Why More Americans Are Skipping Care—and What Communities Can Do About It
Imagine waking up with a persistent cough, worsening back pain, or a concern you’ve been meaning to discuss with a healthcare provider. You know you should schedule an appointment, but instead, you wait.
Not because you don’t care about your health.
Not because you’re too busy.
But because you’re worried about the bill.
Unfortunately, that situation is becoming increasingly common across the United States.
Recent research found that only about half of Americans say they can afford both the healthcare they need and quality healthcare when they need it. Many report delaying or skipping medical care due to concerns about cost. Even among people who have health insurance, rising deductibles, copays, coinsurance, and other out-of-pocket expenses are causing many families to think twice before seeking care.
For millions of Americans, healthcare has become something they ration.
The Hidden Cost of Delaying Care
When people postpone medical visits, small problems often become larger ones.
A lingering cough may become pneumonia. High blood pressure goes untreated until it causes serious complications. Diabetes remains unmanaged until symptoms become severe. Preventive screenings are delayed, increasing the risk that diseases are discovered later when treatment is more difficult and expensive.
In many cases, the most affordable healthcare is the care that happens early.
Primary care visits, preventive screenings, and routine management of chronic conditions can prevent emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and long-term complications. Yet these are often the very services people skip when finances are tight.
A Story We See Every Day
Consider a working Minnesota family.
Both parents have jobs. They are paying rent or a mortgage, covering childcare expenses, buying groceries, and trying to keep up with rising costs. They may even have health insurance through an employer.
Then one of their children develops recurring ear infections. A parent needs medication for high blood pressure. Another family member has persistent fatigue that should be evaluated.
The insurance card is in their wallet, but the deductible has not been met. Every appointment means another bill. Every lab test comes with uncertainty. Every healthcare decision becomes a financial calculation.
So they wait.
Not because they want to, but because they feel they have no other choice.
These are often the families described as ALICE households—Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. They are working hard, contributing to our communities, and doing their best to stay afloat. Yet many live one unexpected expense away from a financial crisis.
Healthcare Is a Community Issue
When people cannot access affordable healthcare, the effects extend beyond the individual patient.
Children miss school. Parents miss work. Chronic illnesses worsen. Employers face increased absenteeism and healthcare costs. Emergency rooms become crowded with conditions that could have been treated earlier in a primary care setting.
Healthy communities depend on accessible healthcare.
That means creating systems where people can seek care before a problem becomes an emergency. It means removing barriers related to cost, transportation, language, and access. It means ensuring that people are treated with dignity and compassion regardless of their financial circumstances.
What Communities Can Do
While healthcare policy debates often happen at the national level, communities have an important role to play.
Local nonprofits, churches, businesses, healthcare organizations, and individual donors can work together to create solutions that improve access to care.
At Aslan Health, we see the impact of these community partnerships every day.
By offering affordable primary care, transparent pricing, same-day access, discounted laboratory services, Spanish-language services, and programs designed to serve uninsured and underinsured individuals, we help remove barriers that prevent people from seeking care.
Our goal is simple: ensure that cost is never the reason someone goes without the healthcare they need.
How You Can Help
The challenges facing our healthcare system can feel overwhelming, but meaningful change often starts at the community level.
Every day at Aslan Health, we meet people who are working hard, caring for their families, and doing everything they can to make ends meet. Many have insurance. Some do not. What they share is a common concern: they need healthcare, but they are worried about the cost.
Because Aslan Health is a nonprofit clinic, we can provide affordable care to people who might otherwise delay treatment, skip medications, or go without preventive services altogether. Our patients pay only a fraction of the actual cost of their care. The difference is made possible through the generosity of donors, churches, businesses, foundations, and community members who believe that healthcare should be accessible to everyone.
When you support Aslan Health, you help a neighbor receive treatment before a minor illness becomes a major health crisis. You help a parent manage chronic conditions so they can continue caring for their family. You help children receive preventive care that keeps them healthy and thriving.
A typical visit costs our patients just $75, but the actual cost of providing that care is significantly higher. Every donation helps bridge that gap and ensures that affordable healthcare remains available to those who need it most.
If you believe that everyone deserves access to compassionate, affordable healthcare, we invite you to partner with us.
Together, we can ensure that no one in our community has to choose between their health and their finances.
To support Aslan Health, visit our website, make a donation, share our mission with others, or connect us with individuals and organizations who want to make a difference.
Because caring for our neighbors is something we do best—together.