What Americans sacrifice due to high health costs
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Tens of millions of Americans have delayed surgeries, vacation plans, career moves and other big life decisions because of the cost of health care, a new West Health-Gallup survey found.
Why it matters: Affordability concerns are hanging over the midterm election cycle, with just over half of all Americans believing basic medical care is affordable and accessible.
- As groceries, housing and utilities also become more costly, those pressures are forcing difficult tradeoffs in nearly every aspect of life — even for those who have insurance.
The survey of nearly 20,000 adults found that medical cost concerns didn't just force people to borrow money or stretch out prescriptions. They also led people to delay major events like having or adopting a child, retirement and going back to school.
- One in three said they've made a financial trade-off like taking out a loan in the last 12 months to pay for health care or medicine.
- About half of those in households earning between $48,000 and $180,000 a year reported putting off at least one major life decision in the past four years due to health costs.
- Even higher earners were affected: One-third of adults (34%) in households earning $180,000 to less than $240,000 annually, and one-fourth (25%) in households earning at least $240,000, reported delaying life events.
Between the lines: West Health-Gallup estimated that almost 70 million Americans delayed surgery or another medical treatment over the period studied — a phenomenon that can worsen the inflationary spiral.
- Forgoing care can make people sicker and require more procedures, tests, drugs and more.
- The increased demand for services drives up insurance premiums or out-of-pocket spending to the point where some people conclude it's prohibitively expensive and go uninsured.
- As costs rise, the trade-offs aren't limited to medical decisions, either. The survey estimates as many as 37 million people put off buying a home, 46 million delayed changing jobs, and 40 million scrapped plans to pursue additional education or job training.
What's ahead: The survey says if current trends hold, care will get even less affordable unless significant policy changes are enacted.
- But as we've reported, health care industry groups continue to fight over who would pay the price while Congress largely ignores the underlying costs that make care increasingly unaffordable.
