Paying for Health Care is among American’s Top Three Financial Challenges

Paying for health care-related costs, including health insurance, ranks among the top three financial worries Americans say they face today, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

More Americans, 43 percent, said paying for gas is their most challenging financial issue, followed by finding a good paying job (27 percent). But 25 percent of Americans said they were having a “serious problem” paying for health care. Respondents were surveyed in June for the Kaiser’s Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008.

The results reflect the growing number of Americans paying more for medical care and the rapid growth of medical bad debt.  At least one analyst expects for-profit hospitals to generate nearly $14.6 billion in total bad debt in 2008, up from $12.4 billion last year ("Hospital Bad Debt Expense Could Rise 17% in 2008,” Jan. 16.)

“When it comes to the specifics of which health care issues are capturing the public’s attention, affordability of health care and insurance is the issue chosen by the largest share of voters,” the report said.

Specifically, voters are worried about how much health care is costing them personally, and it appears that they expect the next president and national political leaders to do something about it.

According to the survey, 47 percent of those surveyed said they are worried about increases in the amount the average American pays for health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket health care costs; 19 percent said they are more concerned about increases in how much the U.S. as a whole spends on health care. 

Nonetheless, the majority of voters believe that the next president and Congress have the power to impact health care costs.  In fact, 62 percent said the president and Congress can do “a lot” about health care cost, compared to 21 percent who say the nation’s political leaders can do “a little” about health care cost.  Only 13 percent of voters say they think health care costs are beyond the control of the president and Congress.

Kaiser’s Health Track Poll: 2008 was conducted between June 3 and June 8, 2008 and is the eighth in a series of polls. It includes interviews from 1,206 adults ages 18 and older, including 1,066 adults who say they are registered to vote.