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Some skipping health care because of cost

A quarter of 4,000 survey participants said they recently skipped health care when they were sick or injured and two-fifths of those indicated they did so because they could not afford it.

“The current economic climate is taking a toll on American consumers, prompting them to increasingly make decisions about health care that are married to their pocketbooks,” Paul H. Keckley, PhD, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, said in a press release. He added that more than half of the survey participants indicated that 50% or more of the dollars spent on health care in the United States are wasted, and most — 94% — believed health care costs were a threat to their personal financial security.

Consumers aged 18 years and older participated in the web-based survey, which was conducted by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions last October. The results were released this week at deloitte.com.

About 16% switched physicians in the past year and three in 10 surveyed consumers switched medications in the past year. All moves were designed to save money. Seventeen percent of enrollees changed health plans and 29% were seeking a lower-cost plan.

More than half of survey respondents reported at least one chronic medical condition. Additionally, 57% of the survey participants indicated they took one or more medications. However, only four in 10 said they took their medications as directed.

The survey revealed that consumers are beginning to test alternative sources for care often driven by lower costs.

For example, 13% of consumers surveyed said they visited a retail clinic this year and 30% said they would do so if it cost 50% or less than seeing a physician. Eight percent of consumers indicated traveling for care outside of their local community as “medical tourists.” Yet only 1% said they traveled offshore to receive care and one in 10 said they would consider doing so if they could save money. One in five consumers also used an alternative or natural therapy to treat a health problem in the past year.

Also, 68% of survey participants expressed interest in home monitoring devices that would enable them to check their condition and to send results to their doctor.