Many Americans Forego Health And Dental Care Due To Cost

The cost of health care affects every aspect of the U.S. health care system. It dominates political discussions on health care, impacts decisions about insurance coverage, and ranks at the top of things Americans worry about. It also plays a significant role in the patient experience from decisions on whether or not to get care to the impact of medical bills after receiving care. This data note summarizes the most recent Kaiser Family Foundation polling on the public’s experiences with and worries about health care costs. Main takeaways include:

Health care costs dominate public and personal discussions on health care. Americans consistently put health care costs at the top of their list when it comes to health care issues they want the government to address and for political candidates to talk about and recent KFF polling indicates health care costs now occupy a tier of their own on the public’s list of pressing health care issues. Health care costs also top the list of household expenses the public worries about affording.

Some insured adults report difficulty affording the routine costs of health insurance. While majorities of those with health insurance report that it is easy (either “very easy” or “somewhat easy” for them to afford to pay the routine costs of health insurance like premiums and deductibles, some insured adults (at least one-fourth) say it is difficult for them to afford these routine costs. In fact, one-third (34 percent) of insured adults say it is either “very difficult” or “somewhat difficult” for them to afford to pay their deductible.

Health care costs stop people from getting needed care or filling prescriptions. Half of U.S. adults say they or a family member put off or skipped some sort of health care or dental care or relied on an alternative treatment in the past year because of the cost, and about one in eight say their medical condition got worse as a result. Three in ten of all adults (29 percent) also report not taking their medicines as prescribed at some point in the past year because of the cost.

Difficulty paying medical bills can have significant consequences for U.S. families. About one-fourth of U.S. adults (26 percent) say they or a household member have had problems paying medical bills in the past year, and about half of this group (12 percent of all Americans) say the bills had a major impact on their family. Medical bill problems also disproportionately affect sicker populations like individuals living in households with a serious medical condition.

Individuals with employer-sponsored insurance coverage are not immune to problems with health care costs. Many problems associated with the cost of health care coverage and services in this country are frequently attributed to the share of the population who are uninsured or buy their own coverage. Yet, KFF polling finds that even individuals with employer-sponsored insurance, especially those in high deductible plans, have difficulty affording their health care or health insurance, or report problems paying medical bills.

Some populations experience the most difficulty with affording the cost of their health care and health insurance. Individuals living in households where someone has a serious medical condition, the uninsured, and those with lower-incomes are more likely to struggle with medical bills and report putting off care because of cost.

Read more at KFF