Poll: Many Sick Americans Experience Significant Financial Problems And Report Their Care Is Not Well-Managed

Excerpt from Harvard School of Public Health: (click for entire article)

Many Americans who have experienced a serious illness or injury within the past 12 months are concerned about the financial costs of medical care, and struggle to ensure that their care is appropriate,  according to a new poll released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), NPR and Harvard School of Public Health. RWJF commissioned the poll to better understand Americans’ experiences and attitudes related to cost and quality of U.S. medical care.

A large majority of the general public (87%) thinks the cost of care is a serious problem for the country. In addition, about two-thirds of the general public (65%) believes the cost of care has gotten worse over the last five years.

In addition to surveying the general public, this poll also examined sick Americans’ experiences with and perceptions of the costs and quality of medical care over the last year. “Sick Americans” (27% of adults surveyed) are defined as those who said they had a serious illness, medical condition, injury, or disability requiring a lot of medical care or who had been hospitalized overnight in the past 12 months.