Upstream Pressure

Medical Care CPI

Year-over-year change in medical care costs

What is the current Medical Care CPI?

HEALTHCARE COST INFLATION
3.19% ↓ Improving
year-over-year increase in medical care costs

The medical care Consumer Price Index rose 3.71% year-over-year in the latest reading, outpacing overall CPI inflation. Healthcare costs are a significant driver of household financial distress — medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy filings and a key contributor to savings depletion. Source: BLS (CUSR0000SAM).

Medical care inflation back above 3.7% after briefly going negative

BLS data. Healthcare CPI dipped below zero in late 2023 on insurance methodology changes, then reversed sharply. The current rate compounds on years of above-average cost growth.

Source: BLS via official source ↗
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Explore Further

📊 Medical Debt & Healthcare Cost Statistics 2026 → 📖 What Is Consumer Price Index (CPI)? → 📖 What Is Cost of Living? →

How has Medical Care CPI changed over time?

CSV Chart Card
Healthcare costs continue outpacing overall inflation
Medical care CPI, year-over-year percentage change
Medical Care CPI
Data: BLS Updated Apr 2026

Most affected counties

Counties with the highest housing cost burden scores in the County Distress Index.

1 Miami-Dade County FL 98 2 Passaic County NJ 97.8 3 Los Angeles County CA 97.6 4 Butte County CA 97.4 5 Humboldt County CA 97.2 6 San Diego County CA 97.2 7 Bronx County NY 97.1 8 Brazos County TX 97.1 9 Santa Barbara County CA 97 10 Whitman County WA 97
Explore all 3,144 counties →
Historical data
Monthly · BLS
Period Value YoY Change
Mar 2026 3.19% +0.5 pts
Feb 2026 3.71% +0.8 pts
Jan 2026 3.42% +0.8 pts
Dec 2025 3.27% +0.4 pts
Nov 2025 3.17% +0.1 pts
Sep 2025 3.29% +0.0 pts
Aug 2025 3.48% +0.5 pts
Jul 2025 3.52% +0.3 pts
Jun 2025 2.75% −0.5 pts
May 2025 2.46% −0.6 pts
Apr 2025 2.72% +0.1 pts
Mar 2025 2.65% +0.4 pts

Frequently Asked Questions

How fast are healthcare costs rising?

Medical care CPI rose 3.71% year-over-year, outpacing the 2.66% all-items CPI rate.

Why does healthcare inflation matter for financial distress?

Medical debt is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the U.S. When healthcare costs rise faster than wages, more households face impossible choices between medical care and other obligations.

Where does medical care CPI data come from?

Published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, series CUSR0000SAM.

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Why does Medical Care CPI matter?

Medical Care CPI is one of 91 indicators in the American Distress Index's upstream pressure layer — the signal that predicted the 2008 crisis two years before delinquency data confirmed it.
View methodology →
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