Over 30% of Americans
Delayed Medical Treatment
Last Year - Cite 'Too Expensive'
57% Said, 'Medical Problem was
Very or Somewhat Serious'
PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y., Jan. 25, 2004 -- Americans are feeling
the pinch of rising medical costs. Now it's starting to impact
their family well-being. In the first update of the Reader's
Digest Family Index, the Gallup Organization polled 1,000
people and found that last year alone, 31% of Americans put
off medical treatment because it was too expensive. Of that
group, 57% said the medical problem was very or somewhat
serious.
These results mean that in the past year, 18% of all U.S.
families-more than one in six-experienced a serious health
problem they could not afford to treat.
"The Readers Digest Family Index demonstrates vividly the
impact that health care costs have on American families. Every
presidential candidate, including President Bush, emphasized
his plan to increase government support for Medicare," says
Norm Ornstein, resident scholar at the American Enterprise
Institute and Reader's Digest Family Index advisor. "The
stunning number in the Family Index-that nearly a third of
American families had put off medical treatment because they
could not afford it-makes the abstract problem real indeed."
Some 43.6 million people have no health insurance, according
to a 2003 U.S. Census Bureau report. With premiums rising at
six times the rate of inflation, fewer employers are offering
health coverage. The number of workers at corporations with
more than 500 employees who lack health coverage has increased
by 50 percent since 1987, reports The Commonwealth Fund, a
health care research foundation.
The Reader's Digest Family Index, a twice-a-year survey and
index of family well-being, is produced in conjunction with
the Gallup Organization. Until now, the U.S. has measured
society's well-being using consumer indices based almost
exclusively on spending patterns. But families know there is
more to life than buying school supplies or refrigerators.
This unique ongoing project will provide unprecedented
insights into the core concerns of American families, the
foundation of our society.
Source: Reader's
Digest Association, Inc. |
