South Australians are cutting costs on their health expenses, including dental check-ups and mental health appointments, in order to fight mortgage pressures, new research shows.
A new survey of more than 1000 Australians by Money.com.au revealed 44 per cent of respondents had put off medical appointments because of mortgage costs, with 61 per cent saying they’d skipped dental appointments, 23 per cent saying they’d skipped specialist appointments, 12 per cent saying they’d missed mental health appointments or treatment and a further 4 per cent delaying surgeries or other medical procedures.
Half of those surveyed have taken money out of their redraw/offset account to pay medical expenses, while 24 per cent said they had increased their loan to cover healthcare costs.
South Australians recorded the lowest average healthcare spend of any city at $3,171 per year, with SA having the second-lowest average income in the country and two in five (40 per cent) South Australians saying they run out of money before their next pay cycle.
Debbie Hays – Money.com.au mortgage expert. Picture: Supplied
Money.com.au’s mortgage expert, Debbie Hays, said this was likely due to cost pressures leading some households to cut back on or forgo healthcare, rather than reflecting lower need.
“South Australians spend the equivalent of around 7 per cent of their annual mortgage repayments on healthcare,” she said.
“That might look lower than other states, but it reflects tighter household budgets rather than lower healthcare needs. People simply have less room to spend.
When income is constrained, healthcare is often one of the first areas households cut back on.
“At the moment, we’re seeing more homeowners drop their health insurance, even if it means paying the Medicare Levy Surcharge at tax time, because they’re trying to free up cash flow immediately to put food on the table.”
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Ms Hays said modelling showed spending just $2,000 per year on healthcare outside the HEM could reduce borrowing capacity by around $20,000 for a single applicant, depending on the lender.
“At the same time, higher healthcare costs can make it harder to save for a deposit,” she said. “It becomes a double hit.
“It reduces borrowing power and slows the pace of saving for a deposit, particularly for younger Aussies trying to buy before prices move further out of reach.”
April 2, 2026: Dr Greg Miller at North Adelaide DentalCare says people shouldn’t skip dental checkups and appointments. Picture: Brenton Edwards
North Adelaide dental practitioner Dr Greg Miller said dental health was incredibly important to people’s overall health and discouraged people from skipping appointments.
“Dentistry is the gateway to the oral tract and if your mouth is no good, you can’t eat well, and if you can eat well you can’t be healthy,” he said.
“And you don’t feel good – it’s painful or it’s distracting – it’s responsible for a whole lot of absenteeism from work and school, and it really impacts your quality of life.
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“If you have a painful tooth, it’s difficult to concentrate at work, it is difficult to get your studies done, and it really is deleterious to your experience as a human.”
Dr Miller said skipping appointments could prove costlier in the long run.
“You want to go with a pinch of prevention instead of a pound of cure, and you want get out and try to frontrun problems before they become a major issue,” he said.
“Prevention and preventive dentistry is always cheaper and more cost effective than intervention.”
– with Lydia Kellner
English (US) · 