For Americans, paying for health care is often a hardship, even for those with health insurance, with many people saying they struggle to afford rising premiums, deductibles, co-pays and other medical costs.
Just over half of working-age Americans say they sometimes can’t afford health care, according to the Commonwealth Fund. About 4 in 10 workers with employer-sponsored insurance or who are on Medicaid say they have difficulty paying, while that rises to about 6 in 10 for people buying coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces, the study found.
By comparison, three-quarters of people without insurance report problems affording care, according to the advocacy group, which promotes fairness in health care.
Nearly two in five, or 38%, of insured Americans reported delaying or skipping needed treatment or medication because of high out-of-pocket costs. Rising medical costs are also straining household budgets, with about 30% of working-age adults with health insurance saying these expenses make it difficult to afford essentials like food, utilities, car payments and loans.
“It is much better to have insurance. People who are uninsured report higher rates of problems with going without care because of cost,” Sara Collins, a health services researcher and lead author of the study, told CBS MoneyWatch. “But they also suggest that insurance coverage often fails to provide affordable access to care for large segments of the population.”
Collins also supports policies that expand coverage and rein in health care costs so people can afford to stay healthy without piling up medical debt, a leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the U.S. That could include expanding subsidies for lower-income people so their deductibles, copayments and co-insurance costs are less burdensome.
Efforts by insurance companies to expand their provider networks would also lower people’s out-of-pocket costs, she said. By 2022, more than 100 million Americans will have health care-related debt, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Joseph Betancourt, MD, president of the Commonwealth Fund, also noted that high health care costs are linked to Americans having one of the highest rates of chronic disease in the world.
“This is unsustainable for our health care system and our nation – we need major reforms to ensure that people can get the care they need when they need it most,” he said in a statement.
