The recent passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), with its deep cuts to Medicaid and stricter work requirements, has heightened concerns about healthcare access for American families. A new Compass Poll by Embold Research of 1,736 registered voters, fielded from July 1-7, 2025, examined the barriers Americans currently face getting healthcare and their expectations about how Medicaid cuts will affect their families and communities. The results reveal notable disparities in healthcare access that could widen as Medicaid cuts take effect.

Barriers to Care: Common but Unevenly Experienced: 

Nearly 30% of Americans indicated that they faced barriers obtaining healthcare for themselves or their families in the past year, with difficulties concentrated among certain demographic groups. Americans earning less than $50,000 were nearly twice as likely (35%) to report being unable to get needed medical care in the past year as those earning $150,000 or more (18%).

There are other significant disparities in healthcare access across gender and race/ethnicity. Women are more likely than men to report being unable to get needed medical care, with 32% of women saying they went without care for themselves or their family in the past year compared to 23% of men. Racial and ethnic disparities in access are also pronounced, with 35% of Black voters and 32% of Hispanic voters indicating they were unable to get needed care in the past year, compared to 26% of White voters.

Understanding the Barriers: Why Americans Go Without Care: 

The cost of healthcare presents a serious barrier to access, with one in three Americans reporting they were unable to afford the cost of a medical visit or medication in the past year. Nearly half (47%) of voters earning less than $50,000 and 35% of those earning $50,000-$99,999 per year report being unable to afford the cost of a medical visit or medication in the past year, compared to just 14% of those earning more than $150,000. Cost barriers also fall disproportionately on people of color, with 45% of Black voters and 43% of Hispanic voters indicating they are unable to afford needed care, compared to 32% of White voters.

Facing high costs, many Americans have sought to offset the high cost of prescription medications by purchasing them outside of their insurance plans, including through coupon services like GoodRx (32%), by paying the cash price directly (14%), and via members-club subscription services like Costco, Walmart, or CostPlusDrugs (9%).

Lengthy waits and scheduling challenges further challenge Americans. Over half of voters (53%) report experiencing long waits to get appointments and 37% report experiencing long waits when they finally get into the office or clinic. Americans encountered a range of other obstacles in the past year, including appointment hours that don’t align with their schedules (27%), not being able to take time off work to see a doctor (19%), dealing with confusing medical forms or information (19%), and encountering frustrating online portals that make scheduling appointments difficult (19%). For rural Americans, distance adds another barrier to care, with 20% reporting that distance to the nearest hospital or clinic has made receiving healthcare challenging.

One in ten Americans, including nearly one in four Black voters, report being treated unfairly due to their race, gender, or other reasons when seeking healthcare.

Americans Expect Medicaid Cuts to Exacerbate Healthcare Barriers:  
Many Americans expect cuts to Medicaid to hit close to home, with nearly half (48%) of voters expecting negative impacts on their families and over a quarter expecting to be severely affected. Very few voters expect to benefit personally from Medicaid cuts, while 42% expect to be minimally impacted. More than 6 in 10 voters earning less than $50,000 (62%) expect to be harmed by Medicaid cuts, including 41% who expect to be very negatively affected. Concerns about Medicaid cuts also differ by race and ethnicity, with Black voters (64%) most likely to expect negative impacts, followed by Hispanic (51%) and AAPI voters (50%), compared to 45% of White voters.

While not all voters expect to be personally affected, a majority (68%) believe their communities would suffer negative impacts from Medicaid cuts, with nearly half (49%) anticipating very negative impacts. Few voters expect their communities to be spared from the consequences of Medicaid cuts.

When it comes to the potential impacts of Medicaid cuts, voters are most concerned about people losing access to health coverage, especially children, seniors, and people with disabilities.

Americans face many barriers to accessing healthcare, with costs serving as one of the biggest obstacles. Addressing the high cost of healthcare and prescription drugs ranks as one of the three most important issues for voters, behind only government corruption and inflation.

Polling was conducted online by Embold Research using Dynamic Online Sampling to attain a representative sample of likely 2026 voters nationwide. The survey was fielded July 1–7, 2025, with a sample of 1,736 registered voters and a modeled margin of error of ±2.8%. Post-stratification was performed on age, gender, race/ethnicity, education, region, and 2024 presidential vote. 

Note: This survey was fielded July 1-7, 2025, during the period when the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA) was passed by the Senate (July 1), the House (July 3), and signed into law by President Trump (July 4). Since the legislation was still under consideration when the survey began, respondents were asked about potential cuts to Medicaid rather than enacted policies.