Most people think a move overseas starts with a job offer or a retirement dream. For some Americans, it now starts with a pharmacy bill. Hilary Hodge, who has severe allergic asthma, says the biologic medicine that cost $36,000 a year in the United States dropped to about $3,000 after she moved to France.
Her story lands as 47% of U.S. adults say they worry they will not be able to afford needed healthcare in the coming year, the highest level Gallup and West Health have recorded since 2021. KFF also says the average annual premium for employer family coverage reached $26,993 in 2025.
Healthcare costs and the world around them
But the story does not stop at doctors, hospitals, or insurance cards. And that is where the environment enters the story. Some Americans looking abroad are also chasing a broader health equation, one that includes stricter food standards and a daily routine that feels less punishing.
Leah Mark, who moved from Indiana to Mallorca, pointed to the European Union’s tighter food rules as part of the appeal. Under EU law, food additives must be authorized, safety assessed, and listed with conditions for use. That may sound like fine print. But when it shows up in the grocery cart and on the dinner table, it feels very real.
There is also a mobility piece that often gets overlooked. WHO Europe says walking and cycling improve health, cut congestion, reduce urban air pollution, and lower noise.
The European Environment Agency adds that transport still causes major harm to health and the environment across the EU. In practical terms, that helps explain why some people are not just comparing hospital systems. They are comparing whole ways of living, right down to the traffic jam outside the window.
A move abroad is not simple
Still, relocating is no magic trick. Spain’s digital nomad visa rules require applicants to carry public or private health insurance, and access to public systems depends on legal status and residency. So this is less an easy escape than a hard calculation.
Paperwork, housing, taxes, distance from family, all of it matters. But for Americans squeezed by medical costs, the trade is starting to look more rational than radical.
So what are they really buying with a move abroad? To a large extent, predictability. A cheaper prescription refill. A hospital visit that does not begin with deductible math. Food rules they trust a little more. Maybe a quieter daily rhythm too. Not perfect. But for a growing number of Americans, clearly worth crossing an ocean for.
The study was published on Gallup.
