Californians worried about health-care costs

Nearly half don’t know the cost of their insurance deductible

This article was published on 04.05.12

According to a new survey from the California HealthCare Foundation, Californians are concerned about rising health-care costs and increasingly make decisions to delay needed care because of high costs. Despite this, only one in four of those surveyed had sought out price information before receiving care, and almost half said they did not know the cost of their insurance deductibles.

The survey also found that:

• Most respondents report flat premium rates and stable benefits.

• Nearly 75 percent expect their health costs to increase in the future.

• Almost 40 percent of those who report their costs have risen say they expect their benefits to worsen rather than improve.

• Slightly more than 33 percent report delaying care in the previous year because of costs.

• One-fourth say they delayed getting a regular physical because of costs.

Source: California HealthCare Foundation