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(The Hill) —Almost one-third of Americans skipped the medical care they needed in the last three months because they couldn’t afford it, according to a poll released Tuesday.
According to a survey by the West Health Policy Center and Gallup, 30% of participants said they had opted out of medical care because of costs. This percentage tripled from nine months ago and reached its highest point during the pandemic.
One-fifth of respondents said they or their household members felt their health problems worsened after delaying care due to costs.
Twenty percent of households with incomes above $ 120,000 also reported postponement of medical care for financial reasons. This is up from 3% in March.
Tim Lash, president of the West Health Policy Center, told Hill that data showing income “significantly higher” than the median income “indicates that we really have a problem.”
“We are at the limit and it just … tells me that desperate people are not only low-income people, but even wealthier people,” he said. “And we will have to find a way out of it.”
Almost one-third of respondents said they couldn’t afford affordable care when needed today, compared to a spring survey where 18% said they were the same. In addition, 42% said they were worried that they would not be able to pay for the medical expenses they needed by the end of next year.
“Americans see the future as dark as it did at the end of the year, with decades of failed behavior and the current weakening of bold steps to reduce costs,” a poll said. Said.
The COVID-19 pandemic worsens almost half of Americans’ views on the health system, saying that 15% struggled to pay for health care. Regardless of their political party, two-thirds of Americans do not expect policies to bring lower costs.
The investigation shows a pandemic “complex” issue of equity, Rush said. One of the 20 respondents reported that they knew friends and relatives who had died in the past year because they did not receive the necessary care for the cost, and black Americans were white Americans. He said he was twice as likely to know someone that was true.
“It shows how vulnerable our health system is and how vulnerable it can be when families are trying to access it,” Rush said.
The West Health-Gallup study surveyed 6,663 American adults in all 50 states and DC between September 27-30 and October 18-21. The margin of error was 1.5 percentage points.
