With healthcare prices rising nationwide, a newly published study shows that LGBTQ+ adults face more widespread concerns with affording basic necessities, including health care, compared to non-LGBTQ+ adults.

The study — released yesterday by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit health policy research organization — found that 83% of LGBTQ+ adults said their cost of living increased over the past year, with 58% saying it has increased “a lot.”

Related

Senate Democrats defeat GOP attempt to ban trans health care & sports participation nationwide

While this is similar to the 82% of non-LGBTQ+ adults who also reported cost-of-living increases over the past year, 76% of LGBTQ+ adults said they worry about being able to afford health care for themselves and their family, compared to the 65% of non-LGBTQ+ adults who felt the same.

More specifically, 64% of LGBTQ+ adults said they worried about affording prescription medication, compared to just 58% of non-LGBTQ+ adults who expressed the same concern. Approximately 43% of LGBTQ+ adults reported problems paying for health care (compared to 27% of non-LGBTQ+ adults), and 39% reported problems affording prescription drugs in the past year (compared to 24% of non-LGBTQ+ adults).

Never Miss a Beat

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

LGBTQ+ adults were also more likely than their non-LGBTQ+ counterparts to worry about their ability to afford other household expenses, like food and groceries, rent or mortgage, and monthly utilities.

“In each case, these concerns are more widespread than those of non-LGBT adults, likely reflecting LGBT adults’ lower incomes,” the study’s authors wrote.

The findings are concerning since a 2024 KFF study found that 26% of LGBTQ+ people are more likely to report being in fair or poor physical health than the 19% of non-LGBTQ+ people who report the same.

The same study found that 25% of LGBTQ+ people reported having a disability or chronic disease that keeps them from participating fully in work, school, housework, or other activities, compared with 16% of non-LGBTQ+ people.

While the 2010 Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) restricted the ability of medical providers and health insurance companies from excluding LGBTQ+-centered healthcare, and the 2015 Supreme Court decision legalizing marriage equality helped expand health insurance coverage to LGBTQ+ spouses, Republicans and the current presidential administration have both worked to erode these protections while cutting federal investments to cover insurance, LGBTQ+ health data collection, as well as state and local health clinics, KFF noted.

“Despite the increase in the share of people identifying as LGBTQ+ and in public support for LGBTQ+ relationships and protections against discrimination, LGBTQ+ people continue to face health disparities and worse health outcomes in several areas,” KFF wrote.

“Monitoring these policies, the shifting legal landscape, and better understanding the actual experiences of LGBTQ+ people will help inform efforts to address and mitigate health disparities for this population moving forward,” the foundation concluded.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.