The West Health-Gallup survey finds almost half of adults say they’re worried they won’t be able to afford health care in 2026.
Americans are going into 2026 more anxious about health care costs than at any other point in recent years, a new West Health-Gallup survey finds.
Almost half of adults, 47%, say they’re worried they won’t be able to afford health care next year — the highest level since West Health and Gallup began tracking in 2021, the survey published Tuesday found.
Concerns about prescription drug costs have climbed steadily, the survey found — rising from 30% in 2021 to 37% in 2025, also the highest level recorded. And the share of adults who say health care costs cause “a lot of stress” in their daily lives has nearly doubled since 2022, rising from 8% to 15%. The survey also found that about 1 in 3 adults reported delaying or skipping medical care over the last year because they couldn’t afford it.
I will admit I never looked into it, but I always saw it as a question when I did my taxes. It was never something I thought of since it’s always been available to me. I did just look and I live in a state where they collect shared responsibility payment (SRP) and they let me calculate it which came to me owing $3375 for the year if I did say no. Overall thats not a bad alternative at $281 a month, but it feels to much like a complete waste by throwing it away on nothing.