Nearly one in five insured Americans, or 44 million people, have skipped out on visiting a physician for a general health concern in the past 12 months because of cost fears, according to a survey conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of SCIO Health Analytics.
The survey was completed online by more than 2,000 U.S. adults of at least 18 years.
While approximately half of U.S. adults (117 million) have at least one chronic condition, 14 percent have avoided seeing a physician in the past year because of cost concern, the survey revealed.
Other findings showed 62 percent of respondents said they would be likely to better understand their health plan information using the websites offered by their healthcare plan provider, while 41 percent said they would gain a more comprehensive understanding by using phone support. Thirty-seven percent said they get information about healthcare costs and services from their insurance company, and 31 percent get this information from their physician.