Americans are planning on adjusting what they spend on healthcare visits and pharmacy costs because of financial challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to survey findings from PwC's Health Research Institute.
For the findings, the institute surveyed more than 2,500 Americans between April 2 and 8. What the institute found is 32 percent of respondents have already adjusted or were planning on adjusting their healthcare spending for visits because of COVID-19. Twenty-two percent of respondents said the same about medication spending.
Consumers who were more likely to say they would adjust their healthcare spending were those with complex chronic illnesses and those in healthy families.
The institute outlined what the implications of adjustments in healthcare spending could mean: "Delaying procedures, reducing spending on preventive care and chronic care, and decreasing adherence to medications may have negative long-term impacts on health status, although the extent is unknown."
Read the full survey findings here.