay for care. The rate was 47% for those earning $24,000 to under $48,000. About 25% of adults in households making $90,000 to under $120,000 reported trade-offs, as did 11% of those earning $240,000 or more, or about 1.6 million adults.
People in poor or fair health were more likely to report financial sacrifices than those who said they were in better health, suggesting those who rely most on the healthcare system are also the most financially vulnerable. State-level results released in 2025 showed residents in states that rank worst on healthcare costs were far more likely to stretch prescriptions or borrow money than those in the best-ranked states.
A separate nationally representative survey of 5,660 adults conducted from October to December 2025 found that healthcare costs are not only changing day-to-day spending, but also slowing major life milestones. Nearly one in 10 adults said they had postponed retirement in the past four years because of healthcare costs.
Eighteen percent reported delaying a job change, 14% put off buying a new home, and 6% postponed growing their family due to medical expenses. About half of adults in households earning between $48,000 and $180,000 said they delayed at least one major decision for this reason.
Higher-income households were not immune. One-third of adults in homes earning $180,000 to under $240,000 and one in four in homes earning at least $240,000 reported delaying life events because of healthcare costs.
