Paying for healthcare requires tough choices for a sizable minority of Americans aged 65 and older. Nearly two in three adults in this age group indicate that healthcare costs are a major (15%) or a minor (51%) financial burden. These costs are also associated with stress, which can make health issues even worse: Over four in 10 adults aged 65+ (42%) report that healthcare costs cause stress in their daily lives.

The West Health-Gallup study quantifies the extent to which older Americans are struggling to cover basic needs due to rising healthcare costs. In the past year, about one in four adults aged 65 and older, approximately 13 million people in this age group, cut back on at least one basic need to pay for healthcare. This group includes 9% who reduced spending on food, 13% who decreased spending on over-the-counter drugs, 6% who cut back on utilities and 19% on clothing.

Arthur Falconer, 78, from New Mexico, is one older American who has experienced this stress and the tradeoffs and explains his situation: "When I go to see a doctor, it costs $20, [which] may not seem like much to everybody, but my wife and I are retired, and we have a grand total of $126 left a month for gas, emergencies and food. We end up having to get food at the church food banks."

Financial Burden, Stress, Sacrifice More Prevalent for Adults Aged 50-64

More than seven in 10 adults aged 50-64 cite healthcare costs as at least a minor financial burden (24% major, 48% minor), and a majority in this age group (52%) say healthcare costs cause stress in their daily lives.

When it comes to covering basic needs to pay for healthcare, more Americans aged 50-64 face hardship. Three in 10 in this age group forgo at least one basic need to cover the costs of care. Specifically, 14% reduce spending on food, 15% cut back on over-the-counter drugs, and 26% buy less clothing. Similar to the situation for adults aged 65 and older, 8% of those aged 50-64 reduce spending on utilities to pay for healthcare.

Dawn Meritt, who is 59 years old and from Washington State, discusses the tradeoffs she has had to make: "Financially, I have to juggle and try to figure out where I can get money [for healthcare costs], so I take it from my electrical bill or my grocery bill … this winter I couldn't turn on my furnace because I couldn't afford it."

The results also highlight gender and racial differences in terms of the need to cut back on basic needs to pay for healthcare. For example, women aged 65 and older are more likely than men 65 and older to say they have cut back on clothing (22% vs. 15%, respectively), over-the-counter drugs (15% vs. 10%) and food (11% vs. 7%). Among those aged 50-64, 28% of women report reducing spending on clothing, compared with 23% of men.

Black Americans aged 50-64 are more likely than White Americans to report forgoing at least one basic need asked about in the survey (38% to 29%, respectively). Black Americans aged 50-64 are more than twice as likely as White Americans to say they cut back on utilities (15% vs. 7%). Black adults in this age group are also more likely than White adults to have reduced spending on clothing (31% vs. 24%) and over-the-counter drugs (19% vs. 13%).

The U.S. Census estimates that the aged 65 and older population will reach 77 million people by 2034, rising from about 52 million today. As sizable numbers of Americans 65 and older face tangible tradeoffs to pay for healthcare, many more Americans in the next decade will incur health and financial consequences because of high costs.

With adults aged 50-64 already sacrificing to a greater degree than their older counterparts, there will certainly be many older adults needing medical care because of the health outcomes of delaying or skipping treatment. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, healthcare costs in the United States remain higher than those of other developed countries, but paying more for care is not resulting in better health outcomes.

Policymakers urgently need to grapple with how to improve efficiency and reduce costs of healthcare and prescription drugs in the United States, so Americans do not need to sacrifice basic needs to pay for healthcare or medicine -- or to avoid care entirely because it is too expensive.

There is A Better Way To Fight The High Cost Of Health Care