1-in-4 American Families Have Not Sought Medical Attention Due to Cost

NEW YORK, June 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Over the past year, one-in-four American families have decided not to seek medical attention when they needed it because of the cost, according to a new study from Bankrate.com.  Older millennials, ages 27-36, were the most likely to say this (32 percent).  To view the survey results go to:

http://www.bankrate.com/banking/savings/money-pulse-0617/

“It’s very concerning that people are foregoing medical attention because of the expense,” said Robin Saks Frankel, credit card analyst at Bankrate.com.  “Thirteen percent of respondents don’t have any health insurance at all – a risk that could cost them.  Unexpected medical bills can lead to a huge financial burden that could take years to pay off should something go wrong.”

Affordable healthcare for everyone is something the U.S. government has been working to establish for some time now, but Americans are discouraged.  More than half of Americans (56 percent) are worried that they might not have affordable health insurance in the future.  Generation X, ages 37-52, are most concerned (64 percent), followed by Baby Boomers (58 percent), Millennials (56percent) and the Silent Generation (35percent).

Although the Trump administration promises to bring a better healthcare option to U.S. citizens, Americans say they prefer the Affordable Care Act (introduced by the Obama administration in 2010) to the Republican alternative by a wide margin: 43 percent to 25 percent,overall. The results are similar across virtually all demographic groups, with the exception of political affiliation.  Notably, Republicans (54 percent) favor the new legislation more than Democrats (10percent) or Independents (26 percent).

Princeton Survey Research Associates International obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 1,002 adults living in the continental United States. Interviews were conducted by landline (502) and cell phone (500, including 323 without a landline phone) in English and Spanish by Princeton Data Source from May 18-21, 2017. Statistical results are weighted to correct known demographic discrepancies. The margin of sampling error for the complete set of weighted data is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

About Bankrate.com

Bankrate.com provides consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. For over two decades, Bankrate.com has been a leading personal finance destination.  The company offers award-winning editorial content, competitive rate information, and calculators and tools across multiple categories, including mortgages, deposits, credit cards, retirement, automobile loans, and taxes. Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of over 600 local markets, Bankrate generates rate tables in all 50 U.S. states. Bankrate develops and provides web services to more than 100 cobranded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the internet, such as Comcast, Yahoo!, CNBC and Bloomberg.  In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to more than 500 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times.

SOURCE Bankrate.com