Record-High Number of Americans Forced to Delay Medical Treatment in 2022 as Inflation Surged: Poll

A man who did not want his name used receives medical treatment in a file photo in Florida. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

The number of Americans reporting that they or a family member were forced to put off medical treatment in 2022 due to rising costs has surged to a record high, according to a new Gallup poll.

The poll, published on Jan. 17, found that 38 percent of those surveyed reported that they or a family member had put off seeking medical care because of the high cost they would have to pay.

That represents an increase of 12 percentage points compared to 2021 and is the highest in the 22 years that Gallup has been tracking the trend.

Gallup’s annual Health and Healthcare poll surveyed 1,020 U.S. adults aged 18 and older living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia between Nov. 9 to Dec. 2 and has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

It found that Americans were more than twice as likely to report the delayed treatment in their family was for a serious rather than a nonserious condition in 2022.

Overall, 27 percent of those surveyed said the treatment they put off was for a “very” or “somewhat” serious condition or illness, while 11 percent said it was for a “not very” or “not at all” serious condition.

Medical professionals treat a patient in a file photo. Ryan M. Breeden/US Navy via Getty Images

Americans Delaying Care for Serious Conditions

“Since 2004, more U.S. adults have said the medical care needed was for a serious than nonserious condition, but the 16-point gap in the perceived seriousness of forgone treatment in 2022 is the second largest on record to a 17-point gap in 2019,” Gallup' noted.

In addition, the survey found that those with an annual household income under $40,000 were nearly twice as likely to put off medical care for a serious condition in 2022 compared to those with an annual household income of $100,000 or more.

Overall, lower-income adults, younger adults, and women were more likely to delay medical treatment due to soaring costs.

According to the latest estimates (pdf) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 31.6 million people of all ages—nearly 10 percent of the population—did not have health insurance in 2020.

A separate analysis by Value Penguin showed that between 2022 to 2023, health insurance rates across the nation increased by 4 percent, with the state of Georgia seeing the biggest year-over-year jump in health insurance costs for the average 40-year-old on a silver plan at 20 percent.

President Joe Biden has pushed to lower health care costs during his time in office, most recently signing the Inflation Reduction Act, which aims to improve access to affordable treatments for millions of Americans and lower drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate directly with drug manufacturers to lower the price of some of the most expensive drugs.

Doctor Warns Americans Not to Delay Treatment

Biden has credited the act for lowering the costs for tens of millions of Americans covered by the Medicare health program, although the decline in costs is largely due to a decision to severely limit coverage of the controversial and pricey Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm.

Elsewhere, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reported in September that more than 1,200 prescription drug prices increased during the 12-month period from July 2021 to July 2022 at a pace that exceeded inflation.

While the average price increase for these drugs came in at 31.6 percent, some rose by more than 500 percent, according to the department.

“It’s really important to understand that [when] there is a health concern that’s ongoing, particularly when you think it might be serious, it’s very unlikely that it’s going to go away,” pediatric airway surgeon Dr. Susannah Hills told CBS News on Wednesday.

“It might need to be dealt with, unfortunately, in the emergency room, or in a scenario where you can no longer work and you can’t provide for your family or take care of those kids and you’re going to be forced to take care of your own health concern,” Dr. Hills added.