Texans Skip Care Over Costs, Poll Finds

Six in 10 Texas adults postponed or skipped medical, mental health, or dental care in 2025 because of rising costs, according to a new poll.

Updated on Nov. 13, 2026 in Healthcare

Live Poll

Have rising costs made you skip or delay needed medical care?

Episcopal Health Foundation released its eighth annual Texas poll on healthcare affordability, finding that six in 10 Texas adults skipped or postponed checkups, treatments, or dental appointments in 2025 due to increased costs. The foundation also launched the Texas Health Tracking Poll website with results from this year and prior years.

Why it matters

The findings show cost barriers reaching across routine and specialty care in Texas, the state where the poll respondents live. The new website makes multi-year data on healthcare, nutrition, and chronic conditions available to anyone working to improve health across the state.

Six in 10 Texas adults skipped or postponed medical, mental health, or dental care in 2025 due to costs, and food-insecure people are four-and-a-half times more likely to struggle with medical bills. The poll does not report the margin of error or the exact share of diabetes patients who could not afford balanced meals.

The players

Episcopal Health Foundation

Episcopal Health Foundation is a Texas-based philanthropic organization that funds research and advocacy on health access and affordability.

The details

The poll is the eighth annual study by Episcopal Health Foundation on affordable healthcare in Texas. Results from this year and previous years were entered into the Texas Health Tracking Poll website, which includes data on nonmedical health factors, SNAP and food insecurity, and maternal and chronic health.

2025: Texans skipped or postponed care because of costs.
November 12, 2026: Poll results and the Texas Health Tracking Poll website were published.

Health Landscape

The Texas Health Tracking Poll is in its eighth annual edition, extending a multi-year record of how cost pressures affect Texans' use of care. The new website lets researchers and advocates compare results across those years alongside food insecurity and chronic disease data.

Texans facing cost barriers may delay checkups, treatments, or dental visits that prevent larger health problems later. Anyone who has trouble paying medical bills should ask providers about cost options before postponing care.

The takeaway

Cost is already changing when Texans seek care, so preventive visits and bill concerns deserve early conversations with providers. Food security and medical affordability are closely linked, and the new poll site offers data for tracking both over time.