Congress's daylight saving time fight has a hidden cost angle for payers

In a Gallup survey conducted in 2025, just over half of U.S. adults are done with daylight saving time.

And with good reason. Multiple studies have shown that daylight savings time is bad for sleep health. Joseph S. Takahashi, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Neuroscience at UT Southwestern, whose lab discovered the first circadian gene (the CLOCK gene)in mammals, determined that mutated CLOCK genes can lead to dysfunctions in metabolic, behavioral and cognitive abilities.

“Every cell in our bodies keeps track of the time, and changes in daily patterns can trigger stress in our brains and cause sleep deprivation, disorientation, and memory loss,” he wrote. “It can also lead to difficulties with learning, social interactions, and overall cognitive function.”

He also noted that the desynchronization of our body's internal clock has been linked to increased health risks including obesity, heart attacks, cancers and depression. When daylight saving time occurs, our bodies are thrown into disarray.

“Spring ahead,” the time change where we lose an hour of sleep is slated to occur on Sunday, March 14, 2027, in the United States. More imminently, “fall behind” where we gain an hour of sleep, but are thrust into earlier darkness, occurs Sunday, November 1, 2026

In one study Finnish researchers examined a decade of stroke hospitalization data, comparing 3,033 people hospitalized in the week following a daylight saving time transition to 11,801 people hospitalized in the two weeks immediately before or after that wee and found stroke rates are 8% higher following both time changes during those first two days of the change. Another study, based on 185,419 hospital contacts for unipolar depression, found that the transition from summer time to standard time was associated with an 11% increase in depression diagnoses; the spring time change did not produce the same result. A 2018 AHA-presented study found atrial fibrillation hospital admissions jump from 2.56 to 3.13 per day in the four weekdays after the spring transition while Michigan researchers found a 24% increase in heart attacks the Monday after spring forward. Those are just some of the reasons behind the push for a change.

What Congress is considering doing about daylight saving time

Sleep experts from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Coalition for Permanent Standard Time are advocating for lawmakers to adopt year-round standard time.

Currently there are two bills before Congress, each with different approaches, for ending the annual time changes.

The Sunshine Protection Act (H.R. 139) would make daylight saving time permanent that would allow for later sunrises and darker mornings. The other, the Sunshine for Our Kids Act (H.R. 9638), aims to establish permanent standard time nationwide, preserving morning light.

"Changing the clocks can have consequences for sleep, health, and safety, yet we require millions of Americans to do it twice a year," said Dr. Karin Johnson, sleep medicine physician and co-chair of the coalition's steering committee, according to a news release. "This should be the last time we ever have to change our clocks. Lawmakers have an opportunity to end this cycle for good by choosing permanent standard time for brighter mornings, better sleep, and safer streets."

And frankly, the debate is getting rather heated. The Hill reported that President Trump recently doxxed Senator Tom Cotton over the stalled bill. Trump published his cell phone number on his Truth Social account and urged followers to press him on his opposition to the Sunshine Protection Act.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) defended Cotton’s opposition citing “real safety concerns.”

“I think there’s more opposition to it than the president realizes. There’s some real safety concerns, particularly in the more northern and rural states where children get on the school bus at very early hours,” Wicker reportedly said.

Why this matters for payers and health systems

If biannual clock changes can create a predictable two-day bump in cardiac and stroke-related claims twice a year, that means there are predictable increased costs for payers.

According to the the American Heart Association (AHA), heart disease and stroke combined cost the U.S. roughly $414.7 billion a year — about $223.2 billion in direct health care costs (treatment, medications, hospital stays) and another $191.5 billion in indirect costs (lost productivity and premature death). Direct cardiovascular costs alone make up about 10–11% of total U.S. health care spending, which the AHA notes is more than any disease category except musculoskeletal conditions.

AHA's 2025 statistics report (which covers 2020–2021 data), found that within that era's direct-cost total, coronary heart disease accounted for the largest single piece (approximately 23%), hypertension about 18%, and ischemic stroke/TIA about 11%.

Although there is no direct data calculating how much those specific two-day spikes cost, it's easy to infer that making this change could positively impact costs and burdens on payers and healthcare systems, not to mention the health boon it'd bring to patients across the country in general.