Is affordability a hoax?

In previous articles I COVered several areas of affordability that have been affecting real people in a very real way financially. Here are 10 areas of affordability that are affecting millions of people in our country:

Housing. The average costs of purchasing a home in Georgia is over $360,000 today, so high that the average age of a first-time home buyer is now 41 years old, compared to 10 years ago when it was 32 years old. And now, due to inflation, the average national mortgage interest rate for a 30-year mortgage is 7.49 percent, further compounding the problem of housing affordability.

Food. Groceries costing $161.87 in 2006 now costs well over $300 to $400.

Gas and Diesel. Gas price increases are something we all feel each week. They are now 59 percent higher than in 2006. The increases in diesel prices lately will add to the already higher costs of food (running farm equipment), transportation, air flights, and most consumer goods.

Auto Insurance. The U.S. Bureau of Labor (BLS) shows a 155.64 percent increase in auto insurance premiums from 2006 to 2026.

Home Insurance. U.S. home insurance policies have sharply accelerated into a national affordability crisis. Between 2021 and 2026, home insurance premiums surged 46 percent in just 5.5 years.

Health Insurance. Because of the current administration’s cuts to premium subsidies for qualifying low and middle income Americans, the costs of Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage has increased 21.7 percent to 26 percent just in 2026, resulting in 15 million people simply dropping their ACA plans altogether. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of people are scheduled to be removed from ACA health insurance in January 2027 based on the current administration’s assumptions that their policies were fraudulently obtained by insurance brokers. Indeed, health insurance costs for all Americans has increased, as you probably have experienced yourself.

Electricity. Residential electricity prices significantly outpaced overall inflation according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), increasing approximately 14 percent from 2023 to 2026.

Heating Fuel. Home owners need to brace for major increases in heating fuel with LP gas up 8.7 percent this year due to oil market volatility. Heating oil will increase 31.3 percent entering the upcoming winter cycle due to the military conflict in Iran. The heating and fuel category also includes, in the summer, air conditioning to control for persistent high temperatures.

Child care. Between 2022 and 2026, child care costs increased by 20 percent. In addition, the “‘Bank of Mom and Dad” continues to support, in varying degrees, 51 percent of children over the age of 18.

Credit Card Interest Rates. Please see HATCHER, A5 CONTINUED FROM PAGE A4 You may look at a 28.7 percent credit card annual percentage rate (APR) and ask, ‘‘Isn’t that usury?” That’s what I thought, and I have perfect credit. But it is not categorized as usury because there is ono federal cap protecting us from ridiculously high credit card interest. It leads to the “‘Minimum Payment Trap.

Because a person’s paycheck may not cover these affordability issues discussed above, he or she may go to credit cards to pay the minimum payment due and bridge the deficit, getting caught in the web and only adding to financial struggles. Millions of Americans do not think affordability is a hoax. During an interview on Oct. 4, 2026, Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana addressed the affordability crisis by stating, “Telling [the American people] not to believe their own lying checkbooks is not going to work.’’ This high-ranking Republican, along with others Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) all these Republicans acknowledge affordability as a real concern.

And it is.

Robert A. Hatcher, M.D., M.P.H. is Professor Emeritus, Gynecology and Obstetrics Department at Emory University School of Medicine.

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