Voters Face Rising Medical Bills as Midterm Elections Loom

Healthcare affordability is a dominant concern for voters heading into Tuesday’s midterm elections.

The cost pressure is visible in recent data. KFF polling from earlier this month found that a quarter of voters are very worried about affording their care, while more than one-third expressed moderate concern. For those covered by the Affordable Care Act, the average monthly benchmark premium jumped from $497 in 2025 to $625 in 2026. This spike followed the expiration of enhanced premium tax credits at the end of the previous year. A new KFF analysis published Friday projects that benchmark silver plan premiums will rise by an average of 13% next year, marking the second consecutive year of double-digit increases.

The trend extends beyond individual market plans. Workers with employer-sponsored insurance are paying nearly 10% more for premiums, according to a KFF survey. The average deductible for single coverage hit $1,886 in 2025, a 43% increase since 2015. Prescription spending also climbed, rising 12.7% in 2025 to $915 billion. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reports that spending is on track to surpass $1 trillion in 2026. Meanwhile, AARP’s Public Policy Institute notes that the top 25 brand-name drugs have seen average price increases of 81% since entering the U.S. market.

Experts point to several drivers behind these hikes. One factor is the adoption of ambient artificial intelligence tools by providers. Hospitals and clinics use these scribes to document visits and generate notes. Insurance companies and analytics firms report that this technology often leads to secondary diagnoses or mismatches between care and billing. Zack Cooper, a professor at Yale University, explained that these tools allow for more aggressive coding, pushing patients into higher billing categories. Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at Georgetown University, cited a recent check-up where a brief question to her doctor triggered a diagnostic code rather than a preventive one, resulting in a co-pay she did not expect. She paid the bill, noting the scribe captured the interaction automatically.

Tariffs also contribute to rising costs. Corlette noted that tariffs increase the price of goods and supplies for hospitals. The Food and Drug Administration estimates that 78% of active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturers are located outside the U.S., and imports account for nearly half of medical devices used domestically. A study from Georgia Tech and the University of California, Davis, found that tariffs on imported medical supplies totaled $3.4 billion in the first half of 2025. More than 56% of that amount was passed on to medical facilities and potentially consumers through higher prices.

Trade groups offer varying explanations. Chris Bond, a spokesperson for AHIP, stated that hospital monopolies and brand drugmakers drive up costs through anticompetitive practices. Chanse Jones of PhRMA countered that list prices do not reflect rebates and discounts received by insurers and pharmacy benefit managers. The American Hospital Association suggested that policymakers should focus on the consolidation of corporate health insurers, which it said has negative effects on affordability. The White House defended its Most Favored Nation drug pricing agreements, claiming they have saved Americans over $1 billion by linking U.S. prices to those in other developed nations.

The use of GLP-1 medications is another emerging cost factor. While the source text cuts off before detailing the specific financial impact of these drugs, experts included them in the list of reasons for recent cost increases alongside AI and tariffs.