37% of Americans avoided recommended care in 2013

[eridani]

http://mobile.commonwealthfund.org/Publications/In-the-Literature/2013/Nov/Access-Affordability-and-Insurance.aspx



■In 2013, more than one-third (37%) of U.S. adults went without recommended care, did not see a doctor when they were sick, or failed to fill prescriptions because of costs, compared with as few as 4 percent to 6 percent in the United Kingdom and Sweden.

■Roughly 40 percent of both insured and uninsured U.S. respondents spent $1,000 or more out-of-pocket during the year on medical care, not counting premiums. High deductibles and cost-sharing, along with no limits on out-of-pocket costs, may explain why even insured people in the U.S. struggled to afford needed health care, the researchers said.

■Nearly one-quarter (23%) of U.S. adults either had serious problems paying medical bills or were unable to pay them, compared with fewer than 13 percent of adults in the next-highest country, France, and 6 percent or fewer in the U.K., Sweden, and Norway.

■About one of three (32%) U.S. adults spent a lot of time dealing with insurance paperwork and disputes or were either denied payment for a claim or paid less than expected. Only 25 percent of adults in Switzerland, 19 percent in the Netherlands, and 17 percent in Germany—all countries with competitive health insurance markets—reported these problems. U.S. insurers spent $606 per person on administrative costs, more than twice the amount in the next-highest country. Such high costs result from a complex, fragmented insurance system, the researchers write.

■The vast majority (75%) of U.S. adults said their health system needs to undergo fundamental changes or be rebuilt completely.

■The U.S. spends $8,508 per person on health care. That is nearly $3,000 more per person than Norway, the second-highest spender.

[KG]

1. few problems with the HC systems were address by ACA. we have to share in them now.

woo-fucking-hoo.

[meaculpa2011]

2. I avoided reccomended treatment in 2013.

Injured my shoulder doing post-Sandy reconstruction. Hurt like hell.

The orthopedist recommended physical therapy. He owns the PT facility.

He finds out what insurance will pay and recommends accordingly.

I went to two sessions, then bagged it. It wasn't treatment, it was a Wallet-ectomy.

Yes insurance was paying for it, but it's still a scam.

[Laelth]

3. k&r for the truth, however depressing it may be. n/t

-Laelth

[hobbit709]

4. Inability to pay is not avoided.

[Fearless]

6. +10000!

[Enthusiast]

5. All 2014 Democratic House and Senate candidates for office

should be up front about the need for true single payer national health care. This would help their candidacy. The poll results are in. We should settle for nothing less.

[mdbl]

7. The statistic sounds a bit low

I know they never asked me about it.

[City Lights]

11. Me neither. nt

[bemildred]

8. I am permanently in defiance of recommended care. Make me, that's what I say. nt

[canoeist52]

9. Whoever invented the idea of a "deductable" in health insurance

left a wake of health destruction in his path.

[LWolf]

10. I avoid care unless I can't function without it.

I can't afford my deductibles and copays.

It's been that way for a long time.

[davidn3600]

12. Huge deductables

A doctor recommends a test or treatment, then the patient does their research and finds out it'll cost $2,000+ dollars because they have to first meet a deductible. So they skip it.
Insurance companies know exactly what they're doing.

For example, a colonoscopy could cost over $3,000 out of pocket...even more if something is found. This is even when someone has insurance that meets ACA standards.