Care costs come in second on "worry scale"
Almost three-quarters (74 percent) of Americans are extremely concerned or very concerned about healthcare, just slightly behind the 79 percent concerned about the economy and ahead of the 67 percent about joblessness, according to a survey.
The survey, conducted by Chase Communications, a public relations and health policy communications firm, and Ed Stevens, a healthcare communications research expert and strategist, is called the Chase Healthcare Worry Scale.
The survey found the primary source of Americans' specific healthcare worries is about the cost of healthcare and the impact of the Affordable Care Act with 49 percent naming the ability to afford healthcare as a major worry. Forty-three percent said getting a disease, medical condition or injury that their healthcare does not fully cover is a major worry and 93 percent strongly agree or somewhat agree that healthcare costs will continue to increase.
The January 2014 Worry Scale Survey was based on a survey of 1,019 adult Americans conducted online in December 2013 by ORC International.
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.