Dive Brief:
- A new Gallup poll found that 30% of adults or or their relatives delayed medical treatment in the past year due to financial reasons.
- 59% of the uninsured have put off treatment; that's more than twice as likely as Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries, or the privately-insured.
- 25% of the privately insured reported putting off care, and 22% of Medicaid and Medicare patients reported postponing care.
Dive Insight:
While it's good to document trends, this report comes with few surprises. Across the board, Americans are being asked to bear a greater level of care expenses, often a large percentage, and doing so may jeopardize their families' financial health. I wish we could say that the ACA plans will change things, but so far they appear to be cut from the same cloth as those elsewhere in the marketplace, sporting large deductibles and big co-insurance payments. When it comes to care accessibility, it looks like things will get worse before they get better.