Rising costs replace pandemic as No. 1 reason Americans deter care

The cost of care increasingly outweighed concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic as the top reason patients defer healthcare, according to a study published by Qualtrics, an experience management company.

Five things to know: 

1. Between 2020 and 2022, the share of consumers deferring care because of pandemic-related health concerns decreased from 28 percent to 17 percent while consumers deferring care because of cost concerns increased from 27 percent to 31 percent, according to the study

2. More consumers report having to make spending tradeoffs due to record inflation rates and an unstable economy. High cost of care (46 percent) and higher costs of living (43 percent are the top two reasons patients choose to delay care, according to Qualtrics, which analyzed responses from more than 1,000 people across the U.S.

3. Lack of medical insurance (12 percent) was another factor in the study, which also found that 26 percent of participants chose not to fill a prescription in the past 12 months because of the cost. 

4. Forty-eight percent of consumers reported deferring the care they needed in 2020. That number dipped slightly to 43 percent in 2022. 

5. Nutrition-related care, routine preventative appointments and mental healthcare were the most common types of care consumers in the study reported skipping. Furthermore, 36 percent of respondents said they had taken on debt to pay for healthcare while 43 percent said they are unlikely to seek care if it means taking on debt. 

"If people can't afford to access care in the first place, then not only are they having a poor experience, but we will never fully realize the health outcomes in our communities that we aspire to," Qualtrics Chief Medical Officer Adrienne Boissy, MD, who previously served as Cleveland Clinic's chief experience officer, said in a news release. "While encouraging that people feel more comfortable seeking the care they need, the cost barrier to care during these tenuous economic times is worrisome. It reinforces the need to hear from our communities and provide access in the channels that work for the populations that need us the most. This research further emphasizes the need to constantly listen with intention and to design solutions with our patients."

Click here for more details on the study and here to learn more about Qualtrics.

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