Americans reduce use of health services to save money

New data from a survey by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) indicates that Americans may be foregoing health services to save money. The survey questioned 686 consumers of health care, and 22% responded that they have reduced the number or frequency of doctor visits.

While the NAIC should be commended for recognizing that lack of insurance contributes to people skipping doctor’s visits or not filling prescriptions to save money, more research needs to be done to quantify how many Americans with insurance are cutting back on health care service consumption as well. Even the insured may be subject to large deductibles, co-payments, or co-insurance amounts on top of premiums that fewer employers are sharing. Also, many of the insured are now discovering they are “underinsured” for conditions that are serious and expensive, such as cancer. Many policies have instituted lifetime maximums or maximums for particularly expensive diseases, and while a $1 million maximum may seem high, it can be reached in a short amount of time when multiple treatments costing more than $100,000 per year are involved.

Do you know anyone who is reducing their use of health services to save money? Apart from skipping having a prescription filled, is there any other method you have used to save health care money, such as getting a prescription filled at a cheaper pharmacy or switching to generics? What about changing your doctor to one who is in-network or even changing to a cheaper insurance policy?