One in three Americans goes hungry or forgoes other basic needs to pay for health care.

Survey results show that US residents are driving less, skipping meals and delaying important life decisions such as buying a home or having children to pay for medical expenses, writes The Washington Post citing Gallup polls.

The results of two Gallup polls were published on March 12. According to them, approximately one-third of Americans are cutting back on everyday spending to cover medical bills, and about half of middle-income households reported postponing important life decisions because of these same expenses. This is due to rising insurance premiums and federal government cuts to the Medicaid program.

According to the first survey of Americans' everyday spending habits, 11% of respondents reported skipping meals to pay for medical expenses in the past year. Fifteen percent said they borrowed money or refilled a prescription. This trend is most pronounced among Americans without health insurance: 62% of them said they made at least one financial concession to pay for medical care.

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These results demonstrate the serious impact rising medical costs are having on the daily lives of Americans. Access to healthcare could become a vulnerable point for Republicans in the midterm elections this fall. Last month, President Donald Trump launched a program aimed at helping Americans afford discounted medications.

Researchers said they expect access to health care to be a key issue for voters in the midterm elections.

"People are making sacrifices, and they're angry," said Tim Lash, president of West Health, a nonprofit health organization that conducted the study with Gallup.

A second Gallup poll found that 1 in 10 Americans has delayed retirement in the past four years because of health care costs, and 6% said they have delayed having or adopting a child.

"The fact that medical costs now impact such important decisions and the overall ability to achieve the so-called American Dream is truly astounding," said Ellyn Maese, research director at the West Health-Gallup Center on Health in America.

Gallup surveyed nearly 20,000 American adults, focusing on whether Americans were cutting back on everyday spending between June and August. A survey of 5660 adults in the US, examining whether Americans were postponing life events due to medical expenses, was conducted from October to December.

Other trade-offs respondents say they make to pay for health care include cutting utility bills and driving less to save on gas, according to Gallup data. Just over half of Americans in households with annual incomes under $24,000 reported making sacrifices to pay for health care. About a quarter of those earning between $90,000 and $120,000 said the same.

People of all income levels reported postponing life events—such as changing jobs, pursuing further education, undergoing surgery, or taking vacations—due to health care costs. About half of low- and middle-income households reported postponing such events, and even about a quarter of Americans with incomes over $240,000 said they had done the same.

Lash and Maese stated that these two studies are the first time their organization has examined how healthcare costs change consumption habits. The results align with the findings of other surveys published this year, which showed that access to goods and services, as well as healthcare costs, are among the top concerns of Americans.

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Health care costs topped the list of Americans' economic worries in a KFF poll, while a majority of respondents in a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos survey said health care, vacations, and buying a new car felt unaffordable.

Lash said Americans' difficulties paying for health care are caused not only by rising prices but also by worsening health outcomes associated with people being unable to afford health care.

"When people are forced to make such concessions, it increases overall levels of anxiety or depression," Lash concluded. "Sometimes even to clinical levels. And this is happening on a national scale."

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