To minimize their out-of-pocket expenses, many Americans have delayed treatment until the new year to wait for new insurance plans to kick in, according to The Plain Dealer.
The newspaper spoke to one woman in Ohio who has a chronic inflammatory bowel disease and uses a J-pouch to handle waste. The woman, who suspects she has an infection, hasn't visited a gastrointestinal specialist in three years because each new insurance plan she got didn't cover specialists.
The woman is among a growing group of Americans who have delayed medical care in the past year over cost concerns. In 2018, more than 7 percent of households reported that at least one person in the household delayed medical treatment in the past year because of cost, according to CDC data.
The woman said that after a brief stint on Medicaid, she became ineligible for coverage after a profitable summer as a freelance writer. She opted for a domestic partnership high-deductible health plan, but since the $3,000 deductible now resets for the year, she is waiting to get care, telling the publication, "I basically have to stay sick."
To read the full report, click here.