Since February 2004, the Kaiser Health Security Watch has asked several questions to compare Americans’ health care worries to their worries about other possible problems. We have consistently found that more Americans are worried about their health care costs than about losing their job, paying their rent or mortgage, losing money in the stock market, or being the victim of a terrorist attack or a violent crime. The two worries that outrank all others involve personal finances and health care costs, and in October, nearly half of adults report being “very” worried about their income not keeping up with rising prices (47%), and around four in ten say they are very worried about having to pay more for health care or insurance (38%).
When asked about specific health care worries, seven in ten are at least “somewhat” worried about having to pay more for health care or insurance. In addition, six in ten say they are “very” or “somewhat” worried about not being able to afford the health care services they think they need (60%), while half say they worry about the quality of their health care getting worse (53%) and about affording prescription drugs (49%).
In a scale that combines six individual questions about people’s ability to access and pay for care, the share of the public that is worried has been fairly steady over time at about six in ten. In October 2008, roughly one-third of the public say they are “very” worried about health costs and coverage (32%), while over half say they are “somewhat” or “very” worried (55%).
Significant differences in worries among various demographics groups persist in this latest tracking survey. Racial and ethnic minorities, people with lower incomes, those with no health insurance, and women consistently express more health care worries than their counterparts.
October 2008 (pdf)
Toplines
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