Aug 4, 2020 - Health

40% of Americans continue to put off medical care

Data: U.S. Census; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon
Data: U.S. Census; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon

Roughly 40% of Americans have postponed getting medical care due to the coronavirus outbreak. That number has stayed around 40% in all 12 weeks of the Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey.

Why it matters: Hospitals and doctors started rescheduling surgeries and other appointments as early as mid-May, and many patient volumes are mostly back to pre-pandemic numbers. But this data suggests there is still a major backlog of Americans who need care — a phenomenon that existed well before the pandemic.

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