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Survey finds premiums and out-of-pocket costs top US health care problem
In a Commonwealth Fund poll of 25,858 adults, 42.0% cited high premiums and 36.0% flagged high out-of-pocket costs, with affordability concerns strongest among people with employer, individual, marketplace coverage and the uninsured.
A new Commonwealth Fund survey finds that Americans across party lines agree on the core problem in US health care: high insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs. According to the poll, three in four adults, or 78.0%, named affordability as the most important issue, with 42.0% pointing to high premium costs and 36.0% to high out-of-pocket costs. The survey was conducted by SSRS from May 4 through May 26 and includes responses from 25,858 US adults ages 19 and older. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 0.8 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, and the outlet reports there was no meaningful partisan divide on those top concerns, with Republicans, Democrats, and Independents selecting premiums or out-of-pocket costs ahead of issues such as provider access, care quality, and coverage gaps. Affordability concerns are reported to be most concentrated among people with employer-sponsored coverage, individual or marketplace coverage, and the uninsured, where more than 80.0% cited premium or out-of-pocket costs. Even among people with Medicare, premiums remained the top concern. The survey also aligns with a documented cost trajectory. Mercer data cited by Insurance Business shows average employer-sponsored health insurance cost reached $17,496 per employee in 2025, up 6.0% from the prior year, and is projected to exceed $18,500 per employee in 2026. Mercer also found that nearly half of large employers expect plan design changes next year that raise employees' out-of-pocket costs, including higher deductibles and copayments.