30 Percent Of Americans Skip Out On Medical Care Because It’s Too Expensive

[kpete]

About three in ten of all Americans forgo getting medical treatment due to the high costs of U.S. health care, according to a new survey by Gallup. Unsurprisingly, the issue is even worse among people who don’t have access to health insurance. Three in five uninsured Americans skip out on care over cost concerns.

Americans pay significantly more out of their own pockets for medical care than residents of all other affluent nations, and correspondingly put off treatment at much higher rates than people in other wealthy countries.
Gallup’s new results are similar to those from its 2012 survey on the subject, and represent significantly higher numbers compared to a decade ago, when about 25 percent of Americans skipped on treatment.

Gallup researchers speculate that even insured Americans must at times put off care due to the growing popularity of health care plans that push costs onto policy holders.





http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/12/10/3041821/americans-skip-health-care-2013/

Implications

Americans named cost as the most urgent health problem in the nation this year, with more citing this issue than access, obesity, and cancer. Healthcare costs also remain a significant problem for individuals: a higher percentage of Americans now say they put off medical treatment because of cost than did so in the early 2000s. One possible explanation for the higher numbers since then is the increase in the number of high-deductible plans. Americans with serious conditions who have insurance may be putting off treatment to avoid high out-of-pocket costs.

If the Affordable Care Act -- which is designed to ensure that all Americans have affordable health coverage -- works as intended, fewer Americans should need to put off getting necessary medical treatment because of cost. This could positively affect individuals' personal health situations and workplace productivity. At the same time, the possible uptick in the number of Americans seeking medical treatment may put additional strain on the healthcare system, creating new problems.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/166178/costs-keep-americans-getting-treatment.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=morelink&utm_term=All%20Gallup%20Headlines