By Robert Preidt
HealthDay reporter
FRIDAY, May 7, 2021 (HealthDay News) – Many American workers stay in jobs they’d rather leave simply because they don’t want to lose their health insurance, a new Gallup poll shows.
This is the situation for 16% of respondents in a nationwide survey of 3,800+ adults conducted March 15-21.
Fear is greatest among black workers. Respondents found that they were 21% more likely to keep an unwanted job than Spanish respondents (16%) or white respondents (14%).
Workers with annual household incomes less than $ 48,000 or more are most likely (28%) to stay on to receive the health benefits, and three times more likely to do so than workers in households earning $ 120,000 or more, according to the joint survey by West Health Gallup.
“Health care costs have gotten so high that many Americans are unwilling to risk an interruption in their coverage, even if it means increasing premiums and deductibles and sticking to a job they may not like,” said Tim Lash , Chief Strategy Officer of West Health, a group of nonprofit organizations that aim to reduce health care costs.
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Around 158 million Americans have health insurance.
The survey shows that 135 million Americans fear they will eventually be excluded from health care if they haven’t already.
More than half of respondents said they were “concerned” or “very concerned” that health services (53%) and prescription drugs (52%) were becoming unaffordable. Respondents found that they are more concerned about rising healthcare costs than about losing their home (25%) or job (29%).
Forty-two percent said they were concerned that they would not be able to pay for a serious health problem, including 49 percent of Hispanic respondents and 47 percent of black participants.
“Americans are increasingly concerned about being priced out of the US healthcare system and are struggling to hold out in every possible way,” Lash said in a West Health press release.
Earlier this year, about 46 million people – 18% of the US population – said they couldn’t afford health care if they needed it today.
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The survey found significant support for federal government measures to control healthcare costs.
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Around three quarters of respondents are in favor of limiting the price increases for prescription drugs (77%). Limiting hospital prices in areas with few or no other hospitals (76%) and government negotiating lower prices for some expensive drugs with no cheaper alternatives (74%). Around two thirds support state price restrictions for care outside the network.
Respondents with private insurance supported government interventions as did respondents in the public health sector, including Medicare and Medicaid.
“Survey data from West Health and Gallup continues to show that most Americans support an increased role for government in reducing the rising cost of care,” said Dan Witters, a senior researcher at Gallup. “How elected officials react to this is evolving, but there appears to be substantial public support for a number of specific proposals that are on the table.”
The error rate varied from question to question and was between 1.3 and 4 percentage points.
More information
The Kaiser Family Foundation has more about health care costs.
SOURCE: West Health, press release, May 6, 2021
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