Americans feeling the growing burden of health care, costs
Four distinct issues covered in the survey results highlight specific aspects of American health care that are falling short.
Of the 1,000 people surveyed, 30% said they feel overwhelmed by health care and medical bills. This segment also worries about the accuracy of their medical bills and looks for simpler ways to process payments. They also say they’re stressed by the time and effort required to manage medical bills and costs. They also worry about their health and ability to pay medical bills if there is a health emergency with either them or within the family.
Meanwhile, 23% of those surveyed say they feel anxious, citing concerns about things like identity theft, medical identity theft and health insurance billing fraud. Also, online security is an issue for them, along with the increased risk of medical fraud by sharing health information online.
In addition, 24% of people think the health insurance system should save people money and not make it more difficult to stay on top of bills.
This segment of people believes most people need insurance to afford medical costs and that health information should remain between patients, doctors and insurance companies. The fourth and final segment looking at health care attitudes is the so-called proactive segment, representing 23% of respondents. They feel that being healthy protects them from health care costs and are confident in their financial skills and ability to plan ahead for health care needs, believing that doing so can help reduce costs.
Most respondents (54%) agree that physical health and wellbeing are extremely important. Respondents in the “proactive” and “fix the system” segments are statistically more likely to say their health is extremely important. More than 1 in 3 respondents say their overall health is very good or excellent, with “proactive” respondents statistically most likely to say their health is excellent. Half of respondents believe they have about the same level of health care needs as others their age.
Overwhelmed respondents are statistically and significantly less likely than other segments to say they have relatively fewer healthcare needs than others their age.
The majority of respondents (93%) have health insurance, with a smaller percentage having an HSA, FSA, or HRA (24%). Overwhelmed respondents are statistically less likely to have health insurance. Most (78%) of those with health insurance rate their policy as good or excellent, with proactive respondents statistically and significantly more likely than the other segments to say their coverage is excellent.