Some Boomers Edgy on Health Care Costs

Health care costs are daunting to nearly a fifth of the
people who took part in a recent AARP survey.

The telephone survey, conducted in November by Woelfel Research, included
1,001 U.S. adults age 45 and older. All but 10% of them have health insurance,
either from their employer, their spouse's employer, private insurance, or Medicare .

One survey question was, "How confident are you that you will be able to
afford medical care next year?"

Most people -- 81% -- said they were at least somewhat confident. That
leaves the remaining 19% unsure that they will be able to foot their health
care bills in 2009. Here are the details:

• Extremely confident: 26%


• Very confident: 33%


• Somewhat confident: 22%


• Not very confident: 9%


• Not at all confident: 10%

Likewise, when asked specifically about affording prescription drug costs
next year, most people -- 83% -- were at least somewhat confident. But 9% were
not very confident and 8% were not at all confident that they could afford
their prescription drugs . Most participants reported spending up to $200
per month for up to six prescription drugs in 2008.

Taking Action

Survey participants were also asked what they had done to try to contain
their health care costs.

• 58% said that when a doctor prescribes a new drug, they always ask if
  there's a generic equivalent.


• 62% said they always pick the generic version, if one is available.


• 49% said they've asked their doctor if there are things they can do (such
  as
  physical activity and
  diet change) to lower their number of medications.


• 77% said they've never been prescribed a brand-name drug that they couldn't
  afford.


• 85% said they hadn't cut back on medications in the past year because of
  costs.

By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
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