Study: Many insured Americans still confident about access to care

As we've noted previously, studies show that many Americans are beginning to cut back on medical services and prescription drugs. Still, consumers aren't completely demoralized when it comes to accessing care, a new study suggests. A study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) suggests that about half of insured Americans feel confident that they can access the care they need. According to the study, 51 percent of consumers with health insurance said they were either extremely confident or very confident they could get the care they need.

Still, there's no question that consumers are getting more concerned. For example, 42 percent said they were not too or not at all confident about the affordability of healthcare, up from 36 percent of respondents last year. Meanwhile, 54 percent of consumers said they are having trouble saving money, 29 percent are lowering retirement contributions and 27 percent are having trouble paying for basic necessities, EBRI researchers concluded. Nearly all (87 percent) said they support tax incentives to help people pay for healthcare costs.

To learn more about this study:
- read this Modern Healthcare piece (reg. req.)