October 21, 2025
Most see the cost of health care as a source of at least some stress in their lives. More than half of the public is “extremely” or “very” concerned about their health care costs increasing over the next year, and about 4 in 10 are similarly concerned about not being able to pay for necessary health care or medication, not being able to access crucial health care, or having a lack a health insurance.
While this concern is widespread regardless of health insurance status or its source, women tend to express more concern regarding health care than men.
When it comes to solutions for these concerns, many look to the government. Six in 10 say it is “the responsibility of the federal government to make sure that all Americans have health care coverage.”
Those receiving Medicaid benefits tend to say the federal government should shoulder the burden more than adults with no health insurance or those receiving other types of health insurance. Democrats are more likely than independents or Republicans to hold this perspective, as are independents compared with Republicans. Women are also more likely to say health care coverage is a federal responsibility, albeit by a smaller margin.
The current government shutdown is largely centered around a deadlock in Congress around health care subsidies. Many have not tuned into the specifics of the dispute, though. Forty-two percent of adults do not have an opinion about extending tax credits to those who purchase health care through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. However, more favor extending the health care subsidies than oppose them (43% vs 12%).
Much of the public is unhappy with President Trump’s management of health care. It remains an issue where he gets poor marks with only 31% approving of his performance. In comparison, 47% approve of how Trump is handling the conflict in the Middle East, 42% with how he is dealing with immigration, and 36% with his management of the economy.
In line with this, the public tends to have more trust in the Democratic Party when it comes to health care: 38% say they trust Democrats to handle the issue better, compared with 25% who trust Republicans. Still, the public has more trust in the Republican Party than the Democrats to handle other issues, including crime (39% vs 19%) and the economy (36% vs 25%).
Most adults say the economy, health care, crime, immigration, and gun policy are “extremely” or “very” important. Close to half say the same about abortion and climate change. One in five care deeply about transgender issues.
Democrats tend to prioritize health care, abortion, climate change, transgender issues, and gun policy more than Republicans. Republicans are more likely to say crime and immigration are important.
Hispanic adults are more likely than white adults or Black adults to say immigration is extremely or very important. Hispanic adults are also more likely to prioritize climate change than white adults. More Black adults than white adults say crime and gun policy are important. The importance of other issues is similar between different racial and ethnic groups.
More women than men prioritize abortion (58% vs. 39%), health care (85% vs. 77%), and climate change (49% vs. 36%). Adults 60 or older are more likely than adults younger than 30 to say crime (80% vs. 64%), health care (89% vs. 72%), and immigration (70% vs. 45%) are important.
On a list of policy proposals, most adults favor requiring transgender children and teenagers to only compete on sports teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth and not the gender they identify with. Around 4 in 10 favor deporting all immigrants living in the U.S. illegally while another 3 in 10 oppose it. Nearly half of adults oppose imposing a tariff, also known as an import tax, on all goods brought into the United States from other countries.
Republicans are more likely than Democrats to favor each of the policies.
Hispanic adults are more likely than white adults or Black adults to oppose deporting all immigrants living in the United States illegally.
Adults 60 or older are more likely than adults under 30 say the United States should deport all immigrants living in the country illegally (55% vs. 38%).
The nationwide poll was conducted October 9-13, 2025 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,289 adults. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 3.8 percentage points. Hispanic adults were sampled at a higher rate than their proportion of the population for reasons of analysis. The overall margin of sampling error for the 378 interviews completed with Hispanic respondents is +/- 6.9 percentage points.
Suggested Citation: AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. “Many concerned the cost of health care will keep climbing.” (October 2025). https://apnorc.org/projects/many-concerned-the-cost-of-health-care-will-keep-climbing/
