This situation temporary was up to date on March 1, 2024 to incorporate the newest KFF polling information.
For a few years, KFF polling has discovered that the excessive price of well being care is a burden on U.S. households, and that well being care prices issue into choices about insurance coverage protection and care in search of. These prices and the prospect of surprising medical payments additionally rank as the highest monetary worries for adults and their households, and up to date polling reveals that decreasing out-of-pocket well being care prices is by and huge the general public’s high well being care precedence. Well being care affordability can also be one of many top issues that voters need to hear presidential candidates speak about throughout the 2024 election. This information observe summarizes current KFF polling on the general public’s experiences with well being care prices. Foremost takeaways embody:
- About half of U.S. adults say it’s troublesome to afford well being care prices, and one in 4 say they or a member of the family of their family had issues paying for well being care prior to now 12 months. Youthful adults, these with decrease incomes, adults in honest or poor well being, and the uninsured are notably prone to report issues affording well being care prior to now 12 months.
- The price of well being care can lead some to place off wanted care. One in 4 adults say that previously 12 months they’ve skipped or postponed getting well being care they wanted due to the fee. Notably six in ten uninsured adults (61%) say they went with out wanted care due to the fee.
- The price of pharmaceuticals prevents some folks from filling prescriptions. About one in 5 adults (21%) say they haven’t stuffed a prescription due to the fee whereas the same share say they’ve as a substitute opted for over-the-counter alternate options. About one in ten adults say they’ve lower drugs in half or skipped doses of medication within the final 12 months due to the fee.
- Those that are lined by medical insurance are usually not resistant to the burden of well being care prices. About half (48%) of insured adults fear about affording their month-to-month medical insurance premium and huge shares of adults with employer-sponsored insurance coverage (ESI) and people with Market protection charge their insurance coverage as “honest” or “poor” relating to their month-to-month premium and to out-of-pocket prices to see a health care provider.
- Well being care debt is a burden for a big share of Individuals. About 4 in ten adults (41%) report having debt because of medical or dental payments together with money owed owed to bank cards, collections businesses, household and pals, banks, and different lenders to pay for his or her well being care prices, with disproportionate shares of Black and Hispanic adults, ladies, dad and mom, these with low incomes, and uninsured adults saying they’ve well being care debt.
- Notable shares of adults nonetheless say they’re frightened about affording medical prices corresponding to surprising payments, the price of well being care companies (together with out-of-pocket prices not lined by insurance coverage, corresponding to co-pays and deductibles), prescription drug prices, and long-term care companies for themselves or a member of the family. About three in 4 adults say they’re both “very” or “considerably frightened” about having the ability to afford surprising medical payments (74%) or the price of well being care companies (73%) for themselves and their households. Moreover, about half of adults could be unable to pay an surprising medical invoice of $500 in full with out going into debt.
Issue Affording Medical Prices
Many U.S. adults have hassle affording well being care prices. Whereas decrease revenue and uninsured adults are the most definitely to report this, these with medical insurance and people with greater incomes are usually not resistant to the excessive price of medical care. About half of U.S. adults say that it is rather or considerably troublesome for them to afford their well being care prices (47%). Amongst these underneath age 65, uninsured adults are more likely to say affording well being care prices is troublesome (85%) in comparison with these with medical insurance protection (47%). Moreover, not less than six in ten Black adults (60%) and Hispanic adults (65%) report problem affording well being care prices in comparison with about 4 in ten White adults (39%). Adults in households with annual incomes underneath $40,000 are greater than 3 times as probably as adults in households with incomes over $90,000 to say it’s troublesome to afford their well being care prices (69% v. 21%). (Supply: KFF Health Care Debt Survey: Feb.-Mar. 2022)
When requested particularly about issues paying for well being care prior to now 12 months, one in 4 adults say they or a member of the family of their family had issues paying for care, together with three in ten adults underneath age 50 and people with decrease family incomes (underneath $40,000). Affording well being care is especially an issue for many who may have it probably the most as one-third of adults who describe their bodily well being as “honest” or “poor” say they or a member of the family had issues paying for well being care prior to now 12 months. Amongst uninsured adults, half (49%) say they or a member of the family of their family had issues paying for well being care, together with 51% of uninsured adults who say they’re in honest or poor well being.
