Press Release

Healthcare Providers Back Direct Cash to Address Economic Instability and Improve Patient Care

06. 18. 2025

New Report Shows How Direct Cash Improves Health Outcomes, Reduces Burnout, and Offers a Scalable Solution for Families and Frontline Providers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report released today from Economic Security Project and the Health and Political Economy Project presents a clear public health intervention: direct cash. The Resilience Factor: Cash as a Tool Toward Better Health for Young Families draws on in-depth interviews and firsthand clinical insights from healthcare providers across disciplines, including pediatricians, psychiatrists, doulas, oncologists, and public health leaders from various states. These experts detail how financial stress shows up in exam rooms through delayed diagnoses, missed care, unmanaged conditions, and provider burnout. They argue that direct cash support can help stabilize families and improve health outcomes.

“Healthcare professionals are on the frontlines of economic insecurity. Day in and out, they see how financial stress can undermine children’s health,” said Natalie Foster, President and Founder of Economic Security Project. “From our years of work around the nation, we know we can offer families the economic stability and breathing room to improve their lives. What we’ve proven here is that cash interventions can also be instrumental in producing better health outcomes, and better conditions for patient care.”

Grounded in clinical expertise and data from real-world programs like California’s Abundant Birth Project and Michigan’s Rx Kids, the report positions cash as a critical layer of care that supports healing for patients, stability for families, and effectiveness for clinicians.  Some of the key findings that demonstrate the power of cash interventions on patient health in The Resilience Factor include: 

• Improved pregnancy and birth outcomes: Cash provides expectant parents with the means to afford medical care, nutrition, and safe housing—conditions linked to better birth outcomes.
• Mental health benefits for parents and providers: Cash gives families time to rest and bond, reduces stress-related illnesses, and enables access to culturally affirming therapy. It also relieves provider burnout and restores purpose in care.
• Better follow-through on care: Families with reliable cash are more likely to attend appointments, take medications, and stick to treatment plans.

Cash prevents crisis and saves money:  By helping families meet basic needs, cash reduces emergency visits and the costly consequences of delayed care. American families are under consistent and worsening economic pressures that directly impact their health. The conditions are urgent. One in five parents cannot afford childcare, and 37% of families cannot cover a $400 emergency. 

These financial stressors make it harder to access care, follow treatment plans, or manage chronic illnesses. Such stressors are more pronounced for low-income, Black, brown, and immigrant families who face deep-rooted systemic inequities. Nationwide, mental health is at a breaking point. Nearly half of parents say their stress is overwhelming most days. The strain extends to clinicians as well, as more than 45% of doctors report symptoms of burnout, driven by the frustration of not being able to address the root causes of patient suffering.

Direct cash, defined as unrestricted recurring cash with no work requirements, offers a timely and effective response to both economic and health inequities.  Unrestricted cash gives families the freedom to meet their needs and the stability to prioritize health, without the barriers or stigma of traditional safety net programs.

“If the families or patients I take care of had access to more cash, their risk of disease and stress would decrease, and overall health outcomes would dramatically improve. As doctors, we translate the stories of our patients to push for cures, and sometimes those cures require tools beyond conventional medicine. The evidence is overwhelming: direct cash can and should be treated as public health policy,” said Dr. Victor Roy, MD, PhD, family physician, sociologist, and Health and Political Economy Project Director.

The Resilience Factor makes clear that health is shaped by far more than medications. Economic instability, lack of childcare, and housing insecurity show up in every exam room. Yet too often, providers must navigate these challenges without the tools to address their root causes. This report, and the examples it cites, argue for direct cash as a practical, preventive response—one that helps families stabilize and allows clinicians to focus on care rather than crisis control.

This report reflects a growing shift in the field: a call for upstream solutions grounded in what healthcare professionals witness every day. It closes with a direct invitation for providers to join the movement for cash support and advocate for policies that serve both patients and care teams.