The report reveals concerning trends among Americans accessing healthcare, including a complete inability to pay.
PayZen, a healthcare-focused technology company tackling healthcare affordability with AI-powered solutions, released its latest industry report titled The High Cost of Health: Analyzing America’s Healthcare Affordability Crisis.
The report surveyed 1,007 Americans who had a hospital visit or surgery for themselves or a dependent in the last 24 months about the accessibility and affordability of healthcare in the US. The report reveals concerning trends among Americans accessing healthcare, including a complete inability to pay.
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Some key findings of the report include:
- 75% of respondents worry about affording unexpected medical bills.
- The average respondent revealed that they could afford a maximum monthly payment of $97 for out-of-pocket medical expenses.
- Over a third (36%) of respondents have skipped needed medical care in the past year due to costs, and nearly 2 in 5 (39%) have postponed care for over a year.
Due to this unaffordability, Americans have had to resort to unsafe and unhealthy measures such as postponing appointments and skipping prescriptions. Specifically, the report showed that:
- 36% of responders have skipped or postponed medical care in the past 12 months due to cost. This number goes up to 83% for uninsured individuals.
- Nearly half (49%) of that healthcare skipped includes preventative visits, followed by prescription drugs (48%), mental health care (40%), and diagnostic testing (39%).
- As a result of skipping or postponing such medical care, responders have experienced increased stress and anxiety (68%), worsened health problems (48%), and over a quarter (26%) of respondents have experienced a negative impact on job performance or career progression as a result of skipping or postponing medical care.
- Uninsured individuals are more likely to skip or postpone medical care for more than a year due to costs (63%).
However, just because Americans are unable to pay, does not mean they are unwilling to. In fact, 9 in 10 (91%) respondents would be willing to forgo certain luxuries to alleviate their healthcare costs out of necessity. The desire to pay is there, but the ability to pay isn’t.
“These findings underscore the urgent need to address healthcare affordability issues to ensure equitable access to essential services and alleviate financial burdens on individuals and families,” says Itzik Cohen, Founder & CEO of PayZen. “It’s not a willingness to pay issue, it’s a financial capacity to pay problem”. We’re emboldened by the findings in this report to continue our mission to bring financial health to healthcare, and restore people’s autonomy when it comes to their financial and physical health.”
The report also revealed that Americans are optimistic about the potential for extended payment options and other affordability technology solutions to help alleviate these problems. 77% of respondents agree that making monthly payments over a period longer than 12 months would make medical bills more affordable, suggesting a need for flexible payment solutions. Plus, 75% of respondents agree that having multiple options to pay over extended periods would make them more likely to pay medical bills.
PayZen uses advanced technology to solve healthcare affordability end-to-end, leading to happier, healthier patients and improved financial outcomes for providers. PayZen’s award-winning, data-driven, personalized payment plans ease the financial burden for patients post-care. PayZen’s latest product, the Care Card, gives healthcare consumers all the benefits of PayZen’s post-service payment plans in the form of a physical and virtual debit card for convenient use at point-of-care, or for recurring care scenarios. The Care Card addresses the growing problem of patients putting off care due to cost, improving healthcare access, and providing financial peace of mind for consumers.
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