The price of care may also lead some adults to skip or delay in search of companies. One-quarter of adults say that previously 12 months, they’ve skipped or postponed getting well being care they wanted due to the fee. The price of care may also have disproportionate impacts amongst completely different teams of individuals; as an illustration, ladies are extra probably than males to say they’ve skipped or postponed getting well being care they wanted due to the fee (28% vs. 21%). Adults ages 65 and older, most of whom are eligible for well being care protection by Medicare, are a lot much less probably than youthful age teams to say they haven’t gotten well being care they wanted due to price.
One in 4 immigrant adults (22%) say they’ve skipped or postponed care prior to now 12 months, rising to a few third (36%) amongst those that are uninsured. Seven in ten (69%) of immigrant adults who skipped or postponed care (15% of all immigrant adults) mentioned they did so because of price or lack of well being protection. (Supply: The 2023 KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants: Apr.-June 2023)
Six in ten uninsured adults (61%) say they’ve skipped or postponed getting well being care they wanted because of price. Medical health insurance, nonetheless, doesn’t supply ironclad safety as one in 5 adults with insurance coverage (21%) nonetheless report not getting well being care they wanted because of price.
KFF well being polling from March 2022 additionally appeared on the particular varieties of care adults are most definitely to report pushing aside and located that dental companies are the most typical sort of medical care that individuals report delaying or skipping, with 35% of adults saying they’ve put it off prior to now 12 months because of price. That is adopted by imaginative and prescient companies (25%), visits to a health care provider’s places of work (24%), psychological well being care (18%), hospital companies (14%), and listening to companies, together with listening to aids (10%). (Supply: KFF Health Tracking Poll: March 2022)
A 2022 KFF report discovered that individuals who have already got debt because of medical or dental care are disproportionately prone to delay or skip medical care. Half (51%) of adults presently experiencing debt because of medical or dental payments say prior to now 12 months, price has been a probititor to getting the medical take a look at or remedy that was beneficial by a health care provider. (Supply: KFF Health Care Debt Survey: Feb.-Mar. 2022)
Prescription Drug Prices
For a lot of U.S. adults, pharmaceuticals are a element of their routine care. A couple of in 4 (28%) adults say it’s both “considerably” or “very troublesome” for them to afford to pay for pharmaceuticals. Affording pharmaceuticals is especially troublesome for adults who take 4 or extra prescription drugs (37%) and people in households with annual incomes underneath $40,000 (40%). Black and Hispanic adults are additionally extra probably than White adults to say it’s troublesome for them to afford to pay for pharmaceuticals. (Supply: KFF Health Tracking Poll: July 2023)
The excessive price of pharmaceuticals additionally leads some folks to chop again on their drugs in varied methods. About one in 5 adults (21%) say prior to now 12 months they haven’t stuffed a prescription due to the fee. An identical share (21%) say they’ve taken an over-the-counter drug as a substitute of getting a prescription stuffed – rising to about one third of Hispanic adults (32%) and a couple of in 4 adults (27%) with annual family incomes underneath $40,000. About one in ten adults say that previously 12 months they’ve lower drugs in half or skipped doses of medication because of price. (Supply: KFF Health Tracking Poll: July 2023)
Well being Insurance coverage Value Scores
Total, most insured adults charge their medical insurance as “wonderful” or “good” relating to the quantity they should pay out-of-pocket for his or her prescriptions (61%), the quantity they should pay out-of-pocket to see a health care provider (53%), and the quantity they pay month-to-month for insurance coverage (54%). Nonetheless, not less than three in ten charge their insurance coverage as “honest” or “poor” on every of those metrics, and affordability scores differ relying on the kind of protection folks have.
Adults who’ve non-public insurance coverage by employer-sponsored insurance coverage or Market protection are extra probably than these with Medicare or Medicaid to charge their insurance coverage negatively relating to their month-to-month premium, the quantity they should pay out of pocket to see a health care provider, and their prescription co-pays. About one in 4 adults with Medicare give detrimental scores to the quantity they should pay every month for insurance coverage and to their out-of-pocket prescription prices, whereas about one in 5 give their insurance coverage a detrimental score relating to their out-of-pocket prices to see a health care provider.
