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QuickStats: Percentage of Persons Who Delayed or Did Not Receive Medical Care During the Preceding Year Because of Cost, by Health Status* — National Health Interview Survey,† United States, 2014
* Percentages shown with 95% confidence intervals. Based on responses to the following questions: "During the past 12 months, has [person] delayed seeking medical care because of worry about the cost?" and "During the past 12 months, was there any time when [person] needed medical care, but did not get it because [person] couldn't afford it?" Both questions excluded dental care. Respondents were asked to answer regarding themselves and other family members living in the same household. Health status data were obtained by asking respondents to assess their own health and that of family members living in the same household as excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor.
† Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the civilian noninstitutionalized U.S. population and are derived from the National Health Interview Survey Family Core component. Unknowns were excluded from the denominators when calculating percentages.
Based on 2014 data, approximately 7% of persons (22.3 million) in the United States delayed medical care during the preceding year because of worry about the cost, and 5% (16.5 million) did not receive needed medical care because they could not afford it. Persons whose health was assessed as fair or poor were nearly four to five times as likely as persons whose health was excellent or very good to delay care (17.6% versus 4.7%) or not receive needed medical care (15.1% versus 3.1%) because of cost.
Source: National Health Interview Survey, 2014 data. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhis.htm.
Reported by: Patricia F. Adams; Michael E. Martinez, MPH, MHSA, bmd7@cdc.gov, 301-458-4758.
Alternate Text: The figure above is a bar chart showing that, based on 2014 data, approximately 7% of persons (22.3 million) in the United States delayed medical care during the preceding year because of worry about the cost, and 5% (16.5 million) did not receive needed medical care because they could not afford it. Persons whose health was assessed as fair or poor were nearly four to five times as likely as persons whose health was excellent or very good to delay care (17.6% versus 4.7%) or not receive needed medical care (15.1% versus 3.1%) because of cost.
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