Dive Brief:
- Four in 10 privately insured adults reported higher healthcare costs in the past year, according to a new survey released Monday by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. Among those, roughly a third had trouble covering their bills, and a quarter reduced their retirement contributions.
- Some also reported delaying or avoiding care, citing cost as the top reason, the survey found.
- “Even among people with private coverage, rising health care costs are affecting household budgets in very real ways,” said Paul Fronstin, director of health benefits research, EBRI. “When higher health care costs lead people to cut spending, struggle with bills or reduce retirement contributions, it highlights how affordability shapes both access to care and longer-term financial security.”
Dive Insight:
Most adults reported having employment-based insurance; six in 10 said they were covered through their job, the survey found.
However, for some, that coverage could be at risk amid rising costs. A January EBRI report found that while the overall share of employers providing coverage climbed slightly in 2024, those gains were limited to large employers; companies with fewer than 100 workers saw a decline in sponsorship.
Mercer, meanwhile, in November predicted that employers and workers alike would face a “healthcare affordability crunch” as costs continue to rise. Part of the increase, Mercer said, can be tied to growth in prescription drug spending, including for pricey GLP-1 weight-loss medications.
Of the more than 2,000 adults surveyed for the recent EBRI report, most said GLP-1s should be covered by insurance, yet roughly half weren’t sure if their plan did. Among the plans that did provide coverage, some only did so for diabetes, some only covered obesity, and some covered both, workers said.
Roughly a third of those surveyed said they had stopped taking a GLP-1 medication, the survey found. Four in 10 cited cost as their reason, while about 1 in 7 pointed to a lack of coverage for the medication.