Submitted by Armen Hareyan on Feb 26th, 2009
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Wednesday found that more than half of Americans cut back on some kind of health care to save money in the past year, the Associated Press reported.
One in four put off general health care needs, including 16 percent who postponed surgery or doctor visits for chronic illnesses. To care for themselves, respondents said they relied instead on home remedies or over-the-counter drugs rather than seeing a doctor or a dentist.
Other findings in the poll, conducted by telephone with 1,204 adults from Feb. 3-12:
* Overall, 53 percent of Americans cut back on health needs in the past 12 months because of the declining economy.
* 10 percent delayed seeing a doctor for a chronic illness like diabetes or asthma.
* 6 percent postponed minor surgery in the doctor's office, while 5 percent delayed major surgery that would have required an overnight hospital stay.
* 19 percent skipped a doctor's visit for temporary illness or preventive care.
Comments
#1 Health care in the United
Health care in the United States is provided by many separate legal entities. Including private and public spending, more is spent per person on health care in the United States than in any other nation in the world. A study of international health care spending levels published in the health policy journal Health Affairs in the year 2000, found that while the U.S. spends more on health care than other countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the use of health care services in the U.S. is below the OECD median by most measures. The authors of the study conclude that the prices paid for health care services are much higher in the U.S. In 1996, 5% of the population accounted for more than half of all costs.
natural gas