The U.S currently spends upwards of $420 million per hour on healthcare, a number that is increasing by the minute, and if current trends continue, the nation’s total healthcare spending will top $12 trillion by the year 2040 according to a new interactive website launched at the West Health Summit. The website http://healthcostcrisis.org is capable of tracking and forecasting healthcare spending in the U.S. in real time.
West Health https://www.westhealth.org dedicated to lowering the cost of healthcare held their “Healthcare Costs Innovation (HCI) Summit” April 2, 2019 in Washington D.C to explore the real impact of the high cost of healthcare. Stakeholders attending included policymakers, healthcare providers, economists, regulators, drug companies, pharmacy benefit managers, and advocacy groups.
“Skyrocketing healthcare costs are threatening the health and financial security of millions of Americans and the consequences are not only costly but deadly,” said Shelley Lyford, President and CEO of West Health.
Based on findings from a new survey conducted by West Health and Gallup, a global analytics and advice firm, Americans are borrowing tens of billions of dollars, skipping treatment, and significantly cutting back on household spending to pay for basic healthcare.
The survey results were published April 2, 2019, in the report “The U.S Healthcare Cost Crisis”. The information in the report is based on a nationally representative survey of more than 3,500 American adults questioned on the impact of the high cost of healthcare on personal finances, individual healthcare choices, and their level of satisfaction with the U.S healthcare system.
Other key survey findings include:
- If choosing between freezing healthcare costs for the next five years, or have a 10 percent increase in household income, 61 percent of Americans said their preference is to freeze healthcare costs
- 77 percent of Americans are concerned that rising costs will significantly damage the U.S. economy
- 76 percent expect their costs for healthcare will increase even more in the next two years
- 15 million Americans have deferred purchasing prescription drugs in the past year due to cost
- Nearly three million have borrowed $10,000 or more to pay for healthcare in the past year
- Only about one-third report that doctors discuss costs with them in advance of providing procedures, tests, or treatment plans, or for the medicine required to treat their conditions.
According to those surveyed, there is pessimism about the government’s ability to address the crisis, but this is also a bipartisan issue. Overall, three quarters of respondents report that government is currently not doing enough to ensure that their prescription drugs are affordable.
Go to https://news.gallup.com/poll/248123/westhealth-gallup-us-healthcare-cost-crisis-report.aspx, for the report.