Medicaid enrollees are much less probably than these with different protection varieties to provide their insurance coverage detrimental scores on these affordability measures (Medicaid doesn’t cost month-to-month premiums in most states, and copays for lined companies, the place utilized, are required to be nominal.) (Supply: KFF Survey of Consumer Experiences with Health Insurance)
Well being Care Debt
In June 2022, KFF launched an evaluation of the KFF Health Care Debt Survey, a companion report back to the investigative journalism venture on well being care debt carried out by KFF Well being Information and NPR, Analysis Debt. This venture discovered that well being care debt is a wide-reaching drawback in the US and that 41% of U.S. adults presently have some sort of debt because of medical or dental payments from their very own or another person’s care, together with a few quarter of adults (24%) who say they’ve medical or dental payments which can be late or that they’re unable to pay, and one in 5 (21%) who’ve payments they’re paying off over time on to a supplier. One in six (17%) report debt owed to a financial institution, assortment company, or different lender from loans taken out to pay for medical or dental payments, whereas comparable shares say they’ve well being care debt from payments they placed on a bank card and are paying off over time (17%). One in ten report debt owed to a member of the family or buddy from cash they borrowed to repay medical or dental payments.
Whereas 4 in ten U.S. adults have some sort of well being care debt, disproportionate shares of decrease revenue adults, the uninsured, Black and Hispanic adults, ladies, and oldsters report present debt because of medical or dental payments.
Vulnerabilities and Worries About Well being Care and Lengthy-Time period Care Prices
A February 2024 KFF Health Tracking Poll reveals surprising medical payments and the price of well being care companies are on the high of the checklist of individuals’s monetary worries, with about three-quarters of the general public – and comparable shares of insured adults youthful than 65 – saying they’re not less than considerably frightened about affording surprising medical payments (74%) or the price of well being care companies (73%) for themselves and their households. Simply over half (55%) of the general public say they’re “very” or “considerably frightened” about having the ability to afford their prescription drug prices, whereas about half (48%) of insured adults say they’re frightened about affording their month-to-month medical insurance premium.
Worries about well being care prices pervade amongst a majority of adults no matter their financial situation. Amongst adults who report problem affording their month-to-month payments, greater than eight in ten say they’re frightened about the price of well being care companies (86%) or surprising medical payments (83%). Amongst those that report being simply capable of afford their payments, about eight in ten say they’re frightened about having the ability to afford surprising medical payments (84%) or well being care companies (83%). And even amongst adults who say they will afford their payments with cash left over, six in ten nonetheless say they’re “very” or “considerably frightened” about having the ability to afford surprising medical payments (62%) or the price of well being care companies (60%) for themselves and their household. (Supply: KFF Health Tracking Poll: February 2024)
Many U.S. adults could also be one surprising medical invoice from falling into debt. About half of U.S. adults say they’d not be capable of pay an surprising medical invoice that got here to $500 out of pocket. This consists of one in 5 (19%) who wouldn’t be capable of pay it in any respect, 5% who would borrow the cash from a financial institution, payday lender, pals or household to cowl the fee, and one in 5 (21%) who would incur bank card debt in an effort to pay the invoice. Girls, these with decrease family incomes, Black and Hispanic adults are extra probably than their counterparts to say they’d be unable to afford this kind of invoice. (Supply: KFF Health Care Debt Survey: Feb.-Mar. 2022)
Amongst older adults, the prices of long-term care and assist companies are additionally a priority. Virtually six in ten (57%) adults 65 and older say they’re not less than “considerably anxious” about affording the price of a nursing house or assisted dwelling facility in the event that they wanted it, and half say they really feel anxious about having the ability to afford assist companies corresponding to paid nurses or aides. These issues additionally loom giant amongst these between the ages of fifty and 64, with greater than seven in ten saying they really feel anxious about affording residential care (73%) and care from paid nurses or aides (72%) in the event that they had been to wish these companies. See The Affordability of Long-Term Care and Support Services: Findings from a KFF Survey for a deeper dive into issues in regards to the affordability of nursing houses and assist companies.
