Bills are high – but health care costs now the most worrying issue for Americans

Grocery bills have soared and the cost of living is steadily rising, but a new poll shows that one financial issue worries Americans more than any other.

Health care tops the public’s economic anxieties in 2026, according to the policy organization KFF Health.

Around two-thirds of the more than 1,400 adults who responded to the survey earlier this month say they worry about paying for health insurance and out-of-pocket health care costs.

About a third reported being “very worried” about their ability to afford health care for themselves and their families.

That’s compared to just under a quarter who said they were concerned about affording food and groceries, rent or mortgage, monthly utility bills, gas and transportation.

2026 political implications

The concerns are shared by everyone, regardless of political affiliation and it is likely to impact the midterm elections this fall, KFF pollster Ashley Kirzinger told The Washington Post.

“Health care is normally thought of as a second-tier issue, but this year it seems that health care affordability is going to move voters,” she said. “The country is looking for someone to take on health care costs.”

More than four in 10 said the issue would have a major impact on their vote.

The human toll of unaffordable care

Health care has long been a prevalent concern, but not necessarily the top.

The poll’s results reflect recent data showing that health care costs are on the rise for most Americans.

Related spending rose by 7.5 percent between 2022 and 2023 and by 7.2 percent between 2023 and 2024, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Notably, Affordable Care Act tax credits that helped millions of Americans pay for health insurance expired last month and there were federal funding cuts for Medicaid in July 2025. The program supports nearly 70 million people.

This year, 56 percent of the KFF poll’s respondents say they believe health care costs will become even less affordable, and one in five say their health care costs have increased more quickly than food or utilities.

For households that are already stretched thin, this could lead to severe consequences, and medical debt is one of the leading causes of personal bankruptcy in the U.S.

“An estimated 60 percent to 65 percent of personal bankruptcies are tied to unpaid medical bills, and it’s also a cause for reduced credit ratings,” Dr. Liz Fowler, a Distinguished Scholar on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, explained in a Thursday statement.

Deadly consequences

Although that’s not the worst-case scenario.

An estimated 27 million Americans do not have health insurance, and about 20 percent of people in the U.S. will experience a major illness or medical expenditure in any given year, which can lead people to skip or delay care, experiencing worse health outcomes, Dr. Gerard Anderson, a professor in Health Policy and Management at Johns Hopkins, said.

Some 68,000 Americans die each year because they lack access to the health care they desperately need.