18 million
Number of U.S adults (7% of the population) who are “cost desperate,” meaning that in the past 3 months they were unable to pay for needed medical treatment and skipped prescribed medications because of cost, and who said they would be unable to afford quality care if they needed it today. Findings are based on a survey of nearly 5,600 American adults.
32%
Percentage of U.S. adults who are “cost insecure,” who experienced one or two of the criteria of being unable to pay for needed medical treatment or prescribed medications in the last 3 months, or who thought they wouldn’t be able to afford quality care if they needed it today. The remaining 61% are “cost secure,” meaning they reported no recent instances of any of these situations.
94%
Percentage of those who are cost desperate, saying that health care costs were a daily source of stress, compared with 62% of those who are cost insecure and 23% of those who are cost secure. Similarly, 92% of those who are cost desperate also said that they were not very or not at all confident that they’d have the funds to pay for treatment as they age, compared with 75% of those who are cost insecure and 36% of those who are cost secure.
48%
Percentage of cost-desperate individuals who have three or more chronic conditions, compared with 36% of all U.S. adults. In terms of gender and ethnicity, 57% of cost-desperate individuals are women and 25% are Hispanic Americans, even though they make up just 51% and 17% of the total population, respectively.
