Nearly 9 out of every 10 Texans say they are concerned about the cost of healthcare, with a large number adding that they disapprove of how President Donald Trump and Texas politicians have handled the issue.
In a recently released statewide poll conducted by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, 67% of respondents said they were very concerned about healthcare costs, with an additional 22% saying they were at least somewhat concerned.
While Democrats were the most worried political group, a supermajority of Republicans and Independents shared the same fear. In fact, across race, gender, and age, similar numbers of Texans expressed significant concern about the issue.
Some 52% of Texans at least somewhat disapproved of Trump’s handling of the healthcare issue, while that number dropped slightly to a 49% disapproval rate for state leaders and the Texas legislature. This made healthcare “the issue area with both the lowest overall approval among the issue areas tested.”
“Texans have reached their breaking point,” said Tanner Aliff, a leading architect of healthcare reform in Texas and founder of Scalpel Policy Solutions.
“We don’t have a market in our healthcare system, we have cartels playing turf war over regulation and statute,” he told the Texas Bullpen, blaming the major healthcare players and special interests for rising costs. “The takeaway for Texas government officials should be that if someone is asking you to pull a policy lever without being able to explain how a patient’s coverage will become more affordable, then that person isn’t there to support Texans getting care. Healthcare affordability needs to be the litmus test all special interests need to satisfy.”
Texans’ concern comes as healthcare premiums continue to rise, with the average Texan spending about one-third of their monthly income on healthcare costs. Nearly 6 out of 10 Texans have reportedly delayed or gone without care because of how expensive it was, according to a study by the Episcopal Health Foundation. Regardless of health coverage, Nearly 1 in 10 Texans find themselves saddled with medical debt.
The issue has become a national flashpoint, as Congress is currently debating whether to fund additional subsidies underwriting health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act. The U.S. House passed a 3-year extension last week, when 17 Republicans joined Democrats in a 230 to 196 vote, including U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX). The measure now goes to the U.S. Senate, where it is less likely to pass.
Healthcare’s financial burden contributes to a generally increasing worry about affordability across the board for Texans. Per the Texas Politics Project Poll, 90% of Texans are concerned about the price of food and consumer goods, while 83% are concerned about housing costs. The next highest issue weighing on the minds of Texans was the inability of people to find work, with 80% of respondents listing that as a top concern.
Overall, almost half of Texans believed that the national economy has gotten worse over the past year, while only 34% said the opposite. When asked how optimistic they were that the economy would be better in 2026, responses were more even, with 37% saying it would be better and 39% saying it would not.
