A growing number of Americans find it too expensive to see doctors even though more people have health insurance, a U.S. study suggests.
Over the past two decades, the proportion of adults without insurance dropped to 14.8% from 16.9%, the study found. But during this same period, the proportion of adults unable to afford doctor visits climbed from 11.4% to 15.7%.
Out-of-pocket costs made doctors too expensive for the uninsured, but costs also kept people with coverage from seeing physicians even when they had chronic medical conditions requiring regular checkups.
For people with health benefits, the proportion unable to pay for doctor visits rose from 7.1% to 11.5%.
"The quality of private health insurance is getting worse, and the cost of healthcare is rising significantly," said lead study author Dr. Laura Hawks of the Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
"We know that private health insurance plans increasing rely on high premiums, high-deductible health plans . . . high copays and other forms of cost-sharing," Hawks said by email. "All these create financial barriers."
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It's a game and a gimmick. The doctors get you coming and going. They bang you in the pocket coming in the door and they bang you going out... plus your paying for health insurance anyway...wtf...
ReplyDeleteWith a deductible of $7500, we basically do not have insurance.
ReplyDeleteAgreed...
DeleteRoll Back Prices on EVERYTHING in this country & the world Or
ReplyDeleteit will be like Japan !!! Stop Inflation & Gouging !!!!
Keep Democrats Out of power & let Trump do the Fix !!!
RealRay
ReplyDeleteTake the insurance out of it and take the government out of it and let the free market figure it out
Agree 100 percent...
DeleteIt's almost as if....we need a healthcare overhaul. Come on people, it's time to stop letting pharma giants run the country. Insurance is ridiculous and being poor shouldn't be a reason to have bad healthcare.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI figured out that under Obamacare, if I bought a plan I would be paying about $10K out of pocket in premiums and copays before I ever got one DIME from the insurance.
So I kept the money and paid everything myself. I'm still way ahead.
I hope it stays that way for you. I recently was in the ER for chest pain. The bill was about 15,000.00 dollars. I'm glad I had insurance. Agree it should not cost that much.
DeleteInsurance companies govern health care and cost...not the doctors!
ReplyDeleteAgree. Most blame the doctor but we buy insurance- it’s our contact with the insurance company the dictates the payments. Besides, with almost everyone having a high deductible plan, that’s a high burden for most families.
DeleteDO AWAY with the rest of OBAMA CARE to begin with !!! Fact
ReplyDeleteAnd Doctors are getting sick of the crap as well.As their numbers dwindle it only gets worse.
ReplyDeletebig pharma and the insurances companies like it this way. They can rape all who are involved except the politicians!
ReplyDeleteNot going to change! the politicians get free medical care from walter reed and free drugs from congress provided pharmacy!
you and your doctor get f'd!
After the big l.6% Social Security raise, I now get less money because Medicare went up more than the SS raise, plus I pay a fortune for a supplemental insurance to Medicare. You can't win.
ReplyDeleteWhen Omamba Care is Gone All will be better !!!!! 2020
ReplyDeleteI have found a doctor, on the shore believe it or not, that charges a flat fee for the year. Except for any specialists I might have to see and a select few of other things, I pay nothing else at that office.
ReplyDeleteAND he actually takes the time to TALK to me and LISTENS when I talk. I'm lovin it so far.
My first appt with the doc was at least two hours long. Most of which was getting to know each other and review meds and so on. But just being able to TALK and be listened to is such an improvement over all the other doctors, pp's, and whatever else they send you besides a dr.
I once had a young girl, (SU graduate prob) raise her voice to me because I wasn't listening to her. (I was getting an MRI which I have done numerous times) I already knew the drew and she was giving the standard speech, like flight attendants do when they show you how to fasten a seat belt.
I wanted to slap her so much and say 'send me someone who has a bedside manner etc.
Not to mention those staff at a pain control office, they are beasts and not in a good way. Not the doctor, just those knuckleheaded nurses.
For the time being at least, I am very happy with this practice and being treated like a HUMAN.