April 2, 2025

Eleven percent of US adults are unable to afford or access quality healthcare, according to new research by Gallup and West Health.

According to Gallup (“In U.S., Inability to Pay for Care, Medicine Hits New High,” April 2, 2025, last accessed April 2, 2025):

“The most notable increases since 2021 have occurred among Hispanic adults (up eight percentage points to 18%), Black adults (up five points to 14%,) and the lowest-income households, earning under $24,000 per year (up 11 points to 25%). Meanwhile, there has been no meaningful change in the proportion of White adults or middle- to high-income earners facing the same level of struggle. As a result, disparities in access to healthcare based on race, ethnicity and income are also at their highest point since surveying began.”

Gallup also notes:

“While the Cost Desperate category has reached its highest level yet, the percentage of adults classified as Cost Secure — able to access and afford quality healthcare has reached its lowest level, with only about half of Americans (51%) falling into this category.

“The demographic groups who saw the biggest drops are Hispanic adults (down 17 points to 34%) and Black adults (down 13 points to 41%). Meanwhile, the percentage of White adults categorized as Cost Secure (58%) is consistent with 2021 levels, providing further indication of the widening of the race/ethnicity gap in access to high-quality affordable healthcare.”

The research also found that fewer Americans can access affordable, quality care when needed:

“One of the three metrics that constitute the Affordability Index is being able to access affordable, quality care when needed. More than one-third of Americans (35%) report that they are unable to access quality, affordable healthcare, four points higher than in 2023 and a new high since 2021.

“While households earning under $48,000 annually have always reported more difficulty accessing affordable healthcare, the difficulty has worsened considerably in the past year, climbing by 11 points (to 64%) among those in households earning under $24,000 and 12 points (to 57%) among those in households earning $24,000 to less than $48,000.”

World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and sixteen other OECD member nations.

Page last updated April 2, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.