About half of Americans struggle to get health services and prescription drugs.
This is the warning of the latest report from the Healthcare Affordability Index, which shows how many people in the US have been forced to avoid medical care or have not been able to fill their prescriptions in the past three months – and how many would struggle to pay for care if it was needed.
The price has fallen six points since 2022, to a record low of 55 percent since the index began in 2021.
According to the researchers, this decline mainly affects two age groups: those aged 50-64 (down eight points to 55 percent in the same period) and those 65 and over pass (down eight points to 71 percent).
However, the hardest-hit age group to afford health care is adults under 50—with 53 percent unable to pay their bills, down five points from from 2022.
The Healthcare Affordability Index is produced by West Health—a nonprofit group—and the Gallup polling firm.
«After peaking in 2022, health care affordability in America is headed in the wrong direction,» said West Health president Timothy Lash in a statement.
«The good news is that the health care provisions in the Budget Cuts Act—including empowering Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices, which have not yet been implemented—could help slow these trends. negative and provide more stability.»
However, Lash continued, «There is more to be done to lower prices for Americans of all ages.
«High costs are one of the biggest barriers to a healthy aging population and a thriving economy.»
To calculate the index’s latest value, researchers surveyed 5,149 US adults from across the country using an email and online survey.
Each participant was divided into one of three groups based on their reported ease of accessing and paying for medical care, including prescription drugs.
Those in the «secure cost» category have not been aware of recent issues in accessing or paying for health care.
On the other hand, those who answered «insecure costs» report that they are soon unable to access or pay for care and medicine, while those who are called «costs of distress» face both obstacles.
Western Life-Gallup
Overall, the survey found that 45 percent of American adults are insecure or depressed, compared to 39 percent in 2022 and 44 percent in 2011.
According to the researchers, younger adults are more than three times more likely to have high expenses than their counterparts age 65 and older, at 10 to 3 percent.
The analysis also highlighted other disparities, with Black and Hispanic adults more likely to find themselves in financial need than their white counterparts—by 11 and 14 percent, respectively. compared to 7 percent.
Additionally, 11 percent of women were classified as cheap, almost double the number of their male counterparts (6 percent.)
Is US health care good value for money?
Although health care in the US seems to have decreased in general, it would appear that the public is growing slightly in terms of the value of such value in relation to the amount paid.
In fact, the number of Americans who believe the care they receive is worth the cost has increased by 9 percent since 2021, according to the corresponding Healthcare Value Index also published by West Health and Gallup.
However, overall, public satisfaction could be improved, as 36 percent of US adults believe they—and Americans in general—are being charged more than they care about.
The findings follow the recently released West Health–Gallup on Aging in America Survey, which reported that one in three Americans—about 72.2 million people—had avoided seeking health care in the past quarter because of the cost.
«The year 2022 showed encouraging trends in health care price increases, after the pandemic,» said Gallup senior researcher Dan Witters.
«The decline in 2024 is related to the fact that it reflects the weakening of American purchasing power in the midst of a high-cost health care system.
«In a relatively short period of time, many seniors have gone from feeling confident that they can afford health care costs, to struggling to pay their medical bills.»
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