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Benefits March 22, 2007
Poll Finds Health Care Cost Tops List of Concerns
March 22, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The rising cost
of health care was cited as a pressing concern by 85% of
respondents to a recent survey - beating out the war in Iraq,
cited by 79% of respondents.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
A press release on the survey sponsored by the American Society for Quality (ASQ) said 79% of American adults polled said universal coverage would improve health care quality. Additionally, 88% of respondents agreed being able to go to any doctor would improve the quality of their health care over the next five years.
Other survey results, according to the release, included:
- More than one in four U.S. adults have not filled a prescription (29%) or have delayed a medical procedure (28%) due to expense.
- Women are more likely than men to think universal health care coverage would improve the quality of healthcare over the next 5 years (83% of women vs. 75% of men).
- Women (38%) are more likely than men (19%) to have failed to fill a prescription due to expense, and women (34%) are also more likely than men (22%) to delay medical procedures due to expense.
- 68% of adults indicated they thought it would improve the quality of health care over the next 5 years if individuals became less dependent on health insurance companies for the cost of their own healthcare. Men (71%) are more likely than women (66%) to indicate that they thought lower dependency would improve healthcare quality.
Harris Interactive conducted the online survey within the United States on behalf of the ASQ in February among 2,758 U.S. adults 18 years of age or older.