Gallup poll: 3 in 10 Americans skip medical care due to cost

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A record number of Americans are skipping necessary medical care because of cost, according to a new Gallup poll.

The poll of more than 1,000 U.S. adults found that 32 percent of Americans say they had to put off medical care for themselves or a family member over the past year because of finances. Gallup said that's the highest percentage since Gallup began tracking this measure 12 years ago, when 19 percent of Americans said they put off medical care.

"The cost of healthcare is a longstanding issue in the United States," wrote Elizabeth Mendes on Gallup's website. "The rising costs can put personal as well as public health at risk if Americans forgo treatment they need because they feel they cannot afford it."

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For the poll, Gallup conducted interviews from a randomly selected sample of adults over 18 who were chosen through random dialing. The maximum margin of sampling error is +/- four percentage points.

Gallup also reports that 55 percent of uninsured adults had to put off care, as did 30 precent of those with private health insurance and 21 percent of survey responders who have Medicare or Medicaid.

Of those who put off medical care, 19 percent had a serious condition and 13 percent had a non-serious one, percentages that have doubled since a 2001 Gallup poll.

In September, a Consumer Reports survey of nearly 1,200 U.S. adults found 45 percent of those under 65 skipped getting a prescription because of costs, while 63 percent wouldn't see a doctor at all when they were sick to save money. Overall, 81 percent of those surveyed admitted skipping out on either a medical-related procedure, visit or prescription.

[ACRScout]

The IRS says that the minimum coverage plans will cost $20,000.00 per year, my current plan costs $5,000.00 per year. My current plan covers a family of four for health, dental and vision, and it has paid for a full round of cancer treatment for acute myeloid leukemia, with no threats of being dropped or rates increasing. So now, the IRA says that to get worse coverage than I have now, I will pay four times the price??? and this is "reducing cost". Face it people, Obama has sold you a bill of goods designed to undermine the greatest healthcare system in the world.

[CarsonCitySteve]

And I bet you think Obamacare will solve this problem? Ha! Ha! Ho! Ho! Hee! Hee! Yeah, right. Now you'll have "affordable health insurance" but still can't pay the deductable.

[k_r_s_7]

hey are not skipping they are being denied medical care & treatment, because they cannot afford the care they need to keep them alive. They are being denied the care. I have had friends & distant family member died due to not being able to get medical care. The cost is too high, only certain individuals are profiteering off the sufferings of others, insurance companies are corrupt, and too many individuals are being blocked & sabotage from getting the care that they need so they wont die and have to suffer.