From 2001 to 2021, the cost of healthcare increased faster (3.3 percent) than the cost of all goods and services (2.2 percent). With U.S. inflation hitting its highest point in 40 years, consumers are making difficult choices about household expenses, including whether or not they can afford medical care, according to a survey conducted by Deloitte.
On the other hand, inflation, a challenging labor market and ongoing supply chain issues are placing financial stress on hospitals, health systems and clinicians, and these costs could be passed on to the consumer, according to the survey, which found that inflation concerns are already affecting consumers' healthcare decisions.
In response to rising expenses, some patients are delaying routine care, cancer screenings and preventive care, among others. These delays can exacerbate health issues and later force people to visit high-cost settings such as the emergency room, especially when minor health issues develop into major ones, Deloitte found. These costs, some of which can be prevented, could ripple through the healthcare system and push health spending even higher.
Five takeaways from the research:
1. Inflation is the top reason nearly one-third of Americans are concerned about covering unexpected health care needs.
2. Twenty-eight percent of consumers surveyed — or about 72 million American adults based on 2020 U.S. Census data — feel less prepared to pay for routine and unexpected medical costs than they did last year.
3. Thirty percent of consumers are either "planning" (13 percent) or "still deciding" (17 percent) to change their health insurance plans to cut costs for the 2023 health insurance enrollment.
4. Twenty-six percent of consumers who don't have a health plan that covers virtual visits intend to change their health plans to accommodate.
5. Almost two-thirds of consumers who had virtual healthcare visits last year cited convenience (38 percent) or cost (27 percent) as the top reasons why they sought virtual health.
With these results in mind, it's critical that hospitals and health systems find ways to offset the effect of inflation on consumers' ability to interact with the health system before they opt out entirely, and virtual health may be a viable solution.
"The convergence of inflation with the demands from today's empowered health care consumer may be the catalyst for industry change that propels us toward virtual and digital health options that are designed to be more convenient, affordable and accessible," Asif Dhar, MD, vice chair and U.S. life sciences and healthcare industry leader at Deloitte, said in a Nov. 14 news release. "This will require rethinking how services are delivered, how consumers can be empowered to take control of their health earlier and more proactively. This can accelerate transitioning to new models of screening, prevention, care and cure that we call the 'Future of Health.'"