Health access concerns up

Editor's Note

Almost half of Americans shared concerns that they won’t be able to afford necessary healthcare in the coming year, and 20% of Americans reported that they or someone they live with couldn’t pay for prescription medications, according to findings from the State of the States 2025: Insights on Healthcare in America report discussed in a November 17 Gallup article.

The report offers a look at how Americans experience healthcare in terms of cost, quality and access across all 50 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.). Overall, data from this the latest annual report showed significant differences in care depending on where survey respondents live in the US. For example, people living in Iowa and Massachusetts showed among the highest scores for overall care experience, while those living in Alaska, Arkansas and Texas ranked their states among the lowest for health care access, quality, and cost.

Access to care was a hindrance overall for surveyed Americans with a fourth of respondents noting they experienced delayed or prevented care due to care access limitations. Long wait times for appointments was one cause for delayed care noted.

Delayed or prevented access to care were experienced less in the top-rated states, per the article. Survey respondents living in the 10 top-ranked states were less likely than those in the 10 bottom-ranked to go without recommended care or prescriptions due to cost. Americans in the top-ranked states were also more likely to report receiving high-quality, proactive care from their providers and to experience fewer barriers to accessing healthcare services.