The American Public on Health Care-The Missing Perspective - (Page 12)

What We Learned We have known for some time about the rising cost of health care and the tragically large number of uninsured people in the United States. We were, however, surprised by two main findings and the changes people want government to lead. 01: Anxiety About Cost We learned through our town hall discussions—and confirmed it through local and national opinion research —that there is palpable anxiety about the affordability of health care among Americans from all walks of life, including people who have health coverage and those who do not. The bottom line is that we spend twice as much per person on health care than other developed countries and yet we have lower life expectancy, lower infant survival, and higher death rates due to treatable diseases like diabetes.1 When Americans think about health care, they worry first and foremost about its cost. Whether rich or poor, young or old, insured or uninsured, cost dominates their concerns (see Figure A). While cost is the top concern for all surveyed, those ages 40 to 64 are far more concerned about cost (56%) than are their younger (18-39) and older (65+) counterparts (47% each). There is widespread disillusionment with the financial hardship associated with health care: according to our national survey, two-thirds of Americans (65%) express negative views about the affordability of health care in their area, and in the surveys conducted in the metropolitan areas where we held town halls, these percentages are even higher (see Figure B). Most uninsured Americans surveyed (57%) say they simply cannot afford coverage. Another 30% cite reasons having to do with employment: they’re not employed (14%), their employer does not offer coverage (9%), or they are between jobs (7%) (see Figure C ). More than 1 in 4 Americans (26%) have put off medical treatment within the last 12 months because they could not afford it, including 58% of those who are currently uninsured. Even those who currently have health insurance are feeling the crunch, with 20% reporting that they too have put off treatment because they could not afford the out-of-pocket costs. Age is also a factor— just 11% of those over age 65 have put off treatment compared to 29% of those age 18 to 39 (see Figure D). 1 “Chronic diseases as tracer conditions in international benchmarking of health systems: the example of diabetes.” McKee M, Nolte E, Bain C; Academy Health. Meeting (2005: Boston, MA.) Abstract accessed at: http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=103622970.html 12 http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=103622970.html